Lifetime vs. Annual Membership Dues Rebuttal

This blog post is (yet) another continuation of a series about membership dues, proposals, and who has the authority to change them.  It’s not really necessary to read the previous three if you haven’t already, but I highly recommend it because I might have already answered some questions, plus I go into depth as to my explanations and rationales as to why the National Board does not have the authority to raise membership dues.  You can start here.  But this one is a direct follow-up to the blog post called The Lifetime Membership Dues Amendment Contradiction where I stated that this year’s National Session Proposal 3 contradicts the National Board’s previous assertion.   Before we begin and in case you’re just joining us, here’s a refresher:  1)  The National Council DID NOT vote at any point to give authority to the National Board to raise dues, nor was there ever a proposal.  2)  The National Council DID NOT vote to raise membership dues from $12 to $15 at any session.  3)  The National Council DID NOT vote at any time to raise membership dues from $15 to $25.  For a list of all proposals since 2008 and their results, read this blog post. 

I wanted to hear the other side of the coin with regards to my blog post, so during the September 7th GSUSA national delegate webinar, I submitted the following question:

Why is the National Board asking for a vote to modify the lifetime membership dues amount when it didn’t request one for the $12 to $15 and the $15 to $25 annual dues increases? Both are in the the Credentials section of the Blue Book.

To GSUSA’s credit, they answered me.  They might have been given a heads up because I had posted this question in the national delegate website and also in the Convention Chat Facebook group, but maybe not.  😉 Anywho, here is the answer as given by Jennifer Rochon, the General Counsel for GSUSA:

With respect to annual dues, the National Council and the National Board have shared authority over membership dues as the National Board has the power to manage the affairs of the organization between sessions of the National Council, and it also has the authority to establish (the National Board) standards, procedures, and interpretations regarding membership credentials which includes the amount of dues. What this means is that either the National Council or the National Board can, at their respective meetings, vote to change the dues amount. And consistent with that authority, the National Board voted to raise annual membership dues from $12 to $15 in 2012, which was effective in I believe the 2014 membership year, and from $15 to $25 in 2016, again effective for the 2018 membership year. And as an aside, GSUSA is providing a grant to councils in the amount of $4.9 million dollars in September 2018 to assist with their membership growth efforts, so we’re really trying to work together as a movement in that regard. With respect to lifetime membership, as many of you may recall if you were delegates in 2014, the National Council discussed the work that had been done by a joint council GSUSA task force, to look at future membership categories, and this lifetime membership proposal is an outgrowth of that work. Meg [Maloney] alluded to that and it was developed by that membership category task force’s continued effort. Again, with a number of council representatives. So this proposal as Meg relayed seeks to keep lifetime membership amounts relatively consistent with the current price and expand that discount in order to engage more Girl Scouts alums. Now the reason this is being brought to the National Council then, is a few. So one is obviously bringing it to the National Council to give the opportunity for input from the National Council and feedback from the National Council. In addition, as I just described the process, unlike with annual membership dues where a mid-triennial increase may be the best response to fiscal realities, the lifetime membership dues were progressed in a manner such that the timing coincided with the National Council session so that so there was the time to bring this before the National Council. And the third factor that contributed to bringing it before the National Council was that the multiplier for lifetime membership dues is contained in the section of the Blue Book labeled Membership Requirements rather than Membership Dues and Procedures for Registration where the annual membership dues are listed. So for future clarity and consistency with the other membership categories, this proposal suggested changing from a multiplier to a dollar amount and moving those fees to the Membership Dues and Procedures for Registration section with the other membership dues so that either the National Board or the National Council could address them consistently with other membership dues categories.

I have a rebuttal, and I’m going to take it piece by piece.  Get out your copy of the Blue Book and follow along.  What!  You don’t have one?  Every green blooded Girl Scout should have a well worn copy of the Blue Book!  😉  Remember that just because something is claimed doesn’t mean it’s true unless it’s in black & white in the Blue Book.  Let’s start at the very beginning (a very good place to start):

With respect to annual dues, the National Council and the National Board have shared authority over membership dues as the National Board has the power to manage the affairs of the organization between sessions of the National Council….

What’s interesting is this is a slight variation on what the National Board has claimed in the past.  Previously, the Board’s rationale has always been about claiming the same authority as the National Council and therefore, since the National Council votes to modify dues, the National Board in turn believed it had that same power.  I give an in-depth explanation of WHY this is not the case in Back to the Future: About 2008 and Membership Dues.  However, there’s a slight difference here.  This explanation doesn’t mention anything about having equal authority as the National Council but instead claims that both share authority specifically regarding membership dues because that falls under “managing affairs” between sessions.  And the Board does manage the affairs as reflected in Article X/National Board of Directors/Management of Corporation/Executive Committee section of the Constitution on pg. 11:

But in order to raise the amount of membership dues, the Blue Book has to be modified.  As a refresher, remember that the amount of membership dues is found in the Membership Dues and Procedures for Registration section of the Credentials (pg. 25 – 26).  I’d also like to point out that if you turn to pg. 25 of the Blue Book, you’ll see where the Credentials title references Article VIII/Credentials of the Constitution, so that’s where we should go to get our answers.  And according to it, who has the power to modify the Credentials section?  Yep, the National Council.  Refer to the Back to the Future post where I spell this out.  But this time around, the National Board isn’t claiming it can modify all of the Credentials.  It’s giving an explanation as to why it thinks it can change just the Membership Dues and Procedures for Registration section using wording from Article VIII.  Continuing on from the webinar:

…and it also has the authority to establish standards, procedures, and interpretations regarding membership credentials which includes the amount of dues.

