RESOLUTION COMMITTEE RULES

Requirements:

The resolution may be on any topic the author wishes.

Provide a title or topic indicating what the resolution is about.

Indicate what Congressional District the resolution is being submitted on behalf of.

Provide a word count of all the words in the resolution (titles, the CD name, the number designating the total number of words, and any numbering of lines are NOT counted in the total number of words. "Whereas" and "THEREFORE, RESOLVED, the DPW" ARE included in the total word count.)

The total number of words in the resolution must NOT exceed 100.

The wording of the resolutions must conform to the following:

Start the resolution with "Whereas,." and provide reasoning for the resolution.

If you have additional reasons, include additional "Whereas,." clauses.

Wrap up the resolution with "THEREFORE, RESOLVED, the DPW . (advocates, urges, demands, recommends etc.) and then finish with what it is you want the DPW to do or support, etc.

The document should be line numbered for easy identification of which line a commenter is referring to in the Resolution.

The resolutions are normally drafted by individuals or committees on the County level, discussed, reviewed, debated or redrafted by individuals within the County and then presented to the County Party membership for a vote to endorse them for presentation to the Congressional District Convention, held once every year. In order to vote on the resolutions, individuals need to be currently paid Democratic Party members. (Their dues must be paid prior to the publicly announced start of the meeting at which voting occurs.)

The voting for the resolutions on the County level, must take place prior to the Congressional District Conventions, far enough in advance so that they can be submitted to the Congressional District Party Chairman at least ten days in advance of the CD Convention.

Resolutions must be identified as to what Resolution Classification they fall under (see past Resolutions for Classifications), numbered, titled, marked to indicate which County they are being submitted by, with a total word count, (in that order) and in the hands of the CD Chair at least 10 days prior to the Congressional District Convention, so that enough copies can be made by CD officials to be handed out in a uniform, organized packet, to the CD delegates for voting. Some CDs expect that the resolutions are read by the delegates prior to the session on resolutions, if that is the case in your CD, we strongly suggest that the packets of all the resolutions are provided to each delegate before the CD Convention starts.

Only the top 10 vote receiving resolutions from each County are allowed to be submitted to the Congressional District delegates (who need to be verified by a credentials committee, as paid members of the Democratic Party to be entitled to vote) for consideration for further advancement to the State Convention.

Only the top 10 vote receiving resolutions from each CD are allowed to be submitted to the Platform and Resolutions Committee for review, editing and consolidation with similar Resolutions from other CDs, or with past Resolutions that are currently "on the books" (adopted resolutions from past State Conventions that have not expired - we currently have a sunset clause that takes resolutions "off the books" after four years. Resolutions which are still important, current and endorsed by the membership can be re- affirmed by the current P&R Committee or delegates at the State Convention to prevent the resolution from sun-setting, and extend it for an additional four years.)

We currently have 8 Congressional Districts (CDs) whose boundaries are determined after each census to make sure that there is one member of the House of Representatives for an equal number of citizens within each CD. (We had 9 CDs in 2000). Therefore, there are now a maximum of 80 resolutions that are reviewed by the Platform and Resolutions Committee, under normal circumstances, to present to the delegates at the Annual State Democratic Party Convention. Similar resolutions may be combined together and edited to reflect the intent of each of the contributing CDs, and the contributing CDs indicated in the resolution heading, so the total number of Resolutions you see at the State Convention will likely be reduced from the original number submitted.

Platform and Resolutions Committee members representing the different CDs are responsible for making sure that the Resolutions passed at their CD Conventions are submitted to the Platform and Resolutions Committee Chair and Secretary at least a week and a half (preferably two or three weeks), prior to the Platform and Resolutions Committee meeting to review, condense and edit the Resolutions.

All submissions should be done VIA EMAIL, because of speed of transmission and quick verification of receipt or non-receipt, and if the files are damaged or garbled, requests can be made for a re- submission.

The resolutions should be uniform, of the same font throughout, without any special or fancy formatting, justification, bulleting, or spacing, etc. and be submitted as PLAIN TEXT in the body of an email (NOT AS AN ATTACHMENT), when submitted to the Platform and Resolutions committee delegates or officers. Don't worry about fonts, or spacing or bulleting etc.., we have to standardize all that formatting on this side.

Any fancy formatting or special effects etc.. from multiple different types of software and different versions of the same software, just leads to problems with putting the final copies together.

The above rules for submission also apply to people submitting floor resolutions to be included in the Resolutions packet distributed by the Platform and Resolutions Committee, except that they are allowed to present their Floor Resolutions after the Platform and Resolutions Committee meeting, but NO LATER THAN three weeks prior to the State Convention, in order to be included in the packet.

Floor Resolutions submitted at the Convention must be presented at least three hours prior to the scheduled Platform and Resolutions Session with 50 copies to be distributed to the delegates, and you must supply a digital file of that resolution following the same requirements as outlined above. These resolutions, printed copies and the digital file have to be submitted to the Chair of the Platform and Resolutions Committee.

Those individuals interested in submitting Resolutions should check with their Platform and Resolutions Committee Delegates from their respective CDs and upon approval by the Congressional District vote, submit the top 10 vote receiving resolutions to those Delegates so they can, in turn, submit them to Platform and Resolutions Committee officers, and state party headquarters. The DPW Constitutional bylaw relating to Resolutions REQUIRES that "the Congressional District Convention shall consider ALL resolutions submitted and shall adopt and forward no more than ten (10) to the Platform and Resolutions Committee in care of state headquarters NO LATER than two (2) days after the last Congressional District Convention."

Those resolutions making the cut and completing final editing at the Platform and Resolutions Committee level, will be organized according to classification, included in a Resolutions packet to be provided to delegates at the State Convention, and voted on by a meeting of the delegates who have been verified as voting delegates and current dues paying Democratic Party members by the Credentials Committee at the State Convention.

