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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	801
Proposal	Amendment to the Mission Statement of the GPUS Platform Committee
Presenter	GPUS Platform Committee
Floor Manager	Jan Martell
Phase	Closed - Adopted
Discussion	11-02-2015 - 11-23-2015
Voting	11-24-2015 - 11-30-2015
Presens Quorum	Two Thirds of Active Accredited States/Caucuses
Consens Quorum	Two Thirds of Yes and No Votes

Background

As the final decision making body of the Green Party of the United States, it is the responsibility of the National Committee to guarantee that the GPUS platform remains a relevant and important tool for promoting the party. However, the current process for amending the GPUS Platform relies solely on the voluntary initiative of state parties, caucuses and standing committees and does not guarantee that all issues will be addressed in a timely manner. Thus it is imperative that the GPUS committee with the greatest working knowledge of the platform be allowed to submit proposals to the National Committee for approval to edit, amend and improve the platform as needed.

This requires that the Platform Committee's Mission Statement be amended to expand its purpose to include the ability to propose amendments to the platform and proposals to facilitate the amendment process.

In November 2009 the GPUS National Committee (NC) approved proposal #420 (http://gp.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=420) to establish that the NC may amend the GPUS platform in the even numbered years other than the years in which the Presidential Nominating Convention is held.

Since the amendment of the platform has gone from a four-year cycle to a two-year cycle, the process and time line for amending the platform in even-numbered years in which there is a PNC has been updated to reflect this shorter time frame as well. Proposal #649 (http://gp.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=649) established that the platform committee will submit amendment proposals individually to the Green National Committee for approval prior to the PNC. Amendments passed by the GNC will amend the draft platform, which will be submitted for approval to the PNC.

The GPUS platform is an invaluable resource for state parties and GPUS candidates for the Presidency, the U.S. House of Representative and the U.S. Senate and must include a Green perspective on new issues as they arise. To fail to update our platform to reflect these changes in issues or to include new information and ideas that will help persuade citizens to vote Green is a disservice to our state parties and their members, supporters and candidates.

Proposal

The Platform Committee of GPUS proposes to amend its Mission Statement as follows:

The GPUS Platform is a consensus document that presents to Greens and the general public the policies on which most Greens reasonably agree.

The Platform Committee organizes and facilitates participation in the amending of the Platform by a process involving submissions, input and feedback, based on democratic deliberation, discussion, debate, and voting by the National Committee. Proposals for amending the Platform may be made by GPUS state affiliates and accredited caucuses, as well as all standing committees whose missions allow for the submission of proposals to the National Committee. The Platform Committee may submit proposals to the National Committee to edit, amend, update and improve the GPUS Platform or the amendment process. The Platform Committee rules, policies and procedures shall be applied to internal committee functions.

Resources

None

References

Official Bylaws of the Green Party of the United States
http://gpus.org/national-committee/bylaws-of-the-green-party-of-the-united-states/

GPUS Platform Committee Mission Statement:
http://gpus.org/other-committes/platform-committee/

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