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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	276
Proposal	Amendment to the GPUS Rules Procedures Rapid Endorsement Process
Presenter	Steering Committee
Floor Manager	Rebecca Rotzler
Phase	Closed - Adopted
Discussion	03-26-2007 - 04-08-2007
Voting	04-09-2007 - 04-15-2007
Presens Quorum	Two Thirds of Active Accredited States/Caucuses
Consens Quorum	Two Thirds of Yes and No Votes

Background

This proposal amends the "Steering Committee Endorsement Process"
(i.e., a rapid response endorsement process) in the GPUS Rules and
Policies in order to bring the process into compliance with other GPUS
policy, and to facilitate both a more transparent and accessible
process, while retaining the accountability and authority designated
in the original language; and also will stipulate a clear channel for
communications, decreasing the potential for mis-communication. This is not meant to
change the policy in regard to the GPUS National Committee as the ultimate
decision-making body, but to come up with an accessible policy for the GPUS.

A review of voting page proposal archives and the rules makes clear
that the National Committee is the body which authorizes GPUS
endorsements, with some provision for the Steering Committee to make
endorsements or statements on behalf of he GPUS if there is a time
constraint. The current policy for rapid endorsements, however,
doesn't reflect the fact that the voting page has become the official
record of the National Committee; the fact that the voting page
program does not, for good reason, allow a proposal to go immediately
into a voting period; the unfeasibility of requesting a National
Committee vote and expecting to reach a quorum within one week of a
proposal being introduced. The National Committee is larger today
than when the policy was adopted. Further, it is not apparent that
the processes currently described in the policy have ever been used at
all.

The current policy allows the SC, in consultation with GP media and
other relevant advisors, to make a rapid endorsement or statement
given a 24-hour deadline, with 80% agreeing to the need for a timely
response, and consensus regarding the content itself. The policy
allows the NC to make a 2 to 7 day decision, involving various
channels of communication and an online (listserv) decision. The third option is
for a greater than 7 day (and presumably fewer than 3 week) response,
by sending a proposal to the NC "votes" list *and* to all other
delegates and/or others for an online decision involving a quorum of
NC delegates and an 80% approval threshold. These options, if ever
utilized, would involve a huge amount of e-traffic, and a potential
confusing mess in terms of trying to figure out the timeline, possible
revisions/amendments, compiling feedback, approval, rejection, etc.
Further, given the current use of the voting page, use of the voting page as the official
record, and expectations of a more clear process involving floor managers and online
discussion, these options seem less feasible than they may have appeared at the time they
were adopted.

Proposal

That the current policy in the GPUS Rules & Procedures, 4.
STEERING COMMITTEE ENDORSEMENT PROCESS, be replaced with the following amendment:

GPUS Rules & Procedures
4. STEERING COMMITTEE ENDORSEMENT PROCESS/ENDORSEMENT PROCESS FOR TIME SENSITIVE REQUESTS

A. 24-48 Hour Response

The Steering Committee, in consultation with Green media spokespeople
and other knowledgeable greens, will draft a statement, and use the
appropriate spokespeople to disseminate said statement. The Steering
Committee will also e-mail and otherwise transmit the statement to the
Green Party National Committee for comment before releasing the
statement publicly, but shall be allowed to release the statement even
without feedback. A quorum of at least 80% of all members of the Green
Party Steering Committee is necessary for determining that events
require an immediate response, and there must be an agreement among at least 80% of all
Steering Committee members on the substance of their response.

B. Three to fourteen day response

The Steering Committee, in consultation with Green media spokespeople
and other knowledgeable greens, shall be empowered to draft a
response. This response shall be transmitted to the National Committee
for feedback and advice. In making a final decision, the Steering
Committee will take into account recommendations and objections from
the National Committee. The Steering Committee will use the
appropriate spokespeople to disseminate said statement or response.
If, at any point during this period, response is heard from half or
more member states with an 80% majority either for approval or
rejection, the Steering Committee will be bound by that response.

C. Two to three week response.

Such proposals will follow the regular process for submission to the
voting queue, with the exception of an expedited timeline: upon reception, the
Secretary will immediately contact the Steering Committee for approval
to send the proposal on to the voting page. There will be a one week
discussion period, and one week for the vote. The approval threshold
will be unchanged from the regular policy governing approval thresholds.

CURRENT LANGUAGE
http://gp.org/documents/rules.shtml

4. STEERING COMMITTEE ENDORSEMENT PROCESS

A. 24 Hour Response

The Steering Committee, in consultation with Green media spokes people
and other knowledgeable greens, will draft a statement, and use the
appropriate spokes people to disseminate said statement. The Steering
committee will also e-mail and otherwise transmit the statement to
Green Party representatives, the elected leadership of the State
Parties, and/or the instant response designate of the respective state
parties for comment before releasing the statement publicly, but shall
be allowed to release the statement even without feedback. A quorum of
at least 80% of the members of the Green Party Steering Committee is
necessary for determining that events require an immediate response,
and there must be a complete consensus among Steering Committee
members participating on the substance of their response.

B. Two to seven day response

The Steering Committee shall be empowered to draft a response. This
response shall be transmitted to the state parties for acceptance or
rejection along with a note stating how swiftly the Green Party
Steering Committee wishes to respond. The State Parties shall
designate a person to be the conduit for these transmissions. This
person can be a representative to the GREEN PARTY Coordinating Committee,
a state party official, or any other person that the state
party designates. The designates shall be responsible for polling the
Greens in their state as to the appropriateness of the response by
whatever set of rules their state party sets up, and transmitting that
response back to the GREEN PARTY Steering Committee. Because of the
time factor, these resolutions shall be acted upon by a pass/fail
process. The GREEN PARTY Steering Committee shall be empowered to
make a public statement if at least one half of the member states respond
to the statement proposaand at least 80% of the responses are affirmative.

C. Greater than seven days response

Any state party that wishes the GREEN PARTY to weigh in on a
particular issue shall draft and pass a resolution according to their
own set of rules, and then pass a resolution asking that it be
submitted to the GREEN PARTY for use as a national statement on the
issue. These resolutions shall then be transmitted to the GREEN PARTY
Secretary and then forwarded to the designated representative of each
affiliated state party. The state conduits for these resolutions are
asked to poll their membership using whatever process is
appropriate for their state. Any potential changes to the resolution
must be returned to the GREEN PARTY Secretary within 5 days of the
receipt of the resolution. at which time the GREEN PARTY shall submit
either an altered or original resolution for passage. Alternately, the
GREEN PARTY Steering Committee and National Committee can propose and draft
resolutions on the issues which shall then be circulated in the same manner as resolutions
coming from state parties. Within 5 days of the receipt of the second
resolution, the designated issue's representatives are asked to
transmit their acceptance or rejection of the resolution. At least 50%
of the member states of the GREEN PARTY must vote on a resolution, and
at least 80% of the voting states must approve the resolution before
the GREEN PARTY shall be allowed to issue a public statement.

Resources

None

References

CONTACT: Holly Hart hhart at blue.weeg.uiowa.edu
http://gp.org/documents/rules.shtml

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