Bylaws Change Affects Timing of Introduction of Late Resolutions to AAFP COD

As the 2010 AAFP Congress of Delegates gears up, members need to know that an AAFP Bylaws change adopted during the 2009 AAFP COD affects the timing of when members or constituent chapters can introduce late resolutions for consideration by the Congress.

The AAFP Bylaws formerly allowed members to introduce resolutions as late as during the Opening Ceremony of the Scientific Assembly. However, in the past, the final session of the COD occured during the Delegates' Dinner, which was held the evening of the day of Opening Ceremony. This timing prohibited late resolutions from receiving a proper hearing and due consideration by delegates. In 2008, the inherent problems with the logistics of this system were revealed when, for the first time in the Academy's history, a resolution was introduced at the Scientific Assembly Opening Ceremony.

The AAFP Bylaws Workgroup quickly realized that not only did the former system fail to allow delegates to fully consider any resolution introduced so late in the COD process, it also found that the language permitting a member referendum lacked clarity and specificity. Subsequently, the workgroup formulated a Bylaws change that was adopted by the 2009 COD.

What now appears in the AAFP Bylaws is language that requires members or constituent chapters to present late resolutions in writing at the opening session of the Congress of Delegates. "An affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the members of the Congress of Delegates present and voting shall be required for consideration of each such resolution introduced at the opening session," says the Bylaws revision.

This revision still allows a mechanism for individual members to introduce resolutions to the COD, which the Bylaws Workgroup strongly felt should be retained. In addition, it deletes language regarding member referendums that lacked clarity and specificity.