Interested in taking the fight for more affordable college to your hometown? Then use one of our resolution templates and propose it to your town or city council, university student government association / senate or advocacy organization.
But why are resolutions so crucial to effecting political change?
As documents arguing why the government should do a certain thing (make public college tuition-free, etc.), resolutions are important for passing bills we support because they can drum up support for the bill at the local level.
To even come close to passing a bill into law, we need to win the support of citizens from across the state. By introducing these resolutions into more and more local communities, we can steadily build grassroots support that leads to voters telling their representatives to support the bill. With enough planning, passion and perseverance, this can eventually create enough support for the bill to pass!
Even if a resolution struggles to gain support at first, it at least helps introduce ideas to the public they previously did not consider, thus paving the way for continued dialogue and eventually winning voters over to our cause.
In addition to the importance of entire cities and towns, getting resolutions supported by unions and college campuses is also crucial because of these groups’ unique level of political activity.
As we’ve seen recently, universities are highly receptive to political movements, and when mobilized properly can be powerful voting blocs. Likewise, unions are highly receptive to political campaigns that can benefit their members, and are notoriously powerful voting blocs.
Here are the following templates for our causes.
Getting Your Resolution Sponsored
How do you actually introduce a resolution to a city council? Then, how do you get it voted on? These are some daunting questions for anyone, even us! But don’t fret, just take a look at this step-by-step guide on how to introduce a resolution to your local government, student government association (SGA) or union.
Step 1: Customize one of our resolutions (or make your own!) Make sure your resolution highlights important details of your local town/ university and why the bill the resolution supports is in their interest (e.g. supporting more rights for adjunct faculty in a college town with many brilliant yet underpaid adjunct faculty).
Step 2: Email your local council members, union board members or student senators to get sponsors. They may be town meeting members, council members or select board members depending on the town.
Step 3: For those who get back to you and support the resolution, continue discussions with them to have them sponsor it together. The process to sponsor and pass a resolution varies by the institution, so check with the council members/student senators.
Step 4: Now that your resolution has enough sponsors, the council will select a date to vote on the bill. The council members/ student senators will let you know when the hearing will be held.
Step 5: In the meantime, prepare for the hearing! Write out and practice what arguments you and any fellow organizers should make. Also, spread the word and convince people to come testify in favor of your resolution (or even just add their signature)!
Step 6: See your resolution pass!
If you have any more questions, contact us at henry@phenomonline.org, or DM us on our Instagram @massphenom.