Please review the proposed ammendments to the Council Bylaws. They will be discussed at the next Council meeting.

July 13, 2010

The portions of the bylaws proposed to be amended are listed below. These are additions to the existing bylaws and there are no deletions or other changes proposed except for the necessary renumbering of the sections in Article III and the addition of an Article XII. The rationale for this amendment is to define a new entity called the "Alabama Alliance of MOAA" and to make the Alabama Council of Chapters the Administrator of the entity.

This technicality is necessary to comport with legislative language that will be used in legislation proposed to add the Alabama Alliance of MOAA to the list of organizations authorized to nominate members to sit on the State Board of Veterans’ Affairs (SBVA). We can’t list "MOAA" alone because that refers to the entire national organization. Neither can we list the Council of Chapters because it technically has only about 20 members ( the elected and appointed officers and the representative of each of the 12 local chapters). By defining the Alliance as proposed we can include people who are members of MOAA National but not members of a local chapter and people who are members of a chapter without being a member of MOAA National so long as they are a resident of the state. I believe we also would have a good argument to include some people on active duty who are chapter members who are temporarily out of state due to military orders, so long as they are domiciled in Alabama.

The number of members of the Alliance will be important because the legislation governing the SBVA allows authorized organizations to have one representative on the SBVA for the first 7,500 resident members or fraction thereof and one additional representative for each additional 7,500 members or fraction thereof. Right now it is uncertain whether counted membership can include auxiliary members. We will argue that it should.

Article XII is added to provide a basic outline of the Council’s role and process in selecting Alliance members for nomination to the state appointing authority to serve as a MOAA representative on a state agency or board, including the SBVA. The language is broader than just the SBVA in case we need to be involved with some other state agency in the future. Acting within this brief framework, the Council could work out the details of the process (having been chartered to do it). Section 3 of this Article is added to specifically address the orientation the appointed Alliance member should take with reference to serving on the SBVA. That orientation should be to address the needs of Veterans first and MOAA second. This is the philosophy of the SBVA and we should act in accord. This means, of course, that "our representative" has some independence.

It is planned to discuss these changes at the third quarterly meeting on July 13^th, 2010. Based on those discussions and approval of the Council, a final version of these amendments can be drafted and furnished to Council members for a vote at the fourth quarterly meeting in October, 2010.

The Bylaws of the Alabama Council of Chapters, Military Officers Association of America adopted on October 10, 2006 are hereby amended as follows:

After the eighth enumerated purpose add the following purpose:

Act as the supervising entity of the Alabama Alliance of MOAA, to include, but not

limited to, administrative and financial management and establishing the process for

the selection of member candidates to be recommended for appointment as MOAA’s

representative to various State agencies.

After Section 1 insert the following Section 2 and renumber all succeeding Sections of

this Article accordingly:

Section 2. The Alabama Alliance of MOAA (hereafter called the "Alliance") consists of all

regular and auxiliary members of MOAA who reside or who are physically located within the

boundaries of the State of Alabama or who are a regular or auxiliary member of a MOAA local

chapter which is located within the State of Alabama.

Add new Article XII as follows:

Section 1. The Alabama Council of Chapters will establish the process for members of the

Alliance to be selected for nomination to various Alabama State agencies, to include the State Board of Veterans’ Affairs (SBVA). Only those individuals who qualify as a member of the Alliance are eligible candidates. The Council will, by majority vote, select a suitable number of candidates to be recommended to the appointing authority for consideration for appointment as the Alliance’s representative on any particular Alabama State agency or board.

Section 2. A similar selection process shall be followed to fill any unexpected vacancy that may

occur in a position filled by a representative of the Alliance.

Section 3. An Alliance member appointed to the SBVA is expected to further and advance the

best interest of military Veterans of the State of Alabama and their dependents or survivors. The

Alliance, and in particular the Council and State Chapters are available to assist and support. No

policy position should be announced to the SBVA as an MOAA position unless so approved by

the National Organization or the Council.