Resolutions will be voted on by a gathering of the delegates during the Platform and Resolutions portion of the State Convention. Resolutions are presented as a block to approve all those which do not meet with opposition. Those which are opposed, are separated out from the Resolutions as a whole and are presented individually, in order, by category, to the delegation, where discussion, debate and possible editing will be considered. Once discussion, debate and editing are concluded, voting will take place by yea or nay. Once the Resolutions having passed through the County, CD and Platform and Resolutions Committee have been voted on at the State level, Resolutions from the Floor will be entertained.

Any resolutions not making the "cut" at the County level or CD level; whether being offered by individuals or delegates, (if anyone determines that particular resolutions of importance have not been included in the resolutions approved by the CDs, or edited by the Platform and Resolutions Committee), may be submitted as a floor resolution to the entire delegation at the State Convention, but must be properly formatted and line numbered at the left hand column, and all other requirements as those which have gone through approval at the County and CD level, except that these floor resolutions have not been approved at the County or CD level.

The latest Constitutional bylaws pertaining to Resolutions, which have been approved by the Administrative Committee in January 2006, requires that all Floor Resolutions, "except in exceptional cases".. "shall address relevant timely issues and shall not have been considered and missed the 10 resolutions forwarded by the Congressional District convention..These Resolutions must be presented to the Chairperson of the Platform and Resolutions committee a minimum of three hours prior to the start of the floor debate on resolutions at any session of the convention. The Platform and Resolutions Committee shall meet a minimum of two hours before the convention convenes to review all proposed floor resolutions. They shall reject those that do not meet the above criteria. They may make a recommendation for approval or rejection of floor resolutions."

A minimum of 50 copies must be made available and distributed, in advance, for the delegates to review.

If the floor resolution is presented to the Platform and Resolutions Committee, properly drafted and meeting the minimum requirements as outlined above, at least three weeks prior to the State Convention, all reasonable efforts will be made to make sure that they are included in the Resolutions packet containing all of the other Resolutions, handed out to the delegates from the Platform and Resolutions Committee. If your floor resolution is included in the Resolutions packet, the minimum requirement of 50 copies for the delegates will have been met.

I say all reasonable efforts will be made, because whether or not they will be included, will be determined by how many floor resolutions are submitted, and how much work will be required to include them in the Resolutions packet in time to make it to the printer on time.

Once a floor resolution has been determined as having met the requirements and proper format, they will be presented to the delegation as a whole, where discussion, debate and possible editing will be considered.

The floor resolution will then be voted on for a yea or nay vote to adopt.

Article IV, Section 5- COMMITTEES:

A. A standing platform and resolutions committee shall be composed of three members from each congressional district and one alternate elected at the district conventions. The delegates shall be elected for three-year staggered terms with one delegate elected each year. The alternate shall be elected each year for a one year term. The committee shall select its chairperson from its membership for a two year term at its first meeting following the even- year conventions. In addition, up to three state representatives and two alternates elected from the Democratic Assembly Caucus, one state senator and two alternates elected from the Democratic Senate Caucus, and one representative selected by the Democratic members of the Wisconsin delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, one representative of the highest elected Democratic State Constitutional Officer, and a representative selected by the College Democrats may participate as voting members of the platform and resolutions committee but shall not be counted for quorum purposes. In the event of a vacancy of one of the elected members, the Congressional District executive committee shall appoint a replacement to serve until the next District Convention at which time a representative to the platform and resolutions committee shall be elected to complete the term of the vacated seat. A member of the platform and resolutions committee is deemed to have resigned if he or she misses two consecutive meetings of the committee without prior notice to its chairperson or secretary or misses three consecutive meetings of the committee with or without such notice. This committee shall promptly notify District executive committees of these vacancies and all other vacancies of which it may be aware. A quorum for platform and resolutions committee meetings shall consist of one-half of its total membership. No member of the platform and resolutions committee may be represented by proxy other than the duly elected District alternate.

It shall be the duty of the platform and resolutions committee to write and revise the state platform and to manage resolutions before the annual convention.

The platform shall be presented to the annual convention in even numbered years. When no revisions arise from the platform and resolutions committee, the District Conventions, or from the convention floor, a vote shall be taken to reaffirm the platform as written.

The platform and resolutions committee shall hold hearings and consult with any person or groups necessary to write a platform. This platform shall communicate a positive expression of those principles and policies which provide the foundation for the political program of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. The platform itself shall be no more than 2500 words in length. The platform and resolutions committee shall present an initial draft of the platform or revisions thereof to the administrative committee by January 15th of even numbered years, or fifteen (15) days prior to the first administrative committee meeting after February 1, whichever is later. Upon review of the initial draft, the administrative committee shall make such recommendations as it deems appropriate and return it to the platform and resolutions committee within forty- five (45) days for its second draft. The second draft of the platform shall be submitted to each member of the administrative committee, each county chairperson, each Democratic State Legislator, each Democratic U.S. Congressperson and Senator from Wisconsin, each Democratic statewide elected official, and to each District Convention, no later than March 15th of even numbered years.

Recommendations for changes to the second draft of the platform shall be made at the District Conventions and submitted in writing to the platform and resolutions committee in care of state headquarters no later than two days after the last C.D. convention of even numbered years. The platform and resolutions committee shall then prepare a final draft of the platform to be included in each convention packet for consideration at the convention. Adoption of the entire platform as drafted by the platform and resolutions committee shall take a majority vote of those delegates present and voting at the convention. A sixty percent (60%) vote of those delegates present and voting is required to amend the platform from the convention floor.

The platform and resolutions committee shall be responsible for any resolutions to be presented for adoption at the annual convention. Resolutions may be considered annually. Resolutions must be reasonable in length, but no more than one hundred (100) words in length; must be a standardized format, that is each resolution must start with a paragraph beginning "Whereas," and end with a paragraph "Resolved," with each line being numbered; and must derive from the following procedure:

1. Each must be passed by the county unit. Each such unit may submit no more than ten (10) resolutions and shall forward them to the District Chairperson at least ten days prior to the District Convention.

2. The Congressional District Convention shall consider all resolutions submitted and shall adopt and forward no more than ten (10) to the platform and resolutions committee in care of state headquarters no later than two (2) days after the last Congressional District Convention.

