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Organizational
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Title I. NAME
Section 1 The name of this
program shall be the Border Legislative Conference (BLC).
Section 2
The objective of the
Border Legislative Conference shall be to foster Title III.
COMPOSITION The Border Legislative
Conference shall consist of state legislators from the border states of
California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas in the United States, and the
states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and
Tamaulipas in the Republic of Mexico.
Section 4 The legislative
leadership or appropriate legislative authority from participating
border states shall determine their state’s membership in the Border
Legislative Conference. Up
to four members may be selected by each state, including two alternates.
Section 5 Membership may, upon
the approval of the Border Legislative Conference members, be expanded
to include non-border states from both the Unites States and Mexico.
Affiliate status may be discretionarily conferred to non-border states
by consensus of the Border Legislative Conference participants, herein
referred to as “affiliate members.”
Section 6 Subject to the
provisions and limitations of these rules, affiliate members shall be
accorded such rights and privileges as may be determined by the Border
Legislative Conference membership. Title IV.
PARTICIPATION
Section 7 Voting privileges at
Border Legislative Conference forums are reserved only for legislators
representing U.S.-Mexico border states.
Title V.
OFFICERS
Section
8
The
officers of the Border Legislative Conference shall include a chair and
a vice chair who shall be member state legislators.
Section
9
The
officers shall be elected by the general membership at the fall meeting.
Section
10
The
chair and vice chair positions shall rotate between U.S. and Mexico
border states. Newly elected
officers shall assume their duties at the first forum of the calendar
year.
Section
11
All
elected officers shall serve for a period of one year as vice chair and
one year as chair.
Section
12
Succession
of the vice chair to the position of chair shall occur upon the end of
the chair’s one-year tenure. In
the event that an officer's service as an elected legislator from a
member state should end before the term of officer, the position shall
be deemed vacant.
Section
13
In
the event that the position of chair is vacated for any reason, the vice
chair shall succeed to the chair for the remainder of the term.
Section
14
In
the event that the position of vice chair is vacated for any reason,
the chair, in consultation with the appropriate legislative leadership
or appropriate legislative authority in the member states represented by
the outgoing vice chair, shall appoint a successor who will serve for
the remainder of the term.
Title VI.
OFFICERS:
RESPONSIBILITIES AND AUTHORITY
Section 15 The chair shall
preside at all forums of the Border Legislative Conference, present
annual work plan, and shall perform such other duties as may be required
by these rules. Secti The vice chair shall
serve as presiding officer in the absence of the chair and shall
perform such other duties as may be required by these rules.
Section 17 The chair and the vice
chair, with the assistance of program staff, supervise the planning and
execution of all Border Legislative Conference forums and task forces
provided for in these rules.
Section 18 The chair makes final
approval of all general forum matters.
Section 19 The officers of the
Border Legislative Conference shall also serve as “Associate
Members” of the CSG-WEST Executive Committee.
Title
VII.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF PARTICIPATING MEMBERS
Section 20 The responsibilities
of members include, but are not limited to, representing their
respective state legislative bodies in Border Legislative Conference
meetings, casting votes on program matters, submitting proposals for the
membership’s consideration, supporting decisions by the membership,
and advocating, educating and informing others of the program.
Title
VIII.
FORUMS Section 21 Border Legislative
Conference forums shall be conducted at least twice during a calendar
year and at such other times as the chair, in consultation with staff
and the membership of the Border Legislative Conference, may determine.
Section 22 The forums shall
rotate between U.S. and Mexico member states, with preference given to
the states of the chair and vice chairs, respectively. The dates and
locations of forums shall be determined by the chair, vice chair, and
staff, in consultation with the membership of the Border Legislative
Conference.
Section 23 The Border Legislative
Conference may also sponsor periodic regional issue conferences, the
focus and frequency of which shall be determined by the officers.
Each regional issue conference shall be chaired by a lead
legislator or legislators, who shall be appointed by the chair.
Section 24 Unless restricted by
an action of the Border Legislative Conference membership, participation
in forum activities shall be open to all elected and appointed federal,
state, and local government officials, their staffs, affiliate members,
the media, representatives of the private sector and other invited
guests.
Title
IX.
