Delegates at a business mini-assembly Thursday morning at the UUA General Assembly in Charlotte, N.C., focused on a proposed bylaw change to Article XV of the UUA bylaws, which dictates the procedure for amending other bylaws. Article XV came under scrutiny after delegates at the 2009 General Assembly in Salt Lake City narrowly rejected a proposed revision to Article II, the Principles and Purposes, because they were not able to amend the revisions or vote on them in sections under the rules outlined in Article XV.

Under Article XV’s current language, any change in Article II must be considered by a review and study commission and be approved by two consecutive GAs. The Commission on Appraisal had prepared an amended version of Article II, but Article XV prohibited delegates from proposing any changes to that proposal. When the proposal failed, delegates passed a responsive resolution asking for clarification of “the process and limitations of a proposal to amend a bylaw in Article II.”

The proposed amendment to Article XV would keep the current process for amending Article II, with a study commission followed by votes at consecutive General Assemblies. However, under the revised process, amendments could be proposed to the study commission’s Article II language using a mini-assembly process, and no revisions would be allowed at the second GA.

Continue reading Delegates examine proposed changes to Article XV