To all Rotary clubs:

The Council on Legislation of Rotary International met 13-18 June 2004 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. In accordance with section 8.140.2. of the bylaws of RI, I am issuing this report on the actions taken by the Council, including the text of the 100 pieces of adopted legislation.

The Council considered 476 pieces of proposed legislation. These included 250 enactments (proposals to amend the constitutional documents of RI) and 226 resolutions (proposals which do not seek to amend the constitutional documents of RI). Of these, the Council adopted 50 enactments and 50 resolutions. The Council referred 7 pieces to the RI Board for further study. The Council rejected 160 proposals, and 162 proposals were withdrawn or considered withdrawn. 47 proposals were tabled. Of the 100 adopted proposals, the Council adopted 89 exactly as they were proposed, while 11 were adopted with amendments. Those adopted with amendments are noted in the report by an asterisk (*) after the number of the proposal. You will note that, where necessitated by amendments, the titles of the proposals have been changed to accurately reflect the final intent of the legislation.

The legislation contained in this report is presented in the format used by the Council. It illustrates changes to the current constitutional documents of RI by underlining new text and lining through deleted text.

As you study these items of legislation, please bear in mind that each piece of legislation must stand alone as it was adopted. Each adopted enactment was drafted to achieve its individual purpose by amending the constitutional documents as they currently exist. Where two or more pieces seek to change the same section of a document, all overlapping and correlative changes will be made in the production of the 2004 Manual of Procedure.

At the end of this report is an "Opposition to Legislation Report Form." In accordance with section 8.140.3. of the RI bylaws, any club may use this form to record its opposition to any adopted enactment or resolution. Completed forms must reach the World Headquarters of RI in Evanston by 18 October 2004. If by that time clubs representing ten or more percent of the total number of votes entitled to be cast by all clubs have filed forms regarding their opposition to any item of legislation adopted by the Council, that item will be considered suspended. A ballot will then be prepared and distributed to each club within one month of the suspension. The ballot will submit the question of whether the action of the Council should be sustained in regard to the suspended item of legislation. The ballot will be conducted according to the provisions of sections 8.140.5., 8.140.6. and 8.140.7. of the RI bylaws. Based on the results of the ballot, the suspended item will either be nullified or reinstated.

Please note that a club should complete and return the form at the end of this report only if it wishes to oppose some action by the Council. If a club does not wish to oppose an action of the 2004 Council on Legislation, no action is required.

Ed Futa
General Secretary