Overture 04-53. On Amending Standing Rule A.2. to Give Advisory Delegates the Same Privilege in Committee as They Have in Plenary—From the Presbytery of Northeast Georgia.

The Presbytery of Northeast Georgia overtures the 216th General Assembly (2004) to amend Standing Rule A.2.b. as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]

“b. Advisory delegates shall be assigned to assembly committees as voting members and shall have the privilege of the floor of the General Assembly with the same privileges as in the plenary session of General Assembly, i.e., privilege of the floor without vote. Only voting members shall have the privilege of proposing or seconding a motion. When certain issues come before a assembly committees and plenary session of the General Assembly, the advisory delegates may be polled prior to the vote of the commissioners to determine their advice.”

Rationale

Advisory delegates provide a vast resource for General Assembly meetings. Their viewpoint has come to be highly regarded. Nothing should interfere with their participation in the Presbyterian system of church govern-ment, especially at General Assembly. Many valuable experiences result from this participation.

In 1973-74, the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. had a special committee who reported the expecta-tions for youth advisory delegates (YADs) as follows ([XIV, 6] 12 B):

It is expected that a youth advisory delegate will participate in the General Assembly process in the following ways: (a) Con-sciousness raising, i.e. increasing the sensitivity of the General Assembly as to how young Christians see and respond to issues and concerns before the church. (b) As visible and articulate members of the General Assembly. (c) To sharpen the issues and concerns before the church that affect youth particularly. (d) To seek and contribute to the openness, the sensitivity, and the faithfulness of the church on the level of General Assembly. (e) Youth advisory delegates shall not be elected to General Assembly with either a direct or tacit understanding as to how they will speak at the assembly, or speak and vote in committee on any pending subject.”

We totally agree with these expectations.

However, this overture questions whether the role of advisory delegates are “advisory” when given the privi-lege of vote in General Assembly committees. Advisory delegates have the power to change the outcome of a par-ticular bill or overture by overriding the vote of commissioners. This happens on close votes where there are enough advisory delegates to change the decision. While the General Assembly has the final vote, the action of a committee either sending forward or withholding legislation can have a significant impact on the final disposition of that legislation.

In the thirteen committees in the 215th General Assembly (2003), advisory delegates represented a minimum of 25 percent (Assembly Committee 02) of the votes to a maximum of 31 percent (Assembly Committee 01) of the votes. The average was 26.92 percent of the votes per committee (one in four votes). This clearly causes distortion in the historical parity of elder/minister votes in PC(USA) actions.

The issue can be easily resolved by granting all advisory delegates, including YADs, the same privilege in committee that they have in plenary session. They are encouraged to speak to issues (privilege of floor) with no vote, except, an advisory vote, which may be taken prior to the commissioners’ vote on certain issues.

The practice of advisory delegates voting in committee dates back to the early 1970s. Considering that this is the 216th General Assembly (2004), this is a relatively new approach. When enacted it was a distinct break with historical government of the church by duly elected presbyters.