If you have questions about Rotary’s legislative process,
please email your Council on Legislation representative
PDG Deborah Glisson at:
or
315-263-7037
 
Learn About Proposing Legislation
From PDG Deb...
 
Dear Rotary District 7150 Member:

Having recently been elected to be your District 7150 Representative to the 2017-2020 Council on Resolutions and Legislation, I want to share with you that one of my responsibilities is to assist clubs in our District with proposing legislation. With that said, please be aware that all legislation must be endorsed by the District before it is submitted to Rotary International and that we are on a fairly tight timeline for proposing legislation. 
•    Resolutions proposed for the Council on Resolutions must be received by Rotary International by June 30, 2017. 
•    Legislation proposed for the 2019 Council on Legislation must be received by Rotary International by December 31, 2017. 
 
Details regarding the Council on Resolutions
Rotary International’s Council on Resolutions meets online each year to vote on proposed resolutions submitted by clubs, districts, the Rotary International Board, and the general council or conference of RIBI. The Council on Resolutions has the authority to adopt resolutions. Most adopted resolutions are then considered by the RI Board or the Rotary Foundation Trustees. Every district designates a representative to the Council on Resolutions, and every club and district may propose resolutions. If your club is considering proposing a resolution for the Council on Resolutions, the proposed resolutions, including the District Governor’s confirmation of endorsement, must be received by Rotary International on or before June 30, 2017. There are no exceptions to the deadline.
 
Proposing Resolutions
Resolutions are expressions of opinion of the Council. They can be submitted to the Council on Resolutions by clubs, districts, the RI Board, and the general council or conference of RIBI. A resolution proposed by a club must be voted on, or endorsed, by the clubs in its district at its district conference, a district legislation meeting, or through a ballot-by-mail, before it can be summited to Rotary. 
 
Drafting a Resolution
Resolutions are made up of two parts. First is the supporting information, which uses preambulary or whereas clauses as the proposers argument for the resolution. The second part to each resolution is the action or resolved clause. Resolutions may contain any number of supporting information clauses, but they always have only one resolved clause. The resolved clause states the action that the proposer wishes the RI Board or The Rotary Foundation Trustees to consider.
 
Samples of Resolutions and their adoptions as recorded in the 2016 Council on Legislation Report of Action:
 
ADOPTED RESOLUTION 16-149
To request the RI Board to consider acknowledging the role and responsibilities of
district secretaries
WHEREAS, district secretaries play an important role and have major responsibilities in
assisting the governor in preparing for district meetings, overseeing communications of
various types, and maintaining meeting minutes
IT IS RESOLVED by Rotary International that the Board of Directors of Rotary
International consider acknowledging the role and responsibilities of district secretaries
by including them in the District Leadership Plan.
(End of Text)
 
ADOPTED RESOLUTION 16-132
To request the RI Board to consider revising the membership age limits for Interact
WHEREAS, each country has a different age for the first year of school, from five to
seven and older, which leads to students graduating from high school at different ages,
from 17 to 19, meaning that at the age of 18, Interact club members from both schoolbased
and community-based clubs have either graduated or are still students, and
WHEREAS, as a result, in Article IV, section 5 of the Standard Interact Club
Constitution, there is discrimination against Interact club members in different types of
clubs in terms of membership termination, which leads to inequity, frustration and
Interact club administration problems
IT IS RESOLVED by Rotary International that the Board of Directors of Rotary
International consider amending Article IV, section 5 of the Standard Interact Club
Constitution so that membership termination in both school and community-based
clubs (in connection with several schools) occurs at the time of graduation and not upon
reaching the age of 18. In this way, in the final year of high school, a student can still be
an Interact member and handle an officer position at the club or district level, even if he
or she is already 18.
in Article IV, section 5 of the Standard Interact Club Constitution (page 21 of the
Interact Handbook)
Article: IV - Membership
5. Membership shall automatically terminate (a) upon removal from the community; (b)
in a both school-based clubs, in connection with a school, and community-based clubs,
in connection with several schools, upon graduation or otherwise ceasing to be a student
in the last four years of school preceding the university level in the area from which the
membership is drawn or; (c) in a community-based club, not in connection with a
school, upon graduation or upon reaching the age of eighteen; (c) (d) by termination of
the club; or (d) (e) by failure to meet attendance requirements unless excused by the
board of directors of this club for good and sufficient reason.
(End of Text)
 
ADOPTED RESOLUTION 16-139
To acknowledge the centennial anniversary of The Rotary Foundation
WHEREAS, The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International was initiated at the Atlanta
convention on 18 June 1917 when RI President Arch C. Klumph proposed the
establishment of an endowment “for the purpose of doing good in the world,” and
WHEREAS, the endowment fund was renamed The Rotary Foundation at the
Minneapolis convention in 1928, and it became a distinct entity within Rotary
International, and
WHEREAS, since the first donation of US$26.50 by the Rotary Club of Kansas City,
Missouri, USA in 1917, the Foundation has received contributions totaling more than
US$1 billion, and
WHEREAS, the Foundation has touched the lives of millions of people around the world
through polio eradication, humanitarian grants, international scholarships and
fellowships, group study exchange teams, Rotary peace centers, and other programs
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS RESOLVED by the 2016 Council on Legislation that Rotary
International and its member clubs should celebrate and commemorate the 100th
anniversary of The Rotary Foundation in 2016-2017 and should encourage all Rotarians
to mark the centennial anniversary by participating in the Foundation programs and
supporting the Foundation in their charitable giving.
(End of Text)
 
Endorsing a Resolution
For a club to propose a resolution, the club’s board of directors must first submit the proposed resolution to the club members for adoption, before sending it to the district. A district conference or a district council in RIBI may also propose a resolution directly to the district. Any resolutions proposed by clubs or districts are then voted on, or endorsed, by the district at a district conference, a district legislation meeting, or through a ballot-by-mail.
If a district does not have enough time to vote on a proposed resolution in person, the governor may conduct a ballot-by-mail. This method may work best for our district as we are getting close to the June 30, 2017 deadline. Such ballot should follow as closely as possible the balloting procedures set forth in RI Bylaw section 14.040 for electing a governor-nominee through ballot-by-mail.
Once endorsed, the proposer may submit the resolution to Rotary through the online form by June 30, 2017. The district governor must also confirm the district’s endorsement by June 30, 2017.
 
District Governor Confirmation
The governor can confirm endorsement in one of two ways:
1.    Submit the proposed resolution his or herself and confirm the district’s endorsement in the online form.
2.    If the proposed resolution is submitted by someone other than the governor, the governor will receive an email letting him or her know that the resolution has been submitted. The governor should then reply to the Council Services at councilservices @ rotary.org, along with his or her confirmation that the information submitted is correct and that the district has endorsed the proposed resolution.
 
Duly Proposed Resolutions
The submission must include the following by June 30. 2017 in order to be considered duly proposed for the 2017 Council on Resolutions:
1.    Name of the proposing club or district
2.    Confirmation from the district governor that the resolution was endorsed by the district
3.    Text of the proposed resolution
In addition, all proposed resolutions should be submitted within 45 days of being endorsed by the district.
Tips for Proposed Resolutions
•    Review past resolutions. Legislation books for the past two Councils are posed on rotary.org. Take a look to see if your idea has been proposed before and how a resolution is written.
•    Ask for help. Past representatives, the Constitution and Bylaws Committee, and Council Services staff are all knowledgeable about drafting resolutions. If you need help drafting a resolution, please do not hesitate to contact me for assistance.
 
Should You Propose a Resolution?
Resolutions are a great way to propose ideas that will impact the Rotary world; however, the Board only reviews adopted resolutions. To guarantee that the Board reviews your proposal, submit it instead as a petition to the Board as described below.
In addition, if you are proposing a resolution requesting the Board to draft a future enactment, please consider drafting the proposed enactment instead. This will ensure that your idea is considered by the Council on Legislation using your intended language and in a timely manner.
 
Petitions to the Board
Instead of proposing a resolution to the Council on Resolutions, a club may wish to consider submitting a petition to the RI Board (RCP 28.005.), which is a request for action on a specific matter. Items that have a limited scope, rather than impacting the whole Rotary world, are better to submit as petitions.

The process allows clubs to bring issues of concern to the Board for consideration and possible action at its regular meeting. The RI Board hears petitions at every meeting, and you may receive a more rapid response through this action than by submitting a resolution to the Council on Resolutions.

Petitions to the Board must be submitted directly by clubs or may result from a district conference. They must also be signed by either the club president or district governor. The intent of the petition should be clearly explained in a letter either to the Rotary president, Board of Directors, or the General Secretary. The petition can be formatted as a proposed resolution or simple as a letter.