Revised 1/21/18

Standing Rules of State Committee

With amendments adopted summer 2013, October 15, 2017, January 20, 2018, and April 7, 2019.

CONTENTS
1. Submission of Proposals
2. Facilitators
3.  Membership and Credentialing
4. Agenda
5. Telecon Meetings

Preface
 
These Standing Rules contain the rules and procedures governing the operation of the State Committee (StateCom) of the Green-Rainbow Party.  In addition, StateCom operates under the By-laws of the Green-Rainbow Party.
 
In these standing rules, sections 1 through 4 apply to standard, face-to-face meetings.  Section 5 introduces special rules that apply to telecon meetings.

I. Submission of Proposals and Written Reports

Any two members of the State and Administrative Committees or any Green Local may submit a proposal for the State Committee to consider. Proposals are to be sent to working committees for vetting at least three weeks before a StateCom meeting, and posted on the website at least two weeks before a StateCom meeting so they can be mailed to State Committee members, and so that delegates can read them online. No proposals will be accepted at the meeting, except by any StateCom delegates which are elected within 4 weeks of an upcoming scheduled StateCom meeting. If sponsors are bringing a proposal to the meeting for consideration, the sponsors are responsible for bringing enough copies of the proposals for all the delegates to have one.

Proposals should also try to follow the Complete Proposal Guidelines as specified in a separate document. This document contains a template that can be used as the starting point for constructing a proposal for submission.
Presented as a timeline and steps in the process for meeting facilitators.

1.1.Announcement / Web Enabling

TWO WEEKS FOLLOWING THE PREVIOUS STATECOM MEETING
The facilitators of the State Committee meeting shall announce the next meeting on the StateCom  list.  They shall create the web page where proposals can be posted. They shall also establish the specific deadlines (date/time) for the following steps in the proposal process.

1.2 Submission of Proposals

FOUR WEEKS PRIOR TO STATE COMMITTEE MEETING
Proposals will be fully-co-sponsored (by at least two current State Committee representatives). Proposals will be posted using the template provided on the web page no later than four weeks prior to the State Committee meeting. The co-sponsors will send a notice to [Statecom] providing the title of the proposal and a link to the specific proposal. Proposals that are not coponsored or that are posted late will not be included in the regular agenda.

1.3 Comments / Vetting / Discussion

FROM POSTING UNTIL 72 HOURS PRIOR TO MEETING
Up to 72 hours prior to the State Committee meeting individual GRP members, working committees, chapters, and fellow State Committee members will use the web page to comment upon, suggest amendments, report on any working committee vetting on a proposal. Comments, vetting, and discussion should not be conducted on the [Statecom] list, although the [Statecom] list should be used to share links to significant comments, amendments, and announcements made on the web page.

1.4 Amendments

72 HOURS PRIOR TO THE STATE COMMITTEE MEETING
Between 72 hours and 48 hours prior to the State Committee meeting co-sponsors of a proposal may decide to amend or withdraw their proposals based on the vetting and discussion that has taken place. If amended, the co-sponsors will make the amendments in the text of the proposal and will re-send a link to [Statecom] along with an executive summary of the amendments that were made. If the proposal is withdrawn that information will also be sent to the [Statecom] list and the proposal will be deleted from the web page.  Co-sponsors may choose to withdraw a proposal at any time prior to a call for consensus on it.
 
1.5  Expressing Concerns
 
FROM POSTING UNTIL 12 HOURS PRIOR TO MEETING
There exists on every proposal page on the web site the ability for State Committee representatives and alternates to express concerns. Concerns about a proposal will be expressed online by any State Committee member during the vetting process up to 12 hours prior to the start of the State Committee meeting. These concerns will be addressed at the State Committee meeting following the usual process. New concerns that are made at the meeting will only be considered if they follow a material amending of the proposal.
 
1.6. Ranking of Proposals

48 HOURS PRIOR TO THE STATE COMMITTEE MEETING
48 hours prior to the start of the State Committee meeting the facilitators will send an e-mail to the StateCom list attaching a ranking sheet for members to return back via e-mail to the facilitators at least 12 hours prior to the start of the State Committee meeting. The ranking sheet will contain the title of the proposal, a link to the text, and ranking instructions.
 