3. The platform and resolutions committee shall consolidate and edit the District resolutions and shall submit them to the annual convention for adoption.

4. The annual convention may adopt additional resolutions from the floor after debate and voting has occurred on the above resolutions provided that such resolutions are in writing with a minimum of fifty (50) copies available to the delegates on the floor. Resolutions from the floor must also be in the standardized format noted above, and must be presented to the chairperson of the Platform and Resolutions committee prior to the start of the floor debate on resolutions at any session of the convention.

5. Any resolutions not acted upon at the State Convention shall be directed to the Platform and Resolutions Committee for review and recommendations to be made within 60 days. These shall be presented to the Administrative Committee for final action at its next meeting.

The proposed procedure violates Robert's Rules as they apply to the Committee. The procedure violates the Committee's Rules and the DPDC Bylaws and Constitution, which (1) require that Robert's Rules apply to the Committee's work and (2) make the Committee advisory to the membership.

The membership must have the opportunity to consider, debate, amend etc., and ultimately approve or disapprove, as amended by the membership, what the Committee brings to the membership. No resolution can be a resolution of the DPDC until the membership adopts it in whatever form the membership transforms it into starting with what the Committee recommends.

What may happen, and should happen, is that resolutions as the Committee has adopted them be presented to the membership without need for a motion and second to adopt. A resolution should be simply announced to the membership as a recommended resolution from the Committee and then debate by the membership, including the possibility of amendment, etc., on the resolution should be invited. When debate is properly concluded in accordance with Robert's Rules, the membership must vote to approve or disapprove the resolution with the form it has at the conclusion of the debate.

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Under Roberts Rules, the Committee can basically debate, amend, approve, and vote to recommend it be adopted by the membership.

I then basically present the resolution to the membership and announce that the Resolutions Committee has already debated the resolution and now recommends its adoption by the membership.

The work of the membership, then, is merely to vote up or down. Majority carries.

There is no debate allowed on the floor under this process.

If people wish to get involved with debating resolutions, they may do so, but within the Committee, not on the floor.

We routinely meet 1 hour prior to membership meetings so there is no excuse for interested people not to be there.

This doesn't mean unpopular resolutions will be adopted.

They will simply be voted down, likely by both the Committee and/or EBoard prior to getting to the membership level.

I recommend we try this Wednesday and see how it goes.

Using this process means voting on resolutions should only take a few minutes.

Notes:

Sections I - IV below are the Rules of Proceedings of the Resolutions and Platform Committee. They are in effect. As required by the By-Laws, the Resolutions and Platform Committee approved them on June 3, 1999 and the Executive Board approved them on June 30, 1999.

Section V below are rules proposed by the Resolutions and Platform Committee for the consideration by the membership of matters brought to it from the Committee. The Committee recommends that, although the rules of Section V are rules of proceedings at membership meetings, they remain part of the rules of the Resolutions and Platform Committee.

In practical terms, it is believed that the rules as proposed in Section V would provide more opportunity for involvement in the consideration of resolutions by interested members and members who may be especially knowledgeable about the subject matter of particular resolutions, provide more notice to members about resolutions that are under consideration and more careful deliberation of resolutions by the members before the members adopt them. This all will result in resolutions that are of much higher quality, will reflect much more accurately the positions of the membership, and will be much more respected by the public at large, policy makers and implementers in government, and other persons to whom the resolutions may be addressed.

Section I: Status of the Committee Section II: Members and Officers of the Committee and Voting Rights in the Committee Section III: Proceedings of the Committee Section IV: Status and Amendment Rules of the Committee Section V: Consideration of Resolutions at Membership Meetings

I. Status of the Committee: The Committee is a standing committee of the Democratic Party of Dane County ("the Party") and reports to the membership of the Party.

II. Members and Officers of the Committee and Voting Rights in the Committee

• A. The Committee shall consist of: (1) its Chairperson, who shall be appointed by the Party Chairperson with the approval of the Executive Board, shall serve as Committee Chairperson at the pleasure of the Party Chairperson and until her or his successor as Committee Chairperson shall have qualified, and shall have a vote on all motions before the Committee; (2) all officers of the Party, ex officio, with vote on all motions before the Committee; (3) all members of the Party who also are members of the Platform and Resolutions Committee of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, ex officio, with vote on all motions before the Committee; and (4) every person who, having paid her or his annual dues to the Party for a year at least three days previously, declares in a writing, signed by him or her, that he or she intends to be a member of the Committee during the year and provides in said writing his or her address, telephone number and e-mail address, if any.
• B. A member of the Committee in accordance with Subsection II(A)(4) hereof shall have a vote on all motions before the Committee and shall serve for a term that (1) begins on the first date, during the year for which dues were paid as provided in Subsection II(A)(4), on which the Chairperson of the Committee shall have approved as to form and content the writing indicating intent to be a member of the Committee and the Chairperson of the Party who holds or shall hold office during such year shall have approved the membership on the Committee and (2) ends on December 31 of such year. The Chairpersons of the Committee and the Party shall proceed as expeditiously as possible in carrying out their responsibilities under this Subsection II(B).
• C. No member of the Committee shall have other than one vote notwithstanding membership on the Committee on account of qualifying under more than one of Subsections II(A)(1) - (4) of these Rules.
• D. The members of the Committee may elect from among themselves a Vice-Chairperson. The Vice-Chairperson shall serve at the pleasure of the Committee Chairperson and for a term that begins on the date of election by the Committee and ends at the earlier of the expiration of the Vice-Chairperson's membership on the Committee and the expiration of service as Chairperson of the Committee of the person who was Chairperson at the time of election of the Vice-Chairperson. The Vice-Chairperson shall assist the Chairperson with the work of the Committee and shall preside at meetings of the Committee, or during presentation of the Committee's report at a membership meeting, at which the Chairperson does not preside.

