Most Rotarians don’t know who decides the rules that govern Rotary International, our Zones, Districts, and Clubs. We are all defined and governed by a Constitution and Bylaws. Things like Rotary International dues, attendance requirements, Club and District officers and many more things are governed by the those organizing documents.
Changes to those documents are not approved by Rotary International. They are proposed to, reviewed by, and decided on by the Rotary Council on Legislation (COL). The Council is composed of a representative from each of Rotary’s 515 districts and they serve a term of three years. During those three years they:
- Are responsible for reviewing issues brought to the board by Clubs and Districts around the world.
- Approve proposed Resolutions, which are motions to be presented to and acted on by the Rotary International Board
- Review, discuss and approve/reject proposed changes—called Enactments—to the Rotary International Constitution and Bylaws—both at the International and Club level. Enactments come from individual Clubs and District around the world.
The Council held its triennial session on April 13-17th, 2025. 86 Enactments were presented to the Council. 31 were approved, 37 rejected, and 11 were withdrawn from consideration, 4 were referred to the RI Board, and 3 were postponed indefinitely.
Of the Enactments that were approved, there were seven that most directly impact us in a noticeable way.
The most significant impact is the approval of a change in RI Dues from enactment 25-49 that will take effect on July 1 of this year. The dues will be increased from the current $39.25/six months as follows:
2025-2026 $41.00 July 1st and January 1st. Increase of $1.75 per billing/$3.50 per year
2026-2027 $42.75 July 1st and January 1st. Increase of $1.75 per billing/$3.50 per year
2027-2028 $44.63 July 1st and January 1st. Increase of $1.88 per billing/$3.76 per year
2028-2029 $46.50 July 1st and January 1st. Increase of $1.87 per billing/$3.74 per year
This is a cumulative dues increase of $14 or 17.8% per year over the next four Rotary years. To provide context for that dues increase, you can go to this link for the Rotary Five Year Financial Forecast that was shared with the CoL on Sunday, April 13th to provide a framework to consider the Dues Enactment. This dues increase should be a reminder to all of us that focusing on building Rotary in our communities needs to be a major focus.
The following six Enactments are the ones I think have the most noticeable impact on our Clubs and District:
Item/Title: 25-06 - To amend the deadline for the mid-year financial report
Impact: The requirement for clubs to provide a mid-year report by Dec 31st was introduced at the 2019 CoL. This isn't realistic, as a true mid year report can't be produced until after Dec 31st. This enactment changes the due date to January 31st
Item/Title: 25-07 - To decrease the number of members required to charter a new Rotary club
Impact: This enactment lowers the number of charter members from 20 to 15
Item/Title: 25-15 - To amend the duties of a governor
Impact: This adds a duty for the governors to promote the RI Strategic Plan and to participate in grant programs of the Foundation. This is less an issue for us that it might be some Districts
Item/Title: 25-28 - To provide that the Board may instruct a club to terminate the membership of a member or Rotaractor
Impact: Prior to this enactment, if an individual Rotarian needed to be removed from Rotary for reasons of inappropriate conduct and the club was unwilling to act, Rotary's only recourse was the de-charter the club. This has happened more than anyone would like. This enactment allows Rotary to terminate the membership of the member in question with due process.
Item/Title: 25-35 - To amend the criteria for determining the composition of zones
Impact: This is going to be important for us in the next two years. This allows Rotary to not have to make membership count the primary factor in rezoning. This will allow rezoning to consider things like geography, language, culture, and other factors the board deems necessary. if this enactment had been in place for the last rezoning, we would not have been placed in a zone pair with Central American and South America.
Item/Title: 25-76 - To amend the names of the presidents-elect training seminar and the district training assembly
Impact: This formally changes the names for PETS and District Training Assembly to Presidents Elect Leadership Seminar (PELS) and Club Leadership Learning Seminar.
If you’re interested in seeing all the Enactments and learning more about the Council, you can use this link to see the 2025 Council on Legislation of Rotary International Report of Action.
Gary Bren, Council Representative from Rotary District 5650
Rotary District Governor 2016-17