RELATIONS
BETWEEN PARTICIPATING STATES
Section 25 The relations between
the United States and Mexico member states are based on equality,
dignity, and respect for the sovereignty of both nations in a spirit of
cooperation.
Title
X.
TASK FORCES Section 26 The membership of the
Border Legislative Conference may, from time to time, establish task
forces in substantive areas of continuing interest to the member states
and affiliate members.
Section 27 The purposes and
responsibilities of such task forces shall be defined and revised as
necessary by the chair of the Border Legislative Conference.
Section 28 The co-chairs and
members of task forces shall be determined by the chair and vice chair
of the Border Legislative Conference, in consultation with the
appropriate legislative authorities representing the member states and
affiliate members. Se Unless otherwise
restricted by the membership of the Border Legislative Conference,
taskforce membership shall be open to legislators, legislative staff,
other elected or appointed officials, and private sector representatives
from the member states and affiliate members. The chairs shall be state
legislators, one from a Mexico state and the other from a U.S. state.
All task forces shall
report to the Border Legislative Conference membership at such times as
may be determined by the chair. Any policy position
recommendations generated by a task force are subject to the approval of
the membership of the Border Legislative Conference and, as appropriate,
to prior review by other entities authorized herein.
Section 32 All task forces
created pursuant to this rule are subject to dissolution at any time
by the chair.
Title
XI.
POLICY POSITIONS
Section 33 Any resolution or statement of any kind that purports to be the policy of the Border Legislative Conference shall be adopted by the membership as a whole during a membership forum in accordance with the voting guidelines articulated in Title XII. Prior to such approval, policy recommendations by any task force are to be considered only recommendations of the task force and not an official position of the Border Legislative Conference. Section 34 Policy positions or resolutions may be proposed by any individual legislator or group of legislators from one or more of the member states. Section 35 Before a proposed policy position or resolution may be considered by the Border Legislative Conference membership, it must first be approved for consideration by the chair and vice chair. Section 36 Proposed policy positions or resolutions not previously reviewed as provided herein may be considered only by unanimous consent of the members. Section 37 Policy position and resolution proposals are deemed properly submitted for preliminary review for membership consideration when they are received by program staff two weeks in advance of a scheduled forum. Section 38 Participating members shall notify and inform their respective legislatures of any policy positions or declarations taken by the Border Legislative Conference. Title
XII. VOTING
Section 39 Members of the Border
Legislative Conference shall first attempt to reach a consensus by voice
vote of the eligible voters present for purposes of decision-making on
all motions, resolutions or other business of the Border Legislative
Conference, and any task force. If
consensus is not achieved, the members of the Border Legislative
Conference shall adopt its decisions by majority vote, representing a
majority of U.S. border states (3)
and a majority of Mexico border states (4).
Section 40 States may vote in
favor, against or by means of abstention.
If a vote results in a tie, a second vote shall be taken.
If a second vote results in a tie, the matter fails for lack of a
majority.
S Affiliate members and
other duly appointed, nonlegislative members of such task forces or
entities shall be considered nonvoting members.
Section 42 A roll call vote may
be requested by any voting member. Title
XIII.
ADMINISTRATION
Section 43 The Border Legislative
Conference is jointly administered by The Council of State Governments
(CSG) -WEST and the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) of The Council of
State Governments.
Section 44 Program staff consists
of a program manager, a bilingual staff assistant and support staff from
CSG’s Western, Southern and Washington, D.C. offices that oversee the
program, organize forums and serve as the administrative arms of the
officers and members of the Border Legislative Conference in carrying
out the mission of the program.
Section 45 The duties of program staff may include, but are not limited to:
Section 46 The program is headquartered in Sacramento, California.
Section 47 Any recommendation
generated by program staff is subject to the approval of the chair and
vice chair, or when appropriate, by the membership of the Border
Legislative Conference.
Title
XIV. RULES:
ADOPTION, AMENDMENT, REPEAL AND SUSPENSION
Section 48
The Organizational
Framework of the Border Legislative Conference may be adopted, amended,
or repealed at any Border Legislative Conference forum by a two-thirds
vote of all member states present and voting.
These rules shall not be suspended at any time, except by
unanimous consent of the membership. |
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