III. Proceedings of the Committee

A. Jurisdiction (1) The jurisdiction of the Committee shall extend to: (i) all resolutions or statements of position by the Party on any matter or issue, except as specifically provided herein; and (ii) all resolutions or proposals pertaining to drafting, adopting, revising or interpreting any (a) provision of the Constitution or Bylaws of the Party or (b) any rule of procedure of the Party on which the membership votes or which the Executive Board refers to the membership for a vote. (2) Unless specifically authorized by the Executive Board or the membership of the Party, the Committee shall not consider endorsements of candidates for any public or Party office (at any level of the Democratic Party) or programs that the Party might undertake, other than programs to make known to others the views of the Party as expressed in resolutions or statements of position.

B. The Committee shall meet at least once between regular Party membership meetings that are at least ten days apart. For purposes of this Subsection, a convention of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin or any subdivision thereof to which members of the Party are delegates shall be deemed to be a "regular Party membership meeting" but events, such as picnics or Holiday parties, which are primarily intended for socializing among members of the Party or their guests and at which no substantial Party business is to be formally conducted shall be deemed to be not such.

C. Dates, times, and places of meetings of the Committee shall be determined by the chairperson or three or more officers of the Party.

D. The date, time and place of each meeting of the Committee shall be made known to all members of the Committee at least three days prior thereto.

E. No meeting of the Committee shall last more than two hours, provided that a majority of the members present may extend a meeting once, such that the duration of the meeting shall not exceed three hours, and two-thirds of the members present may otherwise extend a meeting for times certain.

F. Except as otherwise provided in the rules governing the Party or these rules, Roberts Rules of Order newly revised applicable to the proceedings of standing committees shall apply in the proceedings of the Committee.

G. A quorum of the Committee shall consist of three members thereof.

H. Resolutions considered by the Committee shall be succinct but shall not be out of order solely on account of being longer than any predetermined number of words.

I. Resolutions shall be taken up at meetings of the Committee in the following order: (1) resolutions which are in writing and of which there are enough copies to provide at least one copy to each member in attendance at the meeting; (2) resolutions which are in writing but which do not otherwise satisfy the requirements of Subsection I; and (3) other resolutions. (4) Within each of these categories, the Chairperson of the Committee shall have discretion to determine the order in which resolutions will be taken up.

IV. Status and Amendment of Rules of the Committee

A. These rules of the Committee, other than Section V hereof, shall replace, on the day after their adoption by the Executive Board, all rules of the Committee that may have been in force prior to that date.

B. Section V of these rules of the Committee shall take effect on the first date on which such Section shall have been approved by both the Executive Board and the Party's membership.

C. The rules of the Committee, other than Section V, may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present at a meeting, provided that written notice of the rule change has been provided all members of the Committee prior to the meeting, followed by approval of the amendment by a majority vote of the Executive Board. The effective date of an amendment shall be the day after the amendment is approved by the Executive Board. An amendment of Section V of the Rules, other than for non-substantive renumbering or the like, shall require, in addition to approval by the Committee and the Executive Board as provided in this Subsection IV(C), approval by majority vote of the Party's membership subsequent to approval by the Executive Board and shall take effect on the date that the membership so approves the amendment.

