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Rod G Davidson, Professional Registered Parliamentarian www.parlipro.org

Puzzled by the motion to Take from the Table? After you complete this online module and take the short quiz to test your understanding and refresh your memory, you will feel more confident about this parliamentary puzzler. Here’s a chance to learn a thing or two about the motion to Take from the Table, courtesy of the public domain version of Robert's Rules of Order Revised, Fourth Edition.

The motion to Take from the Table has the right of way in preference to main motions if made during the session in which it was laid on the table while no question is actually pending, and at a time when business of this class, or unfinished business, or new business, is in order; and also during the next session in societies having regular business meetings as frequently as quarterly. It yields to privileged and incidental motions, but not to subsidiary ones. It is undebatable, and no subsidiary motion can be applied to it. It is not in order unless some business has been transacted since the question was laid on the table, nor can it be renewed until some business has been transacted since it was lost. The motion to take from the table cannot be reconsidered, as it can be renewed repeatedly if lost, and, if carried, the question can be again laid on the table after progress in debate or business.

In ordinary deliberative assemblies, a question is supposed to be laid on the table only temporarily with the expectation of its consideration being resumed after the disposal of the interrupting question, or at a more convenient time. As soon as the question that was introduced when the first question was laid on the table, is disposed of, any one may move to take this first question from the table. When he rises to make the motion, if the chair recognizes some one else as having first risen, he should at once say that he rises to move to take a question from the table. The chair then assigns him the floor if the other member has risen to make a main motion. If the new main motion has been stated by the chair before he claims the floor, he must wait until that question is disposed of before his motion will be in order.

When taken up, the question with everything adhering to it is before the assembly exactly as when it was laid on the table. Thus, if a resolution has amendments and a motion to commit pending at the time it was laid on the table, when it is taken from the table the question is first on the motion to commit. If a motion to postpone to a certain time is pending when the question is laid on the table, and it is taken from the table after that time, then the motion to postpone is ignored when the question is taken up.

If the question is taken up on the day it was laid on the table, members who have exhausted their right of debate cannot again speak on the question. But if taken up on another day, no notice is taken of speeches previously made. The previous question is not exhausted if the question upon which it was ordered is taken from the table at the same session, even though it is on another day.

Now, test your understanding of the motion to Take from the Table.  Answer the questions below and then click the button underneath to see your results. Good luck!

1.	The object of Take from the Table is __________ .

			a)			to clear the table to serve refreshments at a special meeting and officer installation
			b)			to put before the assembly a pending motion that was previously laid on the table
			c)			to revive a motion that was lost earlier in the meeting

 

2.	A question that is Laid on the Table __________ .

			a)			can only be taken from the table at the next regular meeting
			b)			dies if not taken from the table at the same meeting in which it was laid on the table
			c)			can be taken from the table later in the same meeting in which it was laid on the table

 

3.	When a question is Laid on the Table, __________ .

			a)			it can only be taken from the table by the person who moved to lay it on the table
			b)			the chair is responsible for taking the motion from the table and putting it before the assembly
			c)			any member can seek recognition for the purpose of moving to take the question from the table

 

4.	When a question is Taken from the Table, __________ .

			a)			any amendments adhering to it are automatically lost
			b)			if taken from the table on the same day it was laid on the table, members who have exhausted their right to debate can speak twice on the question
			c)			it is before the assembly exactly as it was when laid on the table with everything adhering to it

 

5.	The motion Take from the Table ___________ .

			a)			can be made immediately after the motion to Lay on the Table has been voted on
			b)			is not in order until some business or interrupting matter has been transacted or dealt with since it was laid on the table
			c)			does not require a second and is fully debatable and amendable