In accordance with the requirement that Bylaws amendments be posted at least 30 days before a membership meeting, the following bylaws amendment will be considered by the ILGP membership at our 2021 Spring Convention on April 17, 2021.
Background:
These proposed changes are intended to provide dues-exemptions for the following groups, undocumented individuals and minors under the age of 18. The intention is addressing possible situations in which an otherwise eligible member is unable, whether legally or due to a lack of financial independence, meet the dues requirement.
As a political party, one of the regulatory rules which we must abide by is that our donors must all be US citizens. In abiding with Green values, we do not want to see undocumented supporters disenfranchised inside the party, as they are outside. We seek to build a working-class party that not only represents oppressed communities, but that is made up of members from oppressed communities. Because it is illegal for us to accept a donation from a non-citizen, this amendment to the ILGP Bylaws waives the dues requirement for undocumented individuals, while still extending full internal membership rights, assuming all other criteria for membership are me.
Minors are generally not financially independent from their parents, which creates an issue where requiring dues from a minor could out their political affiliations to parents who control their finances and do not agree with their politics. The Young Ecosocialists (Green Party Youth Caucus) has had situations in the past where members got in trouble due their parents finding out their political affiliation. YES has also had situations where youth wanted to join, but could not pay the dues as they were not financially independent and did not have their own bank account. The ILGP allows members as young as 13 years old and protecting those youth members’ rights and privacy should be a priority for us. In order to address the concerns about financial independence and political affiliation in regards to our dues structure, it is proposed that we waive the dues requirement for minors, while still extending full internal membership rights, assuming all other criteria for membership are met.
Current Language with suggested addition in bold:
2-B-5. Dues. Members must pay dues to the Illinois Green Party. The level or levels of dues and manner of satisfying the dues requirement shall be set by the Coordinating Committee but a decision of the Membership at a Membership Meeting as to dues shall take precedence over that of the Coordinating Committee until the next Membership Meeting. Undocumented individuals and youth under the age of 18 are exempt from the monetary dues requirements and shall be considered members with full rights, provided that they satisfy the other requirements for membership as set forth in this Article. A member who is more than three months in arrears in remitting dues or other manner of meeting the dues requirement shall lose membership rights until such time as that member becomes current. A member who is more than one year in arrears in remitting dues or other manner of meeting the dues requirement shall be considered a lapsed member and stricken from the membership rolls but shall retain the right to reapply for membership.