PROPOSED V. Consideration of Resolutions at Membership Meetings A. This Section V applies to consideration by the membership of the Party ("membership") of all matters that are within the jurisdiction of the Resolutions and Platform Committee ("Committee") as provided in Subsection III(A) of these Rules. B. In this Section V, "Chair" means the person who presides during a part of a membership meeting in which matters, to the consideration of which this Section V applies, are being considered. This person may be the Chair or acting Chair of the Party or, if the Chair or acting Chair of the Party consents, the Chair or Vice-Chair of the Committee. C. A motion to adopt a resolution, statement of position, proposal or other matter or measure within the jurisdiction of the Committee, hereinafter referred to as a "measure", shall be out of order at a membership meeting (hereinafter "a meeting"), unless: 1. at an earlier meeting, the measure, in writing, shall have been read, as provided in subsection V(C)(4) below, provided that, in the case of a measure that is an amendment to the Constitution, the measure, in writing, shall have been read at two earlier membership meetings; 2. the measure shall have been, with or without amendment, approved by (a) the Committee and (b) if the Constitution or Bylaws require consideration of the measure by the Executive Board (hereinafter "the Board") prior to consideration by the membership, the Board, provided that consideration by the Board shall be of the measure as finally approved or disapproved by the Committee; and 3. notice shall have been given, in an issue of the newsletter or otherwise in writing, that is mailed to the membership at least five (5) days but not more than thirty (30) days prior to the meeting at which the measure is to be submitted to the membership for its consideration, that a motion to adopt the measure, as amended by the Committee or Board or both pursuant to the review provided for in Subsection V(C)(2), will be made at the membership meeting, provided that, if the measure is of a type for which the Constitution or Bylaws require notice in a specific manner or earlier than the minimum period provided in this subsection V(C)(3), the notice requirements of the Constitution and Bylaws also shall have been satisfied. 4. Reading of a Measure a. A measure must be in writing at the time of its reading at a meeting. b. A measure may not be changed once its reading at a meeting has occurred, except by the Committee or Board as provided in Subsection V(C)(2) or the membership, once consideration of the measure is before the membership in accordance with Subsection V(C). c. Every meeting shall include a period prior to the consideration of new business that will be reserved for reading of measures. Additionally, a reading shall be in order at any time during a meeting after the consideration of new business has begun and until a motion to adjourn has been approved. A reading shall be in order while a motion to adjourn is pending. d. A reading does not require a second, is not debatable, and is not voted upon. A reading is in order at a meeting at which a quorum is not present. e. Any member, on behalf of her/himself, any group of members, the Committee, any other committee of the Party, or the Board, may make a reading of a measure. f. A reading may be made by the Chair from the podium or any member from the floor. A reading shall be made orally and shall last less than one (1) minute, unless the Chair in her or his discretion permits longer but not more than two (2) minutes without approval by majority vote. A reading must include either a descriptive title for the measure or a summary of the substance of the measure, and may, subject to the time limitations specified in this subsection V(C)(4)(f), include explanation or background for the measure. g. A reading of a measure, other than an amendment to the Constitution, may not occur more than once during any calendar year. A reading of a measure which is an amendment to the Constitution may not occur more than three times during any calendar year. In addition to the limitations of the first two sentences of this Subsection V(C)(4)(g), once a reading of a measure has occurred once, or in the case of a measure that is an amendment to the Constitution twice, a reading of the measure may not occur again until the measure been defeated by the Committee and so will not be referred to the membership, by the Board and so will not be referred to the membership, or by the membership. For purposes of this Subsection V(C)(4)(g), "a measure" means a measure that is the same or substantially the same as the measure at the time of its reading or as amended by the Committee, Board or membership subsequent to its reading and "calendar year" means the period beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31 of each year. h. The two readings required for a measure which is an amendment to the Constitution need not be by the same member or on behalf of the same individual or committee. 5. Referral of a measure after its reading a. A measure read on behalf of an individual member, a group of members that is not a committee of the Party, or a committee of the Party other than the Committee and the Board shall be referred to the Committee for consideration in accordance with Subsection V(C)(2). b. A measure may be read on behalf of the Board only if the Board has approved the measure and shall be referred to the Committee for consideration in accordance with Subsection V(C)(2). c. A measure may be read on behalf of the Committee only if the Committee has approved the measure. A measure read on behalf of the Committee shall be referred to the Board, if necessary in accordance with Subsection V(C)(2), or to the membership, subject to the provisions of Subsections V(C)(1) and (3). d. A measure which is an amendment to the Constitution shall not be referred to the membership until after its second reading. D. Consideration of a measure at a membership meeting 1. A measure, for which a motion to adopt has been noticed for and is in order at a meeting in accordance with Section V(C), shall be provided by the Party in writing to the members present at the meeting. 2. A motion to take from the table, to reconsider or to otherwise put before the membership a motion to adopt a measure shall not be in order at a membership meeting after that at which the motion to adopt was made unless the motion to take from the table, to reconsider or to otherwise put before the membership a motion to adopt is noticed in an issue of the newsletter as provided with respect to a motion to adopt in Subsection V(C)(3). Such notice shall be provided in the newsletter at the request of any member. If notice of a motion is provided in the newsletter as provided in this Subsection V(D)(2), the measure to which the notice pertains, in its form as it was last on the floor before the membership, shall be provided by the Party in writing to the members present at the meeting at which the motion noticed in the newsletter will be made. 3. Measures, and noticed motions as provided in Subsection V(D)(2), shall be taken up in an order determined by the Chair. 4. A resolution or motion, the subject matter of which is not within the jurisdiction of the Committee as provided in Subsection V(A), shall be out of order during the part of a meeting in which matters to which the rules of this Section V apply are being considered. 5. Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised, shall apply, except as provided in the rules of this Section V or the Constitution or ByLaws of the Party and except that "friendly amendments" will be deemed to be adopted without vote. A "friendly amendment" is an amendment to a motion that both the maker and seconder of the motion agree to and that, in the opinion of the Chair, is germane to the motion. 6. Length of Resolutions a. The 100-word rule that limits the length of resolutions that may be adopted at a Second CD Convention or the State Convention shall not be applied to rule resolutions out of order at a membership meeting. Instead, a rule of succinctness will be applied. The Chair may rule a resolution, regardless of its length, out of order if it is not succinct. b. If a measure as adopted by the membership is to be forwarded for consideration at a Second CD Convention as part of a packet of resolutions from the DPDC to be included in the program packet for such Convention, or is to be introduced in the name of the DPDC in any other way at a Second CD or State Convention, and is longer than whatever length limit applies to resolutions that may be adopted under the rules of such Convention (hereinafter "the applicable length limit"), the measure will be deemed to include an authorization for a length-conforming committee consisting of (i) the Chair of the Committee, (ii) the Chair of the Party, and (iii) the Vice-Chair for Organization of the Party to change the measure in any way, including possibly splitting same into a plurality of measures, to retain the substance of the measure as adopted by the membership but conform the resulting measure(s) to the applicable length limit, provided that, if any measure is so revised, members of the DPDC who are delegates at the Convention at which the measure is to be introduced will be provided at said Convention copies of both the measure as adopted by the DPDC membership and the corresponding revised measure(s) so that members who are delegates and believe that the substance of the measure as adopted by the membership was not retained in the corresponding revised measure(s) from the length-conforming committee may take steps at the Convention to restore to the revised measure(s) from the length-conforming committee what they believe the substance of the original measure as adopted by the membership to be. 7. Number of Measures to Be Forwarded to Congressional District Convention If the number of measures adopted by the membership for forwarding to a Second CD Convention for inclusion in the program of the Convention ("the Program") exceeds the maximum that may be included in the Program (hereinafter referred to as "the maximum"), the membership shall, at its last meeting prior to a deadline for submitting measures for the Program, rank these measures as follows, with the number equal to the maximum receiving the highest scores being submitted for the Program: In determining the scores of measures, each member present may cast zero (0) or one (1) vote for each measure. Voting shall be by a show of hands, and only yea votes shall be counted. For each resolution, the Chair shall put to the membership the following question, which shall be non-debatable: "How many of you favor sending {specify measure} for inclusion in the Program at the 2nd CD Convention?" Before beginning the voting procedure, the Chair shall explain that: (a) No more than a number of resolutions equal to the maximum from the Party may be included in the Program even though a total of [specify number] measures has been adopted by the membership and could qualify for such inclusion. Each member may vote for as many or as few of these qualifying measures as s/he wishes. In the case of tie(s) that cause the number of measures approved for inclusion in the Program to exceed the maximum after voting by the membership to rank the measures, a committee consisting of the Chair of the Party, the Chair of the Resolutions Committee, and the Secretary of the Party shall determine, from among those measures that may or may not be included in the Program depending on how the tie(s) are resolved, the ones that shall be forwarded to the 2nd CD for inclusion in the Program.

Section IV

SUMMARY

Section IV of the Committee's rules concerns the status of the rules and the procedure for amending them. The proposed amendment would completely replace Section IV in order to update the Section and clarify and simplify the procedure for amending the Committee's rules in the future.