There are a couple of problems with this statement.

Here’s the exact wording from Article VIII/Credentials/Administration of the Constitution (pg. 10 and emphasis added):

The given webinar explanation doesn’t match what’s stated in the Constitution.  The National Board can establish standards, but it can’t establish procedures and interpretations – only issue them.  What’s the difference between establishing and issuing?   Establishing means it’s created (definition: to found, institute, build, or bring into being on a firm or stable basis) while issuing means the National Board (GSUSA, really) sends out those standards, procedures, and interpretations to the councils (definition:  the act of sending out or putting forth; promulgation; distribution).

That said, “establishing standards” is not the same as establishing requirements.  I’d like to point out that there is a separate Applicable Membership Standards section in the Credentials (pg. 25), and it specifically states “Membership standards are not credentials” so that the National Board can establish them there and not get hung up on the Credential authority of the National Council.  As to requirements, if a girl or adult doesn’t pay the correct amount for membership dues, then obviously she doesn’t meet them.  Therefore, the amount is intertwined in the requirement itself.  And here’s the biggest piece that’s conveniently missing from the rationale (emphasis added):  “…provided such standards, procedures, and interpretations are consistent with the requirements established by the National Council.“  So again, here’s proof that the National Council sets the membership requirements of which dues amounts are a part of.  Establishing standards and issuing standards, procedures, and interpretations have nothing to do with it.  In fact, I think it’s interesting to note that Article VIII/Credentials/Administration states two times in the same sentence that the credential requirements are established by the National Council.

Not to mention, “managing the affairs” cannot be a catchall per Robert’s Rules of Order (pg. 589, 11th edition) under Some Principles of Interpretation:

• “A general statement or rule [in the Bylaws or Constitution] is always of less authority than a specific statement or rule and yields to it.”  The general statement of “managing the affairs” cannot give the Board any more authorization other than establishing standards and issuing standards, procedures, and interpretations regarding credential requirements.
• “If the bylaws [or Constitution] authorize certain things specifically, other things of the same class are thereby prohibited.”  Establishing standards and issuing standards, procedures, and interpretations regarding credential requirements are the only things the National Board can do when it comes to the Credentials section unless there is a more specific authorization within it, and that isn’t the case in either the Certificate of Membership or Membership Dues and Procedures for Registration (pg.25-26) sections.  And even then, they have to be consistent with what the National Council establishes for requirements.

Back to Jennifer:

Now the reason this is being brought to the National Council then, is a few. So one is obviously bringing it to the National Council to give the opportunity for input from the National Council and feedback from the National Council.

Well, isn’t that so considerate of the National Board and GSUSA.  Nevermind that prior to 2012, the National Council has always been the one to vote on membership dues.  Here’s the history via a chart from the 2002 National Council Session Workbook:

And add an increase from $10 to $12 in 2008 to this list.

Continuing on:

In addition, as I just described the process, unlike with annual membership dues where a mid-triennial increase may be the best response to fiscal realities, the lifetime membership dues were progressed in a manner such that the timing coincided with the National Council session so that so there was the time to bring this before the National Council.

This is a little off-topic, but prior to 2008, dues were raised at a minimal rate approximately every 6 years.  But after 2008, when the National Board took things into its own hands, the difference has been 6 years and then a $10 jump just 4 years later.  That’s a little disconcerting.  If a mid-triennial increase is the best response to “fiscal realities,” then I question whether the National Board and GSUSA are doing their due diligence when it comes to finances if they can’t manage the affairs well enough in between two triennial meetings to the point to where they have to raise dues before the next one.

Moving on:

And the third factor that contributed to bringing it before the National Council was that the multiplier for lifetime membership dues is contained in the section of the Blue Book labeled Membership Requirements rather than Membership Dues and Procedures for Registration where the annual membership dues are listed.

So to sum up, this boils down to the National Board believing that they can modify the Membership Dues and Procedures for Registration section in the Credentials section of the Blue Book (pg. 25-26).  Proposal 3 for this upcoming convention moves the 25x multiplier from the Membership Requirements section (pg. 25) to the Membership Dues and Procedures section.  The National Board believes that change will give it complete control over both annual and lifetime dues (and whatever level it feels like creating) because that language is out of the Requirements section and also because it considers it part of the duty of “managing the affairs.”  I feel that I’ve proven this is not the case.  During the session, members of the board will attempt to talk delegates into believing they have the power as they’ve done in past sessions, but again, words are meaningless because what’s printed in the Constitution is what counts.  What else in the future will be claimed as “managing affairs” if this is not nipped in the bud and we don’t hold ourselves accountable to our organization’s governance documents?

I’m not a parliamentarian by any means, but personally, I think it makes the most sense for the amount of dues to be moved to the Membership Requirements section within the Credentials (pg. 25).  Without the amount, you can’t fulfill the requirement!  Here’s my suggestion.  The changes are in red, and I used the current Blue Book wording for the example:

Then, remove the wording in red from the Membership Dues and Procedures section and modify the section title to Membership Procedures for Registration.

Again, I thank the National Board and GSUSA for entertaining my question.  I am looking forward to attending my first National Council Session, so see you there!