The process to make changes to the Constitution and Bylaws of Rotary International is handled at Councils on Legislation (COL) meetings that are held in Chicago every three years. A representative for each district goes to the Council to vote on legislation items that are submitted according to a specific timeline. I was the representative for District 5340 at the Council that just happened on April 10-14, 2022.
94 items were under consideration of which only 29 were adopted. These changes will take effect on July 1, 2022. A lot of items were just small and technical changes, but there were a few that are a little more significant. The complete list of proposed legislation can be found at https://my-cms.rotary.org/en/document/proposed-legislation-2022-council-legislation, and the complete results of the vote can be found at https://my-cms.rotary.org/en/document/vote-totals-2022-council-legislation. I will just expand on some items below.
Item 22-13 passed to get rid of geographical areas of recruitment for club membership. This means that as of July 1 clubs will no longer be restricted to their local geographical area for new members but could decide to recruit members from further away. In the age of online meetings and extended travel this will add flexibility to clubs and members.
- 22-46 passed with the dues increase that was requested by the board of directors in the 5-year financial forecast. See https://my-cms.rotary.org/en/document/ri-five-year-financial-forecast. To keep the same level of support by RI and TRF, with increasing costs and inflation, it is necessary to increase the dues, which are the main source of revenue for RI operations. These dues are a very small part of the cost of membership, and they are only increasing by $3 or $4 per year for the next 3 years.
- 22-71 passed for a pilot project the board wants to conduct in RIBI and New Zealand for a new club administration system. This will only affect the clubs in these areas. They will make changes to the club and district structure to try to find ways to address declining membership in these regions. Depending on the success of these pilot projects this might lead to more significant changes down the road.
- Additional information on Council on Legislations, including resources and reference documents can be found on the RI website at https://my.rotary.org/en/exchange-ideas/events/council-legislation.
You can also contact me if you have any specific questions.
PDG Philippe Lamoise