Title: Simple GRP bylaw changes

Shepherd: Merelice, Norfolk County

Co-Sponsor: Danny Factor

Vetting: Administrative Committee

Background:

The bylaws had not been updated since Merelice did the 2012 update, so Merelice updated them in May 2015. Danny Factor has proposed some straightforward edits that do not require approval since they do not change any meaning or purpose, and these are in progress. As Merelice carefully read the bylaws while updating them, she listed potential changes to be considered. Some changes will need deeper consideration; some changes are minor and could likely be accepted without much discussion. This proposal focuses solely on the latter or what might be considered minor changes.

While these changes are being presented as a single proposal, if any are deemed to require more thought, they can be removed from this proposal to be handled separately in future proposals.

Financial impact: None

Proposal text:

The State Committee hereby makes the bylaw changes indicated in bold type as follows:

 6.3 The convention committee shall choose convention facilitators and other officers as needed.The state committee [delete: convention] shall adopt convention [delete: its own] rules provided such rules do not contradict these by-laws and are acceptable to the convention.

6.7 The state committee shall elect the committees and personnel necessary for the conduct of the state convention including but not limited to the following:

•the state convention's agenda,

•the deadlines and process for nominations and elections,

•deadlines for the submission of proposals,

•the promulgation of regulations regarding how proposals are to be submitted for consideration at the state convention,

•handling the credentialing of delegates, and

•drafting any additional rules for the state convention.

The state committee shall have or can delegate to the administrative committee or convention committee final approval of all matters relating to the conduct of the state convention.

6.9 The co-chairs and secretary of the administrative committee shall be the co-chairs and secretary of the convention, until and unless the convention committee or convention chooses other officers.

8.5.7 The first act at any regular State Committee meeting shall be to appoint any and all additional proportional representatives elected at properly accredited regional conventions or nominated between regional conventions.

8.5.8 In 2008 or in any year when the March date of the quadrennial presidential primary is changed, at the organizing state committee meeting as prescribed by state law MGL Chapter 52, Section 1, the only actions that may and must take place in the following order by the newly elected state committee delegates for the Green-Rainbow Party elected at that primary election [delete: the 2008 presidential primaries], are to:

A choose the current Secretary of the party as the Secretary of the party

B choose the currentTreasurer of the party as theTreasurer of the party

C call the regular spring state committee meeting [delete: for a month later onApril 12th 2008] at which there will be an orientation for newly elected regional representatives and whatever other business that may be taken up

D adjourn the meeting

8.7.1 State Committee representatives who are no longer legal residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts shall be automatically removed [delete: suspended].

8.7.2 State Committee representatives who have missed three (3) consecutive State Committee meetings, in the absence of a compelling personal reason [delete: emergency] which has been communicated to the State Committee, shall be automatically suspended.

8.7.4 State Committee representatives who have been automatically suspended shall be temporarily consideredAlternate Delegates until the next State Committee meeting, at which the State Committee has the option to formally remove them, assuming the representative does not attend the meeting and thereby automatically reinstate herself/himself.

9.14  Duties of the secretary shall be to:

•Ensure that minutes are recorded at all Green-Rainbow Party meetings;

•Distribute minutes to members in a timely manner;

*Keep the Green-Rainbow Party bylaws up-to-date;

•Receive materials and submit them to AdCom for certifying GRP Chapters (see 7.3).

Regarding the following section: Does anyone understand this section if the need should arise? Should it be dropped? If it is retained, propose it be removed from this section of the bylaws and be added to Addendum A, the consensus process, and the section numbers be adjusted accordingly.

5.3 If consensus cannot be achieved and in order to promote fairness and inclusiveness, a SingleTransferableVote Proportional Representation (STVPR) system shall be used when voting to select one or more proposals or candidates from many.The exact details of this voting system is specified in another document that is made publicly available.

The number of desired selections is referred to as the number of Selections.

A voter must rank her choices with her top choice ranked first, the second choice ranked second, and so on.A voter may choose to rank as many or as few of the proposals as she desires.

Eachproposal must receive a threshold number of votes to be selected. In the case when one proposal or candidate is to be chosen, the threshold number of votes shall be 2/3 of the votes cast. In the case when more than one proposal or candidate is to be chosen, the threshold number of votes is equal to the following formula: ((the number of voters) / (the number of Selections + 1)) + 1, rounded down to the nearest whole number.

Votes are apportioned among their top-ranked choice.The choices that receive more than the threshold number of votes shall be deemed to be Selected and any votes they receive beyond the threshold shall be reallocated among their next-highest-ranked eligible choices in an equitable manner.

This process is repeated until there are no more Selected choices who have more votes than the threshold.When this happens, the choice that received the fewest votes is deemed Defeated and the ballots for it are apportioned among their next-highest-ranked Eligible choices.The process of Selection, then Defeat, is repeated until all choices have either been Selected or Defeated.

Choicesare Eligible to receive reallocated votes if they have not been Selected or Defeated.

