| JULY 5, 2014 -- Has your Grange started working on your resolutions yet for the next State Grange Session? Many Granges and Pomonas limit their meetings during the summer months. Remember that resolutions should be sent from your local Granges to the Pomonas before being sent to State. A plus of this requirement allows resolutions to be considered by a larger audience and educate others as to what the resolution is about. Further the delegates will be prepared when those resolutions are presented at State Grange.
The resolution on GMO labeling will again be presented to the delegates at this upcoming session. The Agricultural Committee is studying this and will be reporting at the next session on their recommendations. Connecticut did pass a GMO labeling bill last year but it has many requirements before it will be activated such as needing other states to also approve this label requirement with at least one neighboring state. Charles Dimmock wrote a great article in the March Granger that explained what GMO’s are.
This last years legislative session had quite a variety of topics that were discussed. Many of them will return with the next session. These include topics such as the states use of chemical treatments on roads and the effect that it has on roads and bridges across the state. Many towns are also concerned about the damage that it is having on their vehicles. There was a proposal to study the effects but it died in committee.
Gordon pointed out in his last article that a bill was passed concerning bicycle safety. We had a resolution we passed last year that placed the responsibility on bike riders where the bill that was passed placed it on the drivers. Do you believe that both riders and drivers should share the responsibilities?
Maybe your Grange members have an opinion on some of these issues. Don’t think that all resolutions need to concern state wide or national issues. Is there a project or issue in your local community that you wish to bring forward for discussion? Have your Grange adopt a resolution that you can send on to your local officials. Do mention that you did support a local resolution when you are preparing your reports for State Grange.
There is an outline that you can follow on the State Grange website as to how to write a resolution. Look under the Download section and select Legislative under Select Category. Feel free to contact any member of the Legislative Committee for help as well. |
