(Remember, after the close of the polls next Tuesday at 7pm there are precinct conventions! Not as busy or sexy as the 2008 presidential caucuses but important for the structure of our party. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Big tip of the hat to MarkCamann
Purposes of a resolution 1. To memorialize someone recently deceased.
2. To congratulate a person or group.
3. To amend the Rules of the Texas Democratic Party (TDP).
4. To amend the TDP Platform.
5. To urge Democratic elected officials, especially in the Texas Legislature and the U.S. Congress, to advocate certain positions on policy issues. As the delegates assembled at the state convention are the highest authority within the TDP, such resolutions should carry weight with elected officials as the consensus of the grassroots of the party.
At this year's state convention, the resolutions committee approved what was probably a record-breaking number of resolutions (approximately 100). Although most of these didn't come up for a vote on the convention floor, the remainder have been sent for consideration by the State Democratic Executive Committee.
The temporary resolutions committee met two weeks before the convention and considered the approximately 2,000 resolutions approved by county or senatorial district conventions. This task would have been nearly impossible without the monumental work by Carl Betancourt. He prepared for the meeting by organizing all the resolutions by topic, and determined how many senatorial districts had passed each resolution.
At the temporary resolutions committee meeting, which was chaired by SDEC committeeman Dr. Dennis Teal, members divided up the topic folders of resolutions, selecting what they felt were the best resolutions for the committee to vote upon. About 180 were recommended to the permanent resolutions committee. Resolutions on matters pertaining to the party rules were forwarded to the rules committee. Resolutions concerning the primacaucus or superdelegates will be forwarded to an ad hoc committee chaired by State Senator Royce West, whose committee will recommend rules changes for the 2010 convention. The 180 resolutions recommended to the permanent resolutions committee were photocopied, with one copy going to each member of the permanent committee. Those that were not recommended, including those that were not selected for a vote, were kept in the folders so that the permanent resolutions committee members could still act on them, if they chose to do so. An index was compiled of those resolutions recommended to the permanent committee.
The permanent resolutions committee, consisting of one member elected from each of the 31 senatorial districts, and three members appointed by State Party Chair Boyd Richie (one of these appointees being Vince Leibowitz) met on Saturday, June 7 from 8:00 am to nearly 6:00 pm, with a 30-minute recess during the state party chair vote, and two 5-minute breaks. Dr. Teal chaired the permanent committee also, and the committee was greatly assisted by SDEC committeeman Bill Perkison, who had compiled a database to track all of the resolutions.
The operating procedure for the permanent resolutions committee was for each member in turn to offer a single resolution for discussion and a vote. When necessary, a subcommittee was created to rewrite the resolution and bring it back for a vote. We managed to get through only three and a half rounds, so that each committee member had a chance to offer at most four resolutions for a vote. About a hundred resolutions were approved by the committee, a result that could not have been achieved without the extensive work of Mr. Betancourt and Mr. Perkison, the skilled leadership of Dr. Teal, and the dedication of committee members to do their business expediently.
A few months ago I wrote a guide to resolutions in which I explained that resolutions could be introduced at the state convention by petition of 20% of the delegates.
I may have been mistaken about this. While the Rules of the Texas Democratic Party state quite clearly that the petition requires signatures of 20% of the delegates (Article IV section A.7), elsewhere the rules require signatures from 30% of the delegates (Article IV section D.5.e.4), a [insert expletive here] how-do-you-do to those Democrats who are so committed to a cause that they would attempt to gather petition signatures from 1,458 (20%) of the state convention's 7,290 delegates!
The primary election in Texas is only weeks away, and on the same night of March 4 the convention process begins with precinct conventions held at every polling place at 7:15 p.m. (7:30 p.m. for Republicans). A lot of attention will be placed on these precinct conventions as a way for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to pick up additional delegates. (For Phillip Martin's explanation of the process, click here: Part 1 and Part 2.)
But there's more to the precinct convention than just choosing a presidential candidate. Those who attend the precinct convention also have a chance to influence the party platform and to advocate specific legislative agenda through the resolutions process. (For my guide to resolutions in the Texas Democratic Party convention process, click here. The Republican Party of Texas follows a similar process.) Once every two years, the grassroots of the party have the opportunity to express their views collectively rather than individually, and this collective voice should be taken seriously by Democratic lawmakers.
If you want to introduce a resolution on an issue that is important to you, you don't necessarily need to write the resolution from scratch. You might find something on the internet. For example, if you want a resolution on global warming, try a Google search for "global warming" and "whereas," because resolutions invariably include the word "whereas." You can edit the resolution as you see fit, and close it with "Submitted to and Adopted by Precinct ____ in ____________ County, Texas, Senatorial District _____ on March 4, 2008" and add a signature line for the precinct convention secretary. If your resolution will call for specific legislation to be enacted, include a "resolved" clause with wording similar to this: "BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Texas Democratic Party urges the Congressional delegation from Texas to draft and support legislation" establishing whatever provisions you seek.
As I explained in my earlier posting, resolutions have a much better chance of rising to the level of the state convention if they are introduced in multiple counties and senatorial districts, and for that reason it is a good idea to circulate your proposed resolutions prior to March 4 through the website of a sponsoring organization.
I believe that the Burnt Orange Report is an appropriate place to post resolutions for use at Democratic precinct conventions in Texas, and my intention is to use this thread to share resolutions I have received that in my judgement are worth disseminating statewide. Most of these resolutions could also be used in the Republican convention process (far be it from me to try to stop Republicans from stealing our legislative goals!) if the language is modified appropriately (for example, substituting "Republican Party of Texas" in place of "Texas Democratic Party"). Remember that you can modify the language of the resolution any way you see fit, and if at any level of the convention process the same resolution arrives in multiple versions, the Resolutions Committee will decide which version will move forward, or the Resolutions Committee may combine different versions into a new one.
