Chip Posted February 7, 2018 at 08:06 PM Report Share Posted February 7, 2018 at 08:06 PM If an organization has this scenario: (1) The existing Constitution/Bylaws provision regarding notice for Constitution/Bylaw amendments are a bit inconsistent and perhaps open to differing interpretations; (2) The Constitution & Bylaws Committee proposes a complete revision of the Bylaws (replacing both the existing Constitution & Bylaws with one new document, a set of Bylaws), which is then adopted by the assembly; (3) The new Bylaws specify that a one-month notice will be given to members regarding proposed Bylaw amendments, and all proposed Bylaw amendments must be submitted to the Bylaws Committee (for discussion/modification/etc.) one month prior to that deadline for the notice; After the revision is complete, are amendments to the Bylaws at the convention in order if they meet the old Constitution & Bylaws requirements for notice, but not the new requirement? FYI, the relevant provision in the current Constitution re: the amendments and notice states: "... such amendment be made available in writing to convention delegates with enough time to consider the amendment. Publication in the newsletter at least a week before the convention shall always constitute sufficient notice." No newsletter exists right now, so that doesn't help the situation. I don't know what people would consider "enough time to consider the amendment" (one of several reasons the Bylaws are being revised). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted February 7, 2018 at 09:58 PM Report Share Posted February 7, 2018 at 09:58 PM You can do what you want, but not in the order you indicate. When the "General Revision" (page 593) has been moved for adoption and is on the floor for consideration, amendments to any part of the text may be moved and adopted (or defeated, of course) BEFORE the final vote on adopting the revision (as possibly amended) takes place. Since you are working on a complete revision (an entirely new set of bylaws) amendments may be offered to ANY part of the revision, no notice required. (The notice that you are going to consider a General Revision is necessary and sufficient to alert members that any part of it will be up for grabs and "repairs" prior to final adoption.) The adoption of the revision must be done following the rules for amendment found in the "old" (current) bylaws. The "General Revision" is, in effect, one great big amendment to the current bylaws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted February 7, 2018 at 10:49 PM Report Share Posted February 7, 2018 at 10:49 PM 2 hours ago, Chip said: After the revision is complete, are amendments to the Bylaws at the convention in order if they meet the old Constitution & Bylaws requirements for notice, but not the new requirement? No, but... If I wanted to propose an amendment to the new bylaws I would be foolish to wait until after the revision was complete. Instead, I could simply move to amend the proposed revision when that paragraph came up for consideration, or in the case of an addition after all paragraphs had been considered, and before the final vote on approval of the finalized revision. That way I would not have to worry about notice, since the entire revision was presumably noticed properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmuel Gerber Posted February 8, 2018 at 07:47 PM Report Share Posted February 8, 2018 at 07:47 PM 23 hours ago, Chip said: If an organization has this scenario: (1) The existing Constitution/Bylaws provision regarding notice for Constitution/Bylaw amendments are a bit inconsistent and perhaps open to differing interpretations; (2) The Constitution & Bylaws Committee proposes a complete revision of the Bylaws (replacing both the existing Constitution & Bylaws with one new document, a set of Bylaws), which is then adopted by the assembly; (3) The new Bylaws specify that a one-month notice will be given to members regarding proposed Bylaw amendments, and all proposed Bylaw amendments must be submitted to the Bylaws Committee (for discussion/modification/etc.) one month prior to that deadline for the notice; After the revision is complete, are amendments to the Bylaws at the convention in order if they meet the old Constitution & Bylaws requirements for notice, but not the new requirement? FYI, the relevant provision in the current Constitution re: the amendments and notice states: "... such amendment be made available in writing to convention delegates with enough time to consider the amendment. Publication in the newsletter at least a week before the convention shall always constitute sufficient notice." No newsletter exists right now, so that doesn't help the situation. I don't know what people would consider "enough time to consider the amendment" (one of several reasons the Bylaws are being revised). The individual amendments for which notice has been given should be considered before the revision is considered, and then this problem won't arise. And if the amendments are adopted, presumably there will be little objection to including the amended passages into the motion to adopt the revision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts