Lawmakers’ methods reveal questionable motives

by J Scott Christianson, Columbia Daily Tribune Columnist

Toward the end of the session of the Missouri General Assembly, Republican senators relied on a particular parliamentary procedure to put an end to filibusters and get their bills moved through the Senate before the session ended. Referred to as “calling the previous question,” cloture or even “the nuclear option,” this particular motion is used to close all debate on a bill and force the Senate to immediately vote on the issue.

A motion to call the previous question works something like this: When a bill is being debated or filibustered, a member of the legislative body can make a motion to stop the debate and take a vote. If properly seconded, a vote is then taken on whether they should close debate. If this motion passes, lawmakers immediately vote on the now previous question that was being debated, hence the name of the motion.

Although forcing a vote on an issue is common in the House of Representatives, it is not normally used in the Senate, where senators enjoy the right to debate issues for an unlimited amount of time. This right, of course, can lead to filibustering when a particular senator or group of senators is dissatisfied with the proposed legislation and a compromise hasn’t been achieved.

The right of unlimited debate has been one of the key differences between the House and Senate, at both the state and federal levels, since the founding of our country. As we all learned in grade…