PROPOSED NEW SECTION IV

Following is the proposed new Section IV of the Committee's rules that will be in effect if the proposed amendment is adopted following the procedure in the current Section IV. The current Section IV is provided after the proposed new Section.

IV. Status and Amendment of Rules of the Committee

A. The Committee's rules in effect on July 1, 1999 shall replace all of the Committee's rules that may have been in force prior to that date.

B. The Committee's rules may be amended as follows:

1. An amendment may be proposed by any Party member by being submitted in writing to any Committee member or by any Committee memberby being submitted in writing to all members of the Committee. A Committee member who receives a proposed amendment from a Party member who is not a Committee member shall submit the proposed amendment promptly in writing to the Committee Chair who in turn shall submit same promptly in writing to all Committee members.

2. To become effective, a proposed amendment must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Committee's members present and voting at a Committee meeting, provided that all Committee members shall have received the proposed amendment in writing at least five (5) days prior to the Committee meeting at which it is first considered. The Committee, in considering a proposed amendment and prior to approving same, may adopt by majority vote amendments thereto that are germane to the proposal. A proposed amendment, as approved by the Committee, shall be transmitted by the Committee Chair promptly in writing to the members of the Executive Board for the Board's consideration.

3. An amendment, as approved by the Committee, shall be considered promptly by the Executive Board and to become effective must be approved by majority vote of the Board's members present and voting at a Board meeting. The Board, in considering an amendment and prior to approving same, may adopt amendments thereto that are germane to the amendment as approved by the Committee. A proposed amendment, as approved by the Board, shall be brought to the Party membership for its consideration at the membership meeting next following the Board's approval.

4. An amendment, in the form as approved by the Board, shall be considered by the Party membership at its meeting next following the Board's approval and shall take effect upon approval and as approved by majority vote of the Party members present and voting at a membership meeting. The membership, in considering an amendment and prior to approving same, may adopt amendments thereto that are germane to the amendment as approved by the Board.

CURRENT SECTION IV

Following is the Section IV of the Committee's rules that is now in effect and that would be replaced if the proposed amendment is adopted.

IV. Status and Amendment of Rules of the Committee

A. These rules of the Committee, other than Section V hereof, shall replace, on the day after their adoption by the Executive Board, all rules of the Committee that may have been in force prior to that date.

B. Section V of these rules of the Committee shall take effect on the first date on which such Section shall have been approved by both the Executive Board and the Party's membership.

C. The rules of the Committee, other than Section V, may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present at a meeting, provided that written notice of the rule change has been provided all members of the Committee prior to the meeting, followed by approval of the amendment by a majority vote of the Executive Board. The effective date of an amendment shall be the day after the amendment is approved by the Executive Board. An amendment of Section V of the Rules, other than for non-substantive renumbering or the like, shall require, in addition to approval by the Committee and the Executive Board as provided in this Subsection IV(C), approval by majority vote of the Party's membership subsequent to approval by the Executive Board and shall take effect on the date that the membership so approves the amendment.

Section V

SUMMARY

This proposed amendment, which various members of the Committee and the Executive Board asked me to draft, would add a new Section V to the Committee's rules.

This new Section would provide procedures for handling certain resolutions (mostly those concerning matters of public policy)after they are adopted by the Party membership unless the resolutions, as adopted, would provide for different or additional procedures.

With the new Section, it would no longer be necessary to add cumbersome resolved clauses to resolutions to direct the Party's Chair (or his/her designee) to send copies of the resolutions to various public officials and various media organizations.

Also, with the new Section, procedures would be provided for deciding which resolutions from the County Party would be forwarded to each Congressional District convention and prescribing the form that such forwarded resolutions would have. These procedures also would obviate the need for cumbersome resolved clauses.

PROPOSED NEW SECTION V

V. Handling of Certain Resolutions

A. This Section V, unless stated otherwise in a resolution as adopted by the Party membership, applies to all resolutions which are (1) within the jurisdiction of the Committee as provided in Subsection III(A)(1)(i) of the Committee's Rules, (2) resolutions or statements of position by the Party on any matter or issue, and (3) adopted by the Party membership.

B. Resolutions to Be Forwarded to Congressional District Conventions

1. This Subsection V(B) applies only to resolutions (i) to which Section V applies, (ii) which concern matters or issues of substantial concern outside Dane County, and (iii) which as adopted by the Party membership have in each case either (a) no more words than whatever length-limit applies to resolutions that may be considered at the district convention or (b) a resolved clause specifying the form, with no more words than such applicable length-limit, of the resolution as it is to be submitted to such convention.

2. Only resolutions to which Subsection V(B) applies may be forwarded to a district convention.

3. For Subsection V(B):

i. "[D]istrict convention" means "congressional district Democratic Party convention for the district which includes Dane County".

ii. "Resolution Year" means the period (a) beginning, during one calendar year, at the adjournment of the last Party membership meeting prior to the deadline for submission of resolutions from the Party for inclusion in the official delegate packet of the district convention that year and (b) ending during the next following calendar year at adjournment of the last Party membership meeting prior to the deadline for submission of resolutions from the Party for inclusion in the official delegate packet of the district convention in such next following year.

iii. With respect to a Resolution Year, the "Congressional District Group of Resolutions for the Resolution Year" consists of all resolutions (a) to which Subsection V(B) applies and (b) which were adopted by the Party membership during the Resolution Year. "District Group for the Resolution Year" means "Congressional District Group of Resolutions for the Resolution Year."

4. Every resolution to which Subsection V(B) applies shall be (i) included, in the District Group for the Resolution Year in which the Party membership adopts the resolution, either as adopted or, if the resolution includes a resolved clause that specifies the form of the resolution as it is to be submitted to a district convention, in such form, and (ii) as part of such Group, have the clause which introduces its resolved clause(s) replaced if necessary to read "THE WISCONSIN DEMOCRATIC PARTY RESOLVES:".

