COUNCIL ON LEGISLATION

2020-2023

The Councils give us a voice in how our organization is governed.

Council on Resolutions

The Council on Resolutions meets online every year to vote on proposed resolutions and urgent enactments. Resolutions are requests to the Board or the Trustees to take an action that is outside the purview of the constitutional documents. Ideally, a resolution should affect the Rotary world, rather than address local or administrative issues. An urgent enactment is a change to the constitutional documents, proposed by the RI Board, that the Board has determined cannot wait until the next Council on Legislation, which is held every three years.

Representatives from all Rotary districts vote on items proposed by clubs, districts, the RI Board, and the general council or conference of RIBI. Adopted resolutions are then considered by the RI Board or The Rotary Foundation Trustees. Urgent enactments that have been adopted will amend the constitutional documents, and will take effect one month after the Council on Resolutions report has been sent.

The Council on Resolutions will take place 15 October through 15 November. You can view resolutions beginning 1 October. Voting will close 15 November at 23:59 Chicago time (UTC-6). The results will be published by 20 November. Any Rotarian can view the resolutions and the results, but only representatives can vote.

Council on Legislation

Every three years, Rotarians meet at the Council on Legislation to review and vote on proposed changes to the legislation that governs Rotary. They consider enactments, which change Rotary’s governing documents, and position statements by the RI Board.

Council representatives

Each Rotary district chooses a representative for a three-year term. These members represent their districts at all three meetings of the Council on Resolutions and at the Council on Legislation during their term.

District governors had until 30 June 2020 to report to Rotary their district representatives for the term covering 1 July 2020 through 30 June 2023. Representatives will participate in the:

2020, 2021, and 2022 Councils on Resolutions
2022 Council on Legislation

Proposing legislation and resolutions

Clubs, districts, the RI Board, and the RIBI general council or conference may submit legislation and resolutions to the Councils. The deadline for submitting resolutions for the Council on Resolutions is 30 June each year. Upcoming deadlines for submitting resolutions and legislation follow:

2021 Council on Resolutions: 30 June

The Council on Legislation meets every three years to discuss and vote on enactments that would change the Standard Rotary Club Constitution, the RI Constitution, or the RI Bylaws. For the annual Council on Resolutions, members can propose resolutions for the RI Board of Directors or Rotary Foundation Trustees to consider.

What The Council Does

Each Rotary district sends a representative to the Council. Representatives deliberate and act upon all proposed enactments and resolutions. Enactments seek to change Rotary’s constitutional documents, and resolutions express an opinion or make a recommendation to the RI Board.

The RI Board reviews and acts on resolutions adopted by the Council and items referred to the Board.

Proposing legislation

The deadline for legislation for the 2022 Council has already passed.