Parliamentary Club Procedures
Parliamentary Procedure also referred to as "parli pro" for short, is a system of attending to the business of a club or group in an organized manner. Parli pro allows for the minority to have a voice, but the majority to direct the decisions of the group. A 4-H business meeting is composed of a series of reports and items for discussion that can be handled quite easily using parliamentary procedure. These are outlined below.
Call to Order
President raps a gavel (if needed) and calls the meeting to order. He or she should also state the time the meeting begins.
Pledges & Thought for the Day
President asks that the designated person (s) stand and lead the club in the pledges. If a member is sharing an inspirational thought that would follow after the club members are seated
Secretary’s Report
President asks Secretary to report. Secretary stands and reads minutes of last meeting and any correspondence to or from the club since the last meeting. The President thanks the secretary and asks if there are any corrections to the minutes. If not, the president asks for a motion and a second to approve the minutes as read. After receiving these, the president calls for a vote of approval. (See below: Procedure for handling a simple main motion)
Treasurer’s Report
President asks Treasurer to report. The Treasurer should include the balance at the last meeting, any new deposits and expenses and a new current balance. The president thanks the Treasurer and asks if there are any questions on the report. If not, the president moves on to the next item on the agenda. There is no vote on the Treasurer’s report. When an annual audit is performed the club would vote to approve that report.
Other Reports
Each 4-H club may have certain additional reports that they choose to include on the agenda. The president would handle these similarly to the Treasurer’s report.
Unfinished Business
Sometimes incorrectly referred to as "old business". This would include any items of business that were carried over from the last meeting.
New Business
These are new items for club discussion and vote. The president would announce that the club is moving to new business and bring each item to the floor by stating that "the next item of business is..." and then provide a brief explanation of the item. At times, this may be a place where the president asks an adult to help provide clarification regarding the item of business. Once on the floor, the president uses the procedure below for handling a motion.
Committee Meetings
President dismisses members to meet with committees and states the time that committees will return to give a report.
Adjourn
When the business of the meeting is completed, the president may adjourn in one of two ways. He or she may simply say, "if there is no objection, we will now adjourn." As long as no one objects, the president will then declare the meeting adjourned at a specific time. The second method would be to say, "If there is no further business, do I have a motion to adjourn?"
Procedure for Handling a Simple Main Motion
- President call for a motion from the floor on the item of business. "Is there a motion to...?"
- A member raises his or her hand and waits to be recognized. Once recognized states, "I move that ..." Not "I make a motion that ..."
- If not immediately seconded, the President asks for a second. If a motion is not seconded by anyone, it is dead and is not longer considered for discussion.
- After the second, the Presidents asks "It has been properly moved and seconded that ______________, is there any discussion?"
- At this time members may raise their hands to ask questions and make comments either for or against the motion.
- The President directs the discussion and makes a decision as to when a vote should be taken on the motion.
- The president states "We will now vote on the motion. All in favor, please say ‘aye’. ... All opposed, please say ‘no’."
- The motion is then declared "passed" or "failed".
- Back to 4-H