5. If, after consideration of resolutions at the last Party membership meeting of a Resolution Year, the number of resolutions in the District Group for the Resolution Year is no more than the number which the Party is entitled to have in the official delegate packet of the district convention, in the calendar year in which the Resolution Year ends, then the Chair of the Committee shall promptly after such membership meeting, and in any case prior to the deadline for doing so, provide all resolutions in such Group to the person(s) responsible for assembling such official delegate packet and inform the Executive Board and the Committee which resolutions were so provided.

6. If, after consideration of resolutions at the last Party membership meeting of a Resolution Year, the number of resolutions in the District Group for the Resolution Year is greater than the number which the Party is entitled to have in the official delegate packet of the district convention, in the calendar year in which the Resolution Year ends, then the members present at such membership meeting after such consideration of resolutions but prior to adjournment of the meeting shall, by a process to be determined by the Chair of the Committee, select the resolutions from such Group to be included in such official delegate packet, provided that:

i. In such selection process, the Party members participating in the process shall be informed of at least the title and resolved clause(s) of every resolution in the Group of Resolutions, each such member shall have the same voting power, and discussion of which resolutions should be selected for inclusion in such official delegate packet shall be in order prior to the voting to select those that shall be included in the packet.

ii. The number of resolutions to be selected for inclusion in such official delegate packet by such selection process shall equal the number which the Party is entitled to have in such official delegate packet.

iii. A motion to adjourn such membership meeting shall not be in order until the selection process shall have been completed.

iv. The Chair of the Committee shall promptly after such membership meeting, and in any case prior to the deadline for doing so, provide the resolutions that shall have been selected by such selection process to the person(s) responsible for assembling such official delegate packet and inform the Executive Board and the Committee which resolutions were so provided.

v. The Chair of the Committee shall provide at such convention sufficient copies for each delegate there registered to have one, but in no case fewer than the minimum number of copies required by the rules of the convention for a resolution introduced from the floor to be in order, of each resolution, that was in the District Group for the Resolution Year but was not selected as provided in this Subsection V(B)(6) for inclusion in the official delegate packet, and shall introduce on behalf of the Party each such resolution from the floor of the convention.

7. If Dane County be split among more than one congressional district, this Subsection V(B) applies separately each year with respect to the convention of the Democratic Party in each such district.

C. Every resolution to which Section V applies shall be deemed to direct the Chair of the Party, promptly after the resolution's adoption by the Party membership, to provide on behalf of the Party a copy of the resolution, with an appropriate cover letter, to public officials, political party officials, or other persons who can act in accordance with or implement the resolution and to whom, in the discretion of the Chair of the Party, it would be reasonable to provide a copy. For each resolution, the Chair of the Party shall report to the Executive Board the persons to whom copies of the resolution have been provided in accordance with this Subsection V(C) and the Executive Board may direct the Chair to so provide copies to additional persons.

D. Every resolution to which Section V applies shall be deemed to direct the Chair of the Party, promptly after the resolution's adoption by the Party membership, to provide a copy of the resolution, with an appropriate cover letter or press release, to media organizations which have their principal offices in Dane County or have significant readership, viewership or listenership in Dane County and to which, in the discretion of the Chair of the Party, it would be reasonable to provide a copy. For each resolution, the Chair of the Party shall report to the Executive Board the media organizations to which copies of the resolution have been provided in accordance with this Subsection V(D) and the Executive Board may direct the Chair to so provide copies to additional media organizations.

E. Duties assigned the Chair of the Party or the Chair of the Committee by Section V may be delegated by the Chairs respectively to other Party members.

F. Nothing in this Section V shall be construed to limit ways by which the Chair of the Party, or others with his or her approval, in the name of the Party may bring resolutions to the attention of the public or persons who can act in accordance with or implement the resolutions.

Note: The proposed Section:

(1) Allows the membership to change the "default" provisions in the Section. This can be accomplished by simply including in a resolution a resolved clause that something will be done with it in lieu of what one section or another of Section V provides as the "default." For example, if the Chair would need to be in LA for a month, the membership could, at the Chair's suggestion, resolve in a resolution that, in lieu of the Chair doing what Section V calls for, the Committee Chair, the Development Vice-Chair, or the Secretary do so.

(2) gives the Chair great flexibility by:

(a) Providing that s/he can assign tasks to "his or her designee" and

(b) Directing that s/he use her/his discretion in deciding which officials and which media organizations to send resolutions to, subject to reporting to and possible supplementation by the EBoard.

PROPOSED SECTION VI

VI. Public Relations Concerning Resolutions

A. A resolution adopted by the Party membership may be publicly distributed freely by any Party member in any place or forum, through any medium, orally or in writing, and for any purpose consistent with the liberal principles of the Democratic Party, provided that every oral statement or written copy of the resolution so distributed include the full, unaltered text thereof as adopted by the membership, state that it is a resolution of the Party and the date on which the membership adopted same, and include all other information that may be required by law.

B. Public Announcements on Behalf of the Party of Resolutions Prior to Adoption by the Party 1. The Committee Chair may publicly announce on behalf of the Party, directly through leafleting, web-posting, oral presentations or the like or indirectly through print, broadcast, internet-based or other media, a resolution that has not been adopted by the Party, but only if the resolution has been adopted by the Committee and is to be considered at a Party membership meeting within two (2) weeks of the announcement and all other conditions specified in this Subsection VI(B) for such a public announcement by the Committee Chair are satisfied. Otherwise no person other than the Party Chair may make a public announcement on behalf of the Party of a resolution that has not been adopted by the Party.

2. A public announcement by the Party Chair or the Committee Chair on behalf of the Party of a resolution that has not been adopted by the Party shall include or be accompanied by a written notice (i) that the resolution has not been adopted by the Party, (ii) in the case of such an announcement by the Committee Chair, the time and place of the Party membership meeting at which the resolution will be considered, (iii) in the case of such an announcement by the Party Chair, the time and place of the Party membership meeting at which the resolution will be considered if such time and place be known at the time of the announcement, and (iv) all other information that may be required by law.

3. A public announcement by the Committee Chair of a resolution that has not been adopted by the Party shall further include or be accompanied by, in writing, (i) notice that the announcement is on behalf of the Party and (ii) contact information for the Party Chair.