Title: THE GRP SHOULD TAKE POSITIONS AND BECOME ACTIVE IN INITIATIVE PETITIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS THAT WILL APPEAR ON THE BALLOT IN NOVEMBER, 2016

Sponsors: Mike Heichman, Suffolk County (manager)

Contact Info of Manager:    [email protected]     617-543-6801

Co-Sponsor: Brian Cady

Shepherd: To be decided at the October StateCom Meeting

Committee(s) Vetting:  Sent to Platform Committee email list

Background:

Over the years our party has from time to time taken positions on the ballot questions that appear on the November ballot every even two years. Most of the time, I have been dissatisfied with the results of our attempts to become involved in this campaign. My hope is that we will use this opportunity much better this time.

The deadline for filing initiative petitions and constitutional amendments has passed this year In early September, the Attorney General decided which ones to certify. The current list is available at http://www.mass.gov/ago/government-resources/initiatives-and-other-ballot-questions/current-petitions-filed.html

As of now (904/15), these questions are headed for the November ballot (except for “A”)

A.   Constitutional Amendment Corporations Are Not People and May Be Regulated.  Money is Not Free Speech and May Be Regulated (Note: Putting this question on the November ballot is going to court.)

B.    Constitutional Amendment Regarding the Public Funding of Abortion-question has been certified

C.    An Act to Prevent Cruelty to Farm Animals-certified

D.   Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to the Reduction of Euthanasia in Animal Shelters-certified

E.    Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to Public Records-certified

F.    Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to Ending Common Core Education Standards-certified

G.   An Initiative Petition for an Amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth to Provide Resources for Education and Transportation through an additional tax on incomes in excess of One Million Dollars-certified

H.   Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to Renewable Energy-certified

I.      Massachusetts Fair Health Care Pricing Act-certified

J.     Massachusetts Equitable Health Care Pricing Act-certified

K.   Law Ending Marihuana Prohibition for Persons 21 Years of Age-certified

L.    Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to Solar and Renewable Energy

M.  The Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act-certified

N.   An Act to Allow Fair Access to Public Charter Schools-certified

O.   An Act to Make the Legislature Accountable to the People-certified

P.    An Initiative Petition for a Law Relating to Fairer Scheduling for Workers-certified

Q.   An Act Relative to Expanded Gaming-certified

R.    The Whale Safe Fishing Act-certified

Why do I think that our party should become involved?

1.     Ballot questions are electoral. The public is asked to make decisions about public policy.

2.     These questions are opportunities for our party to take positions (Yes or No) and create literature, which provide a more detailed explanation of our thinking to our members and to the public.

3.     These are opportunities to improve our relationship with allies.

Below is the calendar for questions that could appear on the November, 2016 ballot. We could become involved at different stages of the campaign. At our October 13^th StateCom meeting, we could take positions on campaigns that we want to become most active. While signature gathering would begin before the meeting, we could join the effort.

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Initiative Petition Process, 2015-2016

http://www.mass.gov/ago/government-resources/initiatives-and-other-ballot-questions/initiative-petition-process.html

The basic steps for a proposed law are:

1   the initiative measure is signed by ten voters and submitted to the Attorney General by the first Wednesday in August (August 5, 2015);

2   the Attorney General determines (usually by the first Wednesday in September, i.e., September 2, 2015) whether the measure meets the requirements of Amendment Article 48;

3   if certified by the Attorney General, the measure is filed with the Secretary of State;

4   thousands of additional voter signatures are gathered (this year, the requirement is 64,750) and filed with local election officials by late November and then with the Secretary of State by the first Wednesday in December;

5   if enough are gathered, the measure is sent to the Legislature in January of 2016;

6   the Legislature either approves or disapproves the measure, proposes a substitute, or takes no action;

7   unless the Legislature has enacted the measure before the first Wednesday in May of 2016, the proponents gather still more signatures (this year, 10,792 signatures are required) by early July;

8   if they gather enough, the measure and any legislative substitute are submitted to the people at the next biennial state election (in this case, November of 2016).

The process is similar for constitutional amendments, but they must go through two successive sessions of the Legislature and must (unlike initiative petitions for laws) get the approval of 25% of the legislators in each session. Thus any proposed constitutional amendments submitted by August of 2015 could not appear on the ballot until November of 2018.

Proposal: At the October StateCom meeting, we will decide our party’s involvement in these ballot questions. Are there any that we want to become actively involved? Are there others that we just want to take a position and communicate that to our membership? Etc.

Budget Impact: Very little

Implementation: To be decided at the October StateCom Meeting

2015-2016 Petitions

Below is a list of initiative petitions filed with the Attorney General's Office and the Attorney General's certification decisions.

To view a particular petition, including more information on how to contact its sponsors, and to view summaries of certified petitions and explanatory letters responding to legal issues raised by members of the public regarding some petitions, click on the Petition Number links below.

All links found within this table under the Petition Number and Attorney General's Decision link to PDF documents. Under the Current Status column, the following codes are used (petitions with codes beginning with "N" are no longer viable):

• NC - Not Certified by Attorney General

• IL - In Litigation

The documents listed below are the electronically submitted versions of the initiative petitions filed with the Attorney General’s Office.  Officially filed copies with signatures are available for review at the Attorney General’s Office.

To get the the full text click on the numbers in the petition number column. To view the Attorney General's text click on Certified or NC in the Attorney General's Decision column.

Signatures may be gathered for the following petitions, but would require litigation to appear on the ballot. A similar amendment to the constitution is being considered on October 21 during the Joint Session at 1 PM,