This is a possible amendment for Proposal 4 which has been discussed in our unofficial town halls. We’re publishing them here so delegations will be able to consider them ahead of time. Remember that any delegate can propose any amendment, so if this is one is that you support, you are welcome to get into a queue and introduce it. Be sure to check that the motion is within scope.
The original proposal wording is in green. The amended text is in blue.
TO amend provisions in the Membership Dues and Procedures for Registration section of the Blue Book of Basic Documents p. 25, by inserting after “affiliation” and before “Girl Scout” the wording, as follows:
In order to be a member of the Girl Scout Movement in the United States of America, a person must register with and pay annual, lifetime or other applicable membership dues to Girl Scouts of the United States of America. This is done locally through the Girl Scout council or USA Girl Scouts Overseas committee with which she or he is affiliated or through national headquarters if she or he has no council affiliation. The National Board of Directors must seek obtain approval from the National Council whenever a planned dues increase will result in dues increasing more than a total of 25% in any one triennium. Girl Scout councils account for membership dues in the custodian fund and transmit to GSUSA within two months of receipt all monies received for membership dues. These funds are not to be invested by the council for the purpose of generating income for the council.
Rationale from the sponsoring council (Girl Scouts Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana):
- ‘Obtain’ conveys exactly what we want the proposal to accomplish, that the National Board needs to not just ‘ask’ the National Council for approval, but that the National Council must approve (or deny) the dues action. The simple definition of seek is to ask for something from someone, whereas obtain is to get, acquire or secure something. Seek therefore could imply that the National Board by simply asking for approval, but not necessarily securing approval, has met the criteria for taking a dues action whether or not the National Council approves.
- The word ‘planned’ we feel is unnecessary. If the National Board is working on a dues increase then the assumption is that it would already be ‘planned’ so we felt the word did not add anything to the proposal. Removing ‘planned’ would clarify that any dues action above the 25% guardrail needs to be approved by the National Council.