4. Prior to a public announcement by the Committee Chair on behalf of the Party of a resolution not yet adopted by the Party, the Committee Chair shall (i) provide the Party Chair a copy of all written material, including but not limited to texts, art work and pictures, to be part of the announcement and (ii) simultaneously advise the Party Chair of the planned time of first release of the announcement, which is the time of the first to occur of release of the announcement to the public directly or the media. The Committee Chair's providing this written material, and advising of the planned time of first release, shall be sufficiently in advance of such planned time of first release, but in no case less than forty-eight (48) hours prior thereto, that the Party Chair has a reasonable opportunity to review such written material prior to the announcement's first release. If, prior to such planned time of first release, the Party Chair advises the Committee Chair that he or she objects to the announcement with such written material, the Committee Chair shall not make the announcement unless and until the written material is changed to be acceptable to the Party Chair for public announcement of the resolution. If, prior to such planned time of first release, the Party Chair does not advise the Committee Chair that he or she objects to the announcement with such written material, the Committee Chair may release the announcement beginning at or no more than two (2) days later than the planned time of first release, provided that, if the first release of the announcement is to be more than two (2) days later than the planned time of first release, the Committee Chair shall give the Party Chair another opportunity to review the written material in accordance with this Subsection VI(B)(4).

5. In this Subsection VI(B), "Committee Chair" means the Committee Chair or a designee of him or her and "Party Chair" means the Party Chair or a designee of him or her.

NOTES 5/19/00

1. There is no "10 Resolutions" rule that applies to the LA Convention.

The Wisconsin Party does not formally submit resolutions to the National Convention. Hopefully Wisconsin delegates will represent the wishes of the members of their State Party, but there is nothing, including any tradition, that requires them to. There is really almost no connection between State Parties and the National Convention. In fact, there is almost no connection between reality and the National Convention. It is just a big, highly orchestrated media extravaganza to make Al Gore look good. I would be surprised if the word "resolution" or the phrase "national platform" is used ten times on all broadcasts by all networks on the Convention.

The interactive platform site is really just a cynical charade by some pr hucksters inside Gore's campaign. Not that we shouldn't do something with it, but there can't be any real expectation that any platform committee is going to give serious consideration to what comes in on it. For one thing, it is so highly disorganized that it is highly unlikely statistically that any meaningful, clear messages will come through on it. There will be at best just millions of little, highly divergent snippets that will not be capable of being fashioned into any meaningful policy positions without alienating at least half the people that bothered to post something.

2. This is what I think needs to be done for the three DPDC resolutions that will hopefully be introduced from the Convention floor:

A. First, certain Convention rules, that are in the Party's ByLaws, MUST be complied with for each of the resolutions:

i. Each needs to be on a separate sheet of paper (i.e., no back and front to minimize tree destruction).

ii. The 100-word rule applies.

iii. A resolution must have its lines numbered - like the ones in the 2nd CD Platform Report.

iv. A MINIMUM of 50 copies must be presented to ANY member of the State Platform Committee AT LEAST 45 minutes BEFORE the beginning of the Platform/Resolutions part of the Convention begins on Saturday.

v. A DELEGATE must introduce the resolution - i.e., move from the floor that the Convention adopt it - and promptly (like within 5 seconds) after it is moved some other DELEGATE must second the motion. Then discussion can begin.

B. As to what we (i.e., the DPDC Reso Comm.) should do, in my opinion:

i. For each resolution, prepare 300 copies with the lines numbered and with a union bug. The bug is worth a minimum of 50 votes on the Convention floor without even saying a word. This will cost about $25 per resolution. (Without the union bug it would be at least $21 and maybe even more than $25.) I would take care of all of the preparation and copying except that right now I am out over $130 for 2nd CD stuff and DPDC stuff and I gotta eat and pay the mortgage so I'm not going to do the copying unless I get paid at least what I'm owed now or unless the cost of copying is paid me before I do the copying. I will be more than happy to prepare the "photo-ready" copy - in fact I will do it right after I send this - and would be more than happy to see that the copying is done with a union bug. I have a great union shop just around the corner here - International Worker's of the World, no less, not some milquetoasty capitalistic AFLCIO stuff! - I just do not want to extend myself any more for copying. I'd be willing to do the copying myself on the machinery I have (it costs me 8.5 cents to make a copy) and then get reimbursed by the DPDC, but I could not put a union bug on because I'm not a union worker, unfortunately. I guess workers who work for themselves cannot belong to unions.

ii. I will take the copies to the Convention. I will keep 50 of each resolution. I will probably give you the remainder, but whatever. My keeping the 50 will satisfy the 45-minute rule, because I'm a member of the State Platform Committee. I will get the 50 copies of each to the Platform Com chair asap, so that they are hopefully the first considered after the Platform Comm.'s report.

iii. About halfway through the consideration of reso's from the Platform Committee Report, members of the Reso Comm should distribute the remaining 250 copies of each reso to all the delegates in the hall. 250 copies might not be enough for one per delegate there, but it will get the word out. Delegates are seated by CD, so each CD area could be provided about 27 copies to distribute.

iv. One Reso Committee member should be charged with introducing each of the three reso's. The obvious choices are Claude or you for Optional Clothing, Tom or Lee or Clayton (who hopefully will be there) for NMD, and you or I for Science. The rest of the members need to stand ready to second the motions. We need to resolve beforehand what the best order is for introduction; I can try to get the chair of the Platform Comm to follow our wishes but he has ultimate discretion on the issue.

3. If anyone wants to fill the Convention Hall with all sorts of literature etc. to urge that a particular reso be adopted, that would be wonderful. In addition to that, though, it might be productive to have the person sign up a bunch of new Party members in time to be delegates who will support the reso. For a person to be a delegate, he/she must (a) have party membership form and dues in the State Party Office by 5:00 PM, Friday, May 26 AND (b) notify somebody (Mark Horn?) enough before that time that he (or whoever is now Nominations Vice-Chair) can advise the State Party office that the person is a delegate from Dane County.