Proposals will be ranked on the following 1-5 numeric scale:
How important is it to take up this proposal at this meeting?
5 = Critical.  Not acceptable to delay.
4 = Important.  Clear need to consider at this meeting if possible.
3 = Desirable.  Should consider if time is available.
2 = Not important.  Little concern if delayed.
1 = Undesirable.  Proposal should not be brought to the floor at this time.
 
The facilitators, in consultation with AdCom, and after inspection of the results of StateCom ranking shall define the order in which submitted proposals will be considered, using descending order of their average pre-meeting ranking unless a clear reason can be given to depart from this ranking.  This order shall be announced before the meeting if possible but no later than the time the agenda is up for approval.  Approval of the agenda at the meeting will constitute approval of the announced order of consideration.  However the co-facilitators can alter the approved order if events subsequent to agenda approval (such as absence of a key participant or necessary changes to the schedule) make a change necessary.

1.7 Day of the Meeting

DAY OF THE STATE COMMITTEE MEETING
By the time the State Committee meeting is called to order the ranking and the registering of concerns related to the proposals will have already taken place. Unlike the current state, the agenda will not include time for ranking and expressing concerns. The agenda that is presented for approval will already include the timing and ordering of the proposals, to include which proposals will follow an expedited round and which will follow a standard round. The results of the ranking and expressing of concerns will be shared.
During the State Committee meeting, only friendly amendments will be allowed from the floor (i.e. with the approval of the sponsors of the proposal).

2.  Facilitators

The two facilitators (one woman and one man) will be chosen at the previous meeting. Their first task will be to facilitate the selection of a stacker, minutes-taker, and vibes watcher. If the facilitators chosen at the previous meeting are not present, then two volunteers will facilitate the selection of two facilitators. The decision-making process will be as specified in the by-laws. It is suggested that the facilitators alternate in facilitating proposals.

The facilitators have some leeway in adjusting the order of the standard agenda items as a tool to help facilitate the process of the meeting. Legal and timely items must be given preference in any reordering.

3.  Membership and Credentialing

The meeting is open to all, but discussion will be limited to members of the State Committee and the sponsors of the proposal presently being discussed. The State Committee may request information, when necessary, from others present.

The GRP Secretary is asked to maintain a roster of State Committee members that indicates their name, delegate or alternate status, region represented, attendance history, and contact information.  This roster shall be updated after each quarterly State Committee meeting and shall be made available to any member of State Committee through an online posting.
b) The GRP Secretary is asked to maintain a list of each certified GRP local chapter, town committee, or ward/precinct committee.  This list shall contain the entity name, officer contact information, mailing address, and geographic region of activity.  The list maintained by the Secretary shall be deemed by StateCom to be the official record of currently active chapters or committees.  This roster shall be updated periodically and shall be made available to any member of State Committee through an online posting.
4. Agenda
The co-facilitators for a StateCom meeting are responsible for assembling and maintaining a detailed meeting agenda that allocates time according to Party priorities and reflects previous decisions of StateCom.  The co-facilitators shall consult with AdCom regarding whether specific items shall be included on the agenda, and shall attempt to implement any specific recommendations provided by AdCom.  On the day of the meeting,  StateCom itself can vote to modify the proposed agenda before approving it.  The co-facilitators may adjust the order and time allocation of agenda items if this is necessary to accommodate developing events (such as running behind schedule, absence of a presenter, technical problems with audio-visual equipment,  etc.).

The standard agenda proceeds as follows:

1) Credentialing: Address any credentialing issues with delegates to the state committee. If none, this item is skipped. Decisions on credentialing will be made by those delegates whose credentials are not under review. Quorum is calculated based on delegates whose credentials are not under review.
 
2) Agenda: Approve the agenda while addressing any proposals that StateCom decides affects the standard agenda that are above and beyond a facilitators role of adjusting the standard agenda. Alloted 10 minutes.
 
3) Minutes: Approval of the minutes from the previous State Committee meeting.  The Secretary is expected to provide the first draft of the minutes ("notes") for a StateCom meeting no later than two weeks after the meeting.  The draft shall be posted online and its availability shall be announced on the StateCom business list. Online editing of Statecom Minutes closes one week prior to Statecom Meeting.

