Over the past four months, the internal political life of DSA has been chiefly concerned with the budget. With staff layoffs set to go into effect this week and the publication of a new proposal from the Bread and Roses caucus for a memorandum of understanding between DSA and the DSA Union, it seems likely that one way or another, the financial crisis will soon be resolved. However, the political conflicts dredged up by the budget crisis have only begun to be addressed.

During DSA’s post-2016 growth spurt, conflicts over the allocation of scarce resources were pushed to the sidelines because DSA’s resources were not scarce. Membership and dues income were trending rapidly upward and objecting to a proposal on the basis of its cost could be credibly dismissed as a smokescreen for some ulterior factional motive. Now it is impossible to ignore tensions which could previously be smoothed over with a “both and” approach. In a period of membership stagnation, space in the budget has become a rival resource.

LSC considers it essential that these tensions be addressed directly and decisively by the next National Convention. Toward that end, we are publishing the following Draft Resolution on Staff, Contractors, and Budgeting. Although we are prepared to submit the draft resolution as currently written, we understand that it is somewhat early to formally submit a resolution for consideration by the next Convention. We expect and encourage other members and factions to present their own positions on these questions, including as amendments to our resolution. We aim to start the process of confronting both the administrative and political failures which have precipitated the current crisis, and hope that this resolution will provide a foundation of concrete proposals on which to base constructive debate.

[Link to text of resolution]

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