[NFBWATlk] 2020 National Federation of the Blind of Washington resolutions process; submit them by 7:00 Thursday, November 5

[Nightingale, Noel]

NFB of Washington,

Given that our state convention this year is different because it is being conducted virtually, I need to ask any of you who are planning on proposing resolutions to be considered at the 2020 state convention to draft your resolutions soon.  Please submit proposed resolutions to my personal e-mail address, which is:

nnightingale at comcast.net

You must be a current member of the NFB of Washington to propose resolutions.

Please submit any proposed resolutions attached to an e-mail and in as final form as possible to me by 7:00 p.m. the evening of Thursday, November 5, so that I can distribute any proposed resolutions to the resolution committee members that evening.  That will provide resolution committee members just a little bit of time to review proposed resolutions before we log into the 2020 state convention activities the morning of Friday, November 6.  I will provide the reader to read proposed resolutions to committee meeting participants for resolutions that were submitted on time.

If there is an extenuating circumstance that prevents you from submitting your proposed resolution to me by 7:00 p.m. Thursday, November 5, you will need to explain those  extenuating circumstances to the resolution committee members when we meet at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, November 6, and also you will need to provide your own reader or read the proposed resolution to the committee meeting participants yourself.

Formats of resolutions:

We do not enact resolutions that call on ourselves to do something.  All resolutions must be calling on individuals or organizations outside the National Federation of the Blind to do or not do something.  Each resolution needs to be backed up by statements that support the action we want or don't want.  Those are the clauses that begin in all capital letters, "WHEREAS,..."  The last whereas clause ends with a colon.

The most important part of a resolution is the resolved clause, WHICH is what action or lack of action we are wanting.  The resolved clause BEGINS IN ALL CAPITAL letters, "NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND OF WASHINGTON in convention assembled this ___ day of November 2020..."

You do not need to write an encyclopedia, just justify what you want or don't want in a way that will persuade the membership if the resolution committee recommends that it be adopted.

If you wish to discuss any questions you have about resolutions, please give me a call this weekend at home at (206) 723-1366.  I will be unavailable much of Sunday, so please call Saturday if you can.

Noel