4) Next Meeting: Setting the time and place for the next State Committee Meeting and the State Convention (when necessary).  Choose facilitators for the next meeting.
5) Reports: Staff, administrative committee members, and working committees (Membership, Communication, Fundraising, Candidate Development, Platform, Procedures), and Representatives to the GPUS will each be given the opportunity to give a two-minute, oral report.  Staff, Administrative Committee members, and Working Committees are encouraged to submit written reports so that they can be circulated prior to the meeting and attached to the agenda.

6) Budget: This agenda section is to deal with the GRP budget and any matters that directly relate to it.

7) Urgent Matters: This agenda section is to deal with any urgent matters. The criteria for being rated urgent are legal matters that have a deadline before the next state com meeting. Other criteria may be added by the state committee as it sees fit.

8) Old Business: This agenda section is to deal with any items assigned to the current State Committee meeting from last State Committee meeting.
9) Consideration of proposals: During this section of the agenda, the standard consensus process is used. The proposal floor manager is permitted up to 5 minutes to summarize the proposal.  Then 10 minutes is allotted to discussion.   Each person on the stack is recognized to speak for 2 minutes and may not speak again until the stack is empty. Whenever possible, the stack will be balanced according to gender and race.  The facilitators can recognize the floor manager at any time to reply to respond to comments or questions that arise during the discussion period. When this discussion period has passed has passed,  StateCom either votes to extend discussion for a specified time (normally 10 minutes) or it makes a decision by consensus/voting.

10) Elections: Any necessary elections will take place immediately after the break for lunch.

11) Feedback: The meeting should end with a brief feedback session.
 
5. Telecon Meetings
 
a) At each regular StateCom meeting,  a motion will be entertained to set a date for a telecom meeting before the next quarterly regular StateCom meeting. The purposes of this telecom meeting shall be to complete business left over from the previous business meeting, to exercise routine StateCom duties such as making appointments to vacancies in officer positions or committees, to approve state convention plans, to take final action on proposals discussed at the previous business meeting, and to take timely legal actions. 
 
The co-chairs may approve additional agenda items to be taken up as urgent business or as “advisory discussions”.  “Urgent” means that the item cannot be delayed to the next regular business meeting without doing clear harm to the Party.  An “advisory discussion” does not make official decisions but allows StateCom to provide guidance regarding a question. 
 
New proposals, not discussed at the previous business meeting, shall not be placed on the agenda of the telecom meeting unless they are classified by the facilitators as “urgent business”.
 
There is no “proposal ranking” process such as that associated with proposals to the regular business meetings - the facilitators determine the order in which items are addressed.
 
b) The facilitators of the preceding regular business meeting will be the facilitators for the telecom meeting unless they withdraw or unless StateCom appoints new facilitators at their regular meeting.   The GRP Co-chairs shall make appointments to fill vacancies in the co-facilitator positions, including replacing a co-facilitator who fails to call in to the telecon.
 
c) A requirement in these Standing Rules that notice be given to StateCom may be satisfied by sending an email to the State Committee business list. However if this list is nonfunctional for some reason, the notice may be mailed directly to all the member email addresses listed in the Secretary’s official list of State Committee members.
 
d) The facilitators shall send out an email notice of the telecom date and time immediately after the StateCom regular meeting that sets the date. A reminder notice with an agenda shall be sent out prior to the meeting.  If both facilitators agree that the planned meeting date is infeasible, they may set a new date.  Note that the advance notice specified in the GRP bylaws must be observed but the notice time does not apply to reconvening a paused meeting.
 
e) The sections of the Standing Rules that govern regular business meetings shall also govern telecom meetings with the following special stipulations:
 
1) The standard agenda need not be followed.
2) All votes shall be by roll call of all members who have declared themselves to be present. At the end of the roll call, the facilitators shall ask “Is there any member present whose name was not called?” Such persons shall then be permitted to vote.
3)  The required quorum shall be the same as the quorum for the previous business meeting unless the Secretary provides the facilitators with a new quorum number.   The existence of a quorum for any vote shall be determined by the total votes cast.  To allow a proper tabulation, all members present should vote either “aye”, “nay” or “abstain” during the roll call.
4) If technical difficulties prevent the meeting from continuing, the facilitators shall adjourn the meeting.  After consultation with the co-chairs they shall either reschedule the meeting (providing as much notice as possible) or send out notice that all further business will be postponed to the next regular quarterly meeting.