Update on Council of Legislation at Rotary International
For the first time, proceedings are being followed on an app which you are able to enter and access. Please go to www.login.crowdcompass.com and register. We have daily updates by 7pm, including the proposals considered, the voting splits, and whether the legislation passed.
Enactment 16-07 amending the Bylaws of the RI Constitution removed the payment of admission fees. This Enactment passed with a 4 vote split (232 to 228). There has been quite a bit of discussion amongst the Delegates post-vote. Please note that Article 6, Section 1 of the Standard Club Bylaws will still allow a club to assess an admission fee, if approved by its Board.
Enactment 16-07 amending the Bylaws of the RI Constitution removed the payment of admission fees. This Enactment passed with a 4 vote split (232 to 228). There has been quite a bit of discussion amongst the Delegates post-vote. Please note that Article 6, Section 1 of the Standard Club Bylaws will still allow a club to assess an admission fee, if approved by its Board.
The key piece of legislation passed on Monday is Enactment 16-21 changing the Standard Rotary Constitution Article 6 to allow Rotary clubs to meet 2 x month. Please note this enactment allows flexibility to clubs. If clubs prefer to have weekly meetings every week of the month, this is no problem.
11 April 2016 The Council on Legislation approved on Monday two key measures that would give clubs greater flexibility in their meetings and membership. Both were backed by the RI Board of Directors and passed overwhelmingly after lively debate. The first measure gives clubs greater leeway in when and how often they meet, how often they cancel meetings, and what constitutes a meeting, as long as they meet at least twice a month. The second measure grants clubs flexibility to experiment with membership models. Proponents argued that clubs need the enhanced freedom in order to determine what works best in their communities, noting that "one size does not fit all."
12 April 2016 Continuing yesterday's theme of flexibility, the Council on Legislation agreed on Tuesday to simplify the qualifications for membership in a Rotary club. The measure removes six membership criteria from the RI Constitution, replacing them with the simple requirement that a member be a person of good character who has a good reputation in their business or community and is willing to serve the community. Proponents argued that the change will give power back to clubs to "choose their own members without a checklist" and encourage membership growth. The Council also deferred until Thursday the consideration of proposals to create a new membership type, associate membership, and to allow Rotaractors to join a Rotary club, too.
13 April 2016 Citing a need to provide programs and services that allow Rotary clubs to flourish, the Council on Legislation approved three $4 increases in the annual per capita dues that clubs pay to Rotary International. RI Treasurer Per Høyen, speaking in favor of the request, said, "Hearing that 9 out of 10 Rotarians have asked Rotary to provide more services, the Board does not want to decrease the services to the clubs and districts. Now is the time to invest in our future and make it possible to move forward and achieve a strong future for Rotary." The increase sets the dues at $60 in 2017-18, $64 in 2018-19, and $68 in 2019-20.
Joint subscriptions to regional magazines 
- The council approved a measure allowing two Rotary members living at the same address to subscribe jointly to a regional magazine. That option already exists for The Rotarian.