2016 Council on Legislation
There are 181 Enactments and Resolutions proposed for consideration by the Council on Legislation that will meet
from April 10th to 15th 2016 in Chicago
Enactments (numbers 1 through 117) if adopted will change the RI Constitutional documents which include the RI
constitution, the RI By-Laws and the Standard Rotary Club Constitution
Resolutions (numbers 117 through 181) are items that do not seek to amend RI constitutional documents but do
seek to amend other rotary policies and procedures.
Each proposal is presented by the proposer, supported and opposed in a short debate then voted on,
electronically, by the Council which consists of a representative from each of Rotary’s 532 districts. Democracy in
action!
Below I have extracted below a summary of what I consider to be the key proposals and invite comments from any
Rotarian on their merit.
My role, as your representative, is to
(a) seek your input so that I have a sense of your advice on these proposals and
(b) to vote with the best interest of Rotary worldwide in mind, after I have listened to and evaluated the oral
arguments for and against each proposal
Inevitably there are Enactments and Resolutions that are almost duplicative and/or contradictory and, in such
cases, I have attempted to pick a sample that highlights the issue and rely on procedures at the council that often
achieve compromise once a concept has been voted upon.
Below are 31 proposals (22 enactments and 9 resolutions) [NB. Proposals that are flagged (*) are presented by the
Board of RI] on which I would welcome your comments. The full texts of all 181 proposals are available at
www.rotary.org/myrotary/en/document/proposed-legislation-2016-council-legislation.
Please respond by e-mail to barryphillips1314@gmail.com and identify your comments by quoting the Proposal
number.
Proposal #
Summary of Proposal
Purpose of proposal
Enactments
Club administration
16-02
Club treasurer be a board member
16-06
Include a “purpose” article in the standard Club
constitution
16-07
Removal of “admission fees”
Avenues of Service and the Objects of Rotary
16-13
Change 5th avenue of service to “New
generations”
16-14 *
Change 5th avenue of service to “A new
generation of global leaders through service,
mentoring, international exchange, and
leadership development opportunities
16-17
Re-write of the Objects of Rotary into more
Financial stewardship
Emphasize key elements of an effective club
Expansion of membership
More accurate reflection of cultural change
Bringing Avenues of service in line with the Objects
of Rotary
Create congruency with recent COL actions
contemporary language
Club Meetings
16-21 *
To allow flexibility in club meetings and
attendance
16-24
Club shall meet at least twice per month
Membership
16-36 *
Flexibility in membership and classification
16-39
16-40 *
16-41
Revise the provisions regarding membership of
alumni
To allow Rotaractors to be active members
To prohibit those who have never worked from
becoming members
16-49
To amend the provisions for suspension of
membership
RI Officers and elections
Directors
16-58
To increase the term for RI director to three
years
Rotary International
16-81 *
To authorize the RI Board to suspend or
terminate a club for litigation-related actions
and to amend the provisions for repeated
election complaints from a district
16-90 *
To provide for a membership committee of RI
16- 93 *
To amend the terms of reference for the
Strategic Planning committee
RI Finances and per capita dues
16- 99 *
To increase per capita dues
16-104 *
To provide that each club pays dues for a
minimum of 10 members
Legislative Procedures
16-106 *
To revise the publication requirements for
legislation
16-113
To provide for a Council on Resolutions
16-117
To amend the process for selecting
representatives to attend the Council on
Legislation
regarding qualifications of membership
Clubs would have the option to :
Determine when and how often a club meets, set
applicable attendance requirements, and modify or
eliminate termination policies for non-attendance
Extends freedom of new Model Clubs
To avoid the continuing declining and aging
membership base
Aligns the definition of “alumni” with RI and
Foundation expanded descriptions
Strengthens relationships between Rotaractors and
RI
Reverses a decision made at 2013 COL which
allowed “having interrupted employment or having
never worked in order to care for children or to
assist the spouse in their work”
Temporary suspension not to exceed 45 days
Increased knowledge and effectiveness of directors
through extended term
To deal with situations where clubs or individual
Rotarians initiate legal action prior to exhausting all
remedies provided for in the RI Bylaws for disputed
elections
Create a staggered, multi-year term committee to
address RI stated priority of membership growth
Create a joint RI/Foundation committee of 8
members with reduced term of 4 years from current
6 years
Proposed increases of $1 per year beginning 201718 thru 2019-20.
2017-18 per half-year $28.50
2018-19 per half year $ 29.00
2019-20 per half year $ 29.50
Re-establishes an earlier requirement
Streamlines current requirements in line with online capabilities
To a create an annual, on-line forum to vote on
Resolutions
Proposes to reduce the number of representatives
to 9 per zone (i.e. 306 not 532) and describes
procedures for their selection. Addresses the
disproportionate sizes of districts and reduces costs
Proposal #
Programs
16-118 *
16-124
16-125
16-126
Summary of Proposal
Purpose of proposal
Resolutions
Confirms Polio eradication is a goal of the
highest order of RI
Requests RI Board to consider developing
programming in the areas of water quality
enhancement, sanitation and hygiene
Requests RI Board to consider including the
fight against violence towards women among
the goals and objectives of the RI strategic Plan
Requests RI Board to consider supporting the
prevention of sexual mutilation
16-135
Requests RI Board to consider establishing
Rotaract e-clubs
The Rotary Foundation
16-144
To request the Trustees to consider reinstating
funding for scholarships to support graduate
scholarships in areas not related to the areas of
focus
Club and District Administration
16-156
Requests RI Board to consider allowing districts
to decide if they would like a president’s
representative to attend their district
conference
Rotary International
16-166
To request the RI Board and the Trustees to
consider investing in microfinance and
community development institutions
16-174
To request the RI Board to consider making
Rotary Leadership Institute a training program
of RI
Affirms that no other corporate project should be
adopted until certification that Polio has been
eradicated
Goal to create a tremendous improvement in the
quality of life for today’s and tomorrow’s children
Violence against women is a global phenomenon
which affects more than a third of women
Use Rotary’s historic cultural and gender-sensitive
approach to support United Nation’s efforts to stop
FGM
Encourage and develop membership
Re-instatement of Ambassadorial Scholarship
program funded by the Rotary Foundation
Recognizes that the nature of District conferences
has changed and modern media allows for
alternative ways to propagate a President’s message
Proposes that not less than 8% of annual
unrestricted and undesignated prior year net assets
be invested directly or indirectly with credible
micro-finance and/or community development
institutions. Small, current micro-funding grants
tend to “re-invent” systems that may lack adequate
training and oversight
Recognition of RLI’s value