Further to the post on The Importance of Bylaws for PACs, there are some specific ways to change your bylaws.
Your bylaws should specify the requirements for their amendment. According to Robert’s Rules, you should at least require a two-thirds vote and previous notice to make any change at all in your bylaws.
Making small revisions to the bylaws is just done as amending a motion:
- Example: In the sentence “The business of the PAC shall be unbiased towards race, religion, gender, or politics “, add the words “sexual orientation” after “gender”.
- Example: In the sentence “No person may hold the same executive position for more than two consecutive years.”, strike the word “two” and add the word “three”.
If you are making amendments in this manner, your amendments made in the meeting can’t exceed the scope of the notice. You can’t send notice of a change to change “All money spent up to $300.00 may be voted on by the PAC executive” to $500, and then at the meeting change it to $1000. You would able to amend only up to the $500 amount, as that is what the notice was given for.
However, you may choose to make larger revisions to your bylaws, a more extensive rewrite. By considering a revision of your bylaws, you’re proposing to amend the bylwas by substituting a new set of bylaws for the existing ones. The rules regarding scope of notice would not apply. Your PAC is free to amend anything in the proposed revision before it’s adopted, as if the bylaws were being considered and adopted for the first time.
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