WIAA Tea: Winter Coalition Meeting

1/26/2021

The WIAA held their annual Winter Coalition meeting yesterday virtually. Usually the 53-voting member of the organization meets in a big in-person conference with presentations of proposed amendments (rule/procedure changes) followed by smaller break-out sessions for each amendment. This process is to give the voters as much information as possible as they consider each amendment.

The process then allows for each voting member to go back to their home area and discuss or get a feel for what their area would support or not or any changes they would like to see to the proposed amendment. This is why some times a proposed change can take 2 or 3 years to finally pass as more information is gathered and the idea is tweaked, others are more straight forward.

The voters will submit their final votes between April 29 and May 7 and a 60% supermajority is needed to pass. If an amendment fails it can be re-submitted each year. Generally those in favor of the change will listen to the reasons from those who voted against and make changes to their proposals. If an amendment fails by just a percentage points the Executive Board can choose to re-run the amendment the following year.

Below is a link to the amendments and a link to the entire virtual Winter Coalition meeting where you can watch and listen to its entirety or skip to the pieces you are interested.