To: New York DeMolay
Fr: Br. Austin Altman, State Master Councilor
“Dad” Brusoe, Personal Representative of the Grand Master
Subject: Legislative Guidance & Deadlines for New York DeMolay Convention
Plans are underway for the 2020 New York DeMolay Convention. As part of convention, Active DeMolays are able to propose amendments to the New York DeMolay Constitution and Bylaws. For reference these documents may be found here https://nydemolay.net/ss/files/misc/New%20York%20State%20Chapter%20Constitution_4AUG18.pdf and here:
https://nydemolay.net/ss/files/misc/New%20York%20State%20Chapter%20By-Laws_1February15_1.pdf
State Master Councilor Altman has tasked Deputy State Master Councilor Br. Michael Jordan and Lakes Region Master Councilor Nick Heitmann to co-chair the bylaws committee for the State Executive Committee.
What is the timeline?
There is a timeline established in the bylaws depending on “days prior to the Annual meeting.” Based on New York DeMolay convention opening on August 15, 2020:
1) By April 16, 2020, 120 days before the annual convention, any amendment or proposal must be emailed to Br. MJ and Br. Nick and CCed to “Dad” Brusoe
2) By May 31, 2020, 75 days before the annual convention, the State Executive Committee shall have met to “review those amendment proposals put forth that year, if any, and vote on whether or not they are to be transmitted to the Chapters for consideration.”
3) By June 15, 2020, sixty days before the annual convention, all amendments that were (A) “found favorable by a simple majority vote of the State Executive Committee.” and (B) cleared by the personal representative, shall be “transmitted” to the chapter. For the purposes of fulfilling the statutory requirement of “transmitted”, the amendments will be sent to the Chapter Advisors and Chairman by the email address found on e-scribe.
4) August 15, 2020 the amendments will be formally debated and presented for voting. The State Executive Committee may present some amendments in a Unanimous Consent package to expedite the meeting. Constitutional bylaws require 2/3rds of those registered, present, and voting to pass, while bylaw amendments require a simple majority of those registered, present, and voting to pass.
Who May Propose Amendments?
The documents are silent on who may propose such amendments. In keeping with the spirit of DeMolay, any Active DeMolay who holds membership in a New York DeMolay Chapter may propose or second an amendment to these bylaws. For the purposes of administrative ease similar amendments may be combined together and the sponsors and seconders may be added as co-sponsors to the legislation.
What form should the amendment take?
Ideally, the amendment should specify:
(A) What document is being amended.
(B) Which section or text the amendment is changing, or if it is new language
(C) What the intent of the legislation is. This is probably the most important part at times the intent of the language may not achieve what is being proposed.
(D) When the change goes into effect. This could be on passage, or it could be at the close of convention, or it could be at a time in the future.
(D) Who the sponsor and seconder of the legislation is and the best email address to reach them.
If you have an idea for something and you need help drafting let us know, we are here to help.
Some general guidelines:
1) Proposed amendments may not contradict the statutes, rules, resolutions, or edicts of DeMolay International, its board of directors, or authorized representatives.
Some examples:
By statute we are limited to being an organization for 12-21 year olds. A New York DeMolay amendment may not extend the age to 22.
By direction of the Board of Directors of DeMolay international we cannot use a “call them all program.” A New York DeMolay amendment may not allow us to do that.
Under our insurance policy we are not allowed to bungee jump. We cannot create an amendment to authorize that.
2) The Constitution and bylaws should be broad enough to be applicable from year to year. If you notice in our current version legislative deadlines are a certain number of days before convention and not a fixed date like April 15, June 1 etc. This provides flexibility for us to schedule convention, etc. A shortcoming is that the document references “Region Governor” an office that does not currently exist in our state.
3) What is in these documents should be things that we plan on doing.
4) We will work with you on wordsmithing. If you have an idea that you want to pitch but you are not sure how to put it into the right form, let us know. This is a learning experience for everyone. Even Senators and Members of the US House have people who help them with their legislation.