[Nfbf-l] RESOLUTIONS

Tue May 18 05:04:55 UTC 2010

Here are the guidelines for writing a resolution found on our NFB of Florida 
web site. Cudos to Dan for putting years and years worth of resolutions on 
the web site. As a member of the resolutions committee, I encourage all 
those interested in putting forth a resolution to look at the web site. The 
link is at the bottom of this message under my signature.

Here are the guide lines. Happy resolution writing.

National Federation of the Blind of Florida
Guidelines for Resolution Writing
Writing resolutions is a specialized skill. The resolution is one very long 
sentence directing the organization to take a stand or engage in some 
action. It can also commend or take exception to actions of other entities. 
It must not provide direct instructions to any group other than the NFB or 
its president and board of directors. The actions or other recommendations 
are contained in the resolves at the close of the resolution. The argument 
for taking the action is laid out in a series of whereases. Ideally each 
argument and only one argument should be placed in a single whereas. These 
should be arranged in the most logical order possible.
 The most efficient way to write a resolution is to make a simple outline or 
list of premises which you will turn into the WHEREAS clauses and a similar 
simple list of phrases for the RESOLVED clauses. In fact, you should begin 
by determining what your RESOLVED clauses are; that is, how many there 
should be and what their basic thrust is. You will know how many by the 
number of entities we need to address or the number of problems we need to 
fix. After you decide specifically how you want the problem fixed, determine 
the smallest number of concepts you need to explain to a person unfamiliar 
with the problem that there is a problem. The best resolutions can be picked 
up by a person unfamiliar with the issue and hold that person's attention 
(in other words, are as short as possible) while still actually explaining 
the problem and the solution or solutions. This method, deciding the ending 
first and then crafting the arguments to reach it, will result in the 
simplest and clearest resolution. Then, when you actually write the formal 
resolution, you can focus on the writing and the style, having already done 
the thinking part.

 Here are the punctuation and layout rules for writing resolutions:
1. Each argument begins with the word WHEREAS, indented and all caps. BE IT 
RESOLVED and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, which introduce the resolve sections, 
are also indented and written in caps. Note that WHEREAS is followed by a 
comma, but the two versions of be it RESOLVED are not.
 2. Each WHEREAS before the final one ends with a semicolon and the word 
"and." This is true of the RESOLVES as well.
 3. The final WHEREAS ends with a colon, the words "Now, therefore," and a 
hard return. Please note that Now is capitalized.
 4. The final RESOLVE ends with a period. This reflects the fact that the 
entire resolution is a single sentence. Sometimes one is taxed to refrain 
from writing sentences within WHEREASes, but inserting a complete sentence 
is not playing the game fairly.
 5. A blank line separates the elements of the resolution.
 6. In the beginning of the first RESOLVE surround the year and the state 
with commas. The formula looks like this:
 BE IT RESOLVED that the National Federation of the Blind in convention 
assembled this eighth day of July, 2000, in the City of Atlanta, Georgia, 
... Note also that the C in City is capitalized.

 The rather strained form of the resolution makes it sound unnatural and 
formal. Do not attempt to add to this effect by indulging in jargon and 
verbosity. Even though resolutions are frequently long, brevity is a virtue. 
Each argument should be made concisely but clearly. Jargon never helps this 
process. Substituting "utilize"for the short, vigorous word "use" and always 
referring to people as persons or individuals are good examples of 
counterproductive inflation of the pomposity quotient. On the other hand, 
because resolutions are formal statements of a policy position, you should 
avoid slang or informal words like "exams" instead of "examinations" or 
"quotes" for "quotations." Verb forms like "hunker down" or "get going" are 
also a bit too casual for use in resolutions.

 You will remember that the NFB is on record as opposing people-first 
language, except as it happens for some reason to sound euphonious. Despite 
this fact, we are increasingly saddled with awkward people-first language in 
our resolutions that serves no function but to lengthen the argument, sound 
pompous, and contradict our own policy. Remember that there is nothing wrong 
with the terms "blind people" or "blindness field." Yet increasingly our 
resolutions are cluttered with "persons who are blind" or "persons with 
blindness or visual impairment."

 Capitalization should be consistent. Do not capitalize words for emphasis. 
Quotation marks should not be used for this purpose either. "Federal" is not 
capitalized unless it is part of an actual title or is the first word of a 
sentence. Since WHEREASes do not begin with capital letters, federal is 
almost never capitalized in resolutions. "Congress," on the other hand, is, 
as are "House of Representatives" and "Senate." Names of departments and 
organizations are capitalized, but terms like "departments of education" or 
"vocational rehabilitation agencies" should not be.

 Resolutions often pile up nouns as adjectives. When this happens, the terms 
should be hyphenated: Web-site creators, access-program producers.

 Bill numbers are written H.R. 0000 or S. 0000.

[Return to Resolutions Page]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe Minichiello" <jbmini at comcast.net>
To: "NFB of Florida Listserv" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 9:16 PM
Subject: [Nfbf-l] RESOLUTIONS

> Calling for resolutions. We will have a resolutions committee meeting 
> after the board meeting on Friday May 28 the following people have agreed 
> to serve
> Sheri Brun, Mark Tardif, Dan Hicks, Joe King Betty McNally, and yours 
> truly Joe Minichiello committee chare.
> You can submit your resolution to me via email.
> The NFBF website has the passed resolutions you can use to construct a 
> resolution. *** www.NFBFLORIDA.ORG *** Lets get the resolutions in, and 
> have a spirited resolutions committee meeting.
>
> Joe Minichiello, Second Vice President
> National Federation of the Blind of Florida
> President, Greater Jacksonville Chapter
> 904-608-0105
> jbmini at comcast.net
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