The Rotary Council on Legislation(COL) will be held in Chicago April 10th to 15th.
 
 
The Council on Legislation(COL) will be held in Chicago April 10th to 15th. I have been selected by District 5040 to represent our District at this legislative body of Rotary International.
The Council on Legislation is a working meeting where one representative from each Rotary district meets every three years to debate and vote on legislation proposed by clubs and districts.
The meeting is conducted in English, with simultaneous interpretation in five languages:
 French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish.
 
The typical Council has over 700 attendees. District representatives (530) make up the voting members of the Council. There are a number of non-voting members including the RI President, RI President-elect, RI Board of Directors, Past RI Presidents and Trustees’ Representative.
 
There are two types of legislation, proposed enactments and proposed resolutions. Proposed enactments seek to change RI’s constitutional documents – the RI Constitution, RI Bylaws and the Standard Rotary Club Constitution. If passed by the Council the changes become effective July 1st 2016. Proposed Resolutions seek actions by the Council that do not amend the constitutional documents. If passed by the Council they are not binding on the Board.
 
Starting on April 11th the representatives at the COL will be considering and voting on 111 proposed enactments and 46 proposed resolutions. Here are a few that will be of particular interest to clubs in District 5040. Please let me know if you have any comments on the following items.
  • Youth Service is currently the 5th Avenue of Service. One proposed enactment is that this 5th Avenue of Service be removed and that Rotary retains the original Four Avenues of Service. A second proposed enactment suggests that the name be changed back to New Generations Service. (Proposed Enactment 16- 12 and 13)
  • It has been proposed that the Standard Club Constitution be revised to allow for flexibility in club meetings and attendance. This would allow clubs, if they wish, to determine their own provisions for meeting flexibility and attendance. Clubs may also retain the existing constitutional requirements. (Proposed Enactment 16-21)
  • It is proposed that Rotaractors can be an active member of a Rotary Club. Rotaractors can simultaneously be in a Rotaract Club and a Rotary Club. (Proposed Enactment 16-40)
  • RI dues to increase $1 per year beginning in 2017-18($28.50 per half year)  through 2019-20($29.50 per half year). (Proposed Enactment 16-99) or increase dues to $30 per half year in 2016-17 and thereafter. (Proposed Enactment 16- 100)
  • A Proposed Resolution requests the RI Board to consider lowering the maximum age for membership in Rotaract to 25. ( 16-33)  Proposed Resolution 16-134 asks the Board to consider raising the Rotaract age limit to 35.
 
 I will be making a presentation at our District Conference in Whistler at the end of April on the results of the COL- which Enactments and Resolutions were passed and what that means for the ongoing activities of your club. Yours in Rotary Service PDG Penny Offer, Rotary Club of Ladner.