Pacific Legislature Official Thread

[Ebowed]

With a vote of 3-3, the legislation has failed.

[Ebowed]

Executive Order from the Office of the Governor

Effective immediately, all areas where the Pacific Region borders the Southeast Region will be closed.  Law enforcement officers have been given directives to prevent the entry of any Southeastern convicts into the Pacific Region.

x Ebowed


Should my lawsuit against the Southeast government be successful, I will be happy to repeal this order and restore sanity to the import/export situation between the two regions.  I can only express my extreme dismay in the people of the Southeast for deciding that its culture of religious and anti-government extremism, and the correlation of a high violent crime rate that goes with it, is grounds enough to dump their criminals somewhere else as if they were just animals being transported across state lines.

[Ebowed]

Effective immediately I am appointing Antonio V to fill the Lieutenant Governor vacancy.

[Ebowed]

Executive Order from the Office of the Governor

Effective immediately, all areas where the Pacific Region borders the Southeast Region will be closed.  Law enforcement officers have been given directives to prevent the entry of any Southeastern convicts into the Pacific Region.

x Ebowed

I rescind the above order effective immediately.

x Ebowed

I would sincerely hope that the Southeast government can determine a boundary between petty payback for political disagreement and attempting to launch a civil war when crafting its statute in the future.

[Ebowed]

Gun Waiting Period Bill

1. Any person attempting to purchase a firearm of any kind must wait a minimum of five days after first lodging a request with a firearm dealership to finalize the transaction.
2. Gun store owners found to be in violation of this law will face a fine not to exceed $50,000, a permanent loss of business license, or both.

[Ebowed]

What does this really bring ? It changes nothing to the problem of gun ownership itself.

The main desire of such legislation is to help prevent crimes of passion and generally just decrease the ease with which one can purchase a firearm.  Believe me, I would like to make it even harder...

[Ebowed]

Later, we could try to pass an equivalent of the Northeast Gun Safety Act.

If you can provide me with the text of that law I'd be happy to review it.

I will sign Marokai's initiative to bring it to the ballot.  We are now voting on the following initiatives.  Voting begins immediately and ends in one week.


Bestest Friend Resolution

The Pacific Region thanks the Mideast Region for their courage in introducing a resolution to stand by the Pacific during the period of the Southeast threats against us. We henceforth declare the Mideast Region the Pacific's bestest friend.

Gun Waiting Period Bill

1. Any person attempting to purchase a firearm of any kind must wait a minimum of five days after first lodging a request with a firearm dealership to finalize the transaction.
2. Gun store owners found to be in violation of this law will face a fine not to exceed $50,000, a permanent loss of business license, or both.

[Ebowed]

Bestest Friend Resolution: Nay
Gun Waiting Period Bill: Aye

[Ebowed]

Voting is closed.

Bestest Friend Resolution passes 2-1-1.  x Ebowed
Gun Waiting Period Bill passes 3-0-1.  x Ebowed

[Ebowed]

Labeling Requirements Bill

1. All products containing any material originating from animals being sold within the Pacific Region must be explicitly labeled to designate as such.
2. Any exemptions preventing the requirement of a full listing of ingredients for alcoholic beverages are repealed.

HDPE Taxation Bill

1. Effective four months upon the passage of this legislation, food and beverages sold in material containing high-density polyethylene (HDPE), a type of polyethylene thermoplastic, will be subject to an additional 18% Environmental Impact Tax.
2. Revenue generated by this tax will go towards the continued funding of research into environmentally sound renewable energy sources.

Religious Institution Reclassification Bill

For the purposes of taxation and associated benefits, churches and other religious institutions shall henceforth be recognized as businesses by the Pacific Region.

[Ebowed]

I will sign both of bgwah's proposals to bring them to the ballot.

AIDS Prevention Act Funding Extension
1. The Pacific Government pledges $10 million towards condom distribution programs effective FY 2011.
2. The Pacific Government pledges $10 million towards needle exchange programs effective FY 2011.

Alkyl Nitrites Deregulation Bill
1. Any regional and local laws to prohibit the sale, possession, consumption, distribution, or manufacture of alkyl nitrites ("poppers") are repealed.
2. Sale of alkyl nitrites to persons under the age of 18 will remain illegal.

[Ebowed]

For reference, the Universal Health Care Act of 2007 states:
   1. The Pacific Region hereby establishes a single-payer universal health care program.
   2. This program will be open towards any resident or citizen of the Pacific Region regardless of previous health conditions, disability, citizenship status, criminal record, or economic status. No person will be required to pay for access to health care.
   3. All medical services, including preventative treatment and dental care, will be covered under this system.
   4. All subsidies towards health maintenence organizations ('HMOs') are abolished.

[Ebowed]

Well, a simple repeal will suffice.

Universal Health Care Act Repeal
1. Clauses 1-3 of the Universal Health Care Act of 2007 are repealed.
2. The legislature will be required to consider a re-enactment of said legislation in the event of federal universal health care legislation being repealed or found unconstitutional.

[Ebowed]

Voting now begins on the following initiatives and concludes in a week.

Labeling Requirements Bill

1. All products containing any material originating from animals being sold within the Pacific Region must be explicitly labeled to designate as such.
2. Any exemptions preventing the requirement of a full listing of ingredients for alcoholic beverages are repealed.

HDPE Taxation Bill

1. Effective four months upon the passage of this legislation, food and beverages sold in material containing high-density polyethylene (HDPE), a type of polyethylene thermoplastic, will be subject to an additional 18% Environmental Impact Tax.
2. Revenue generated by this tax will go towards the continued funding of research into environmentally sound renewable energy sources.

Religious Institution Reclassification Bill

For the purposes of taxation and associated benefits, churches and other religious institutions shall henceforth be recognized as businesses by the Pacific Region.

Sodom and Gomorrah Bill
1) Colorado City, Arizona is hereby renamed Sodom, Arizona.
2) Hildale, Utah is hereby renamed Gomorrah, Utah.

Pad Thai Bill
1) Curry County, Oregon shall henceforth be known as Pad Thai County, Oregon.

AIDS Prevention Act Funding Extension
1. The Pacific Government pledges $10 million towards condom distribution programs effective FY 2011.
2. The Pacific Government pledges $10 million towards needle exchange programs effective FY 2011.

Alkyl Nitrites Deregulation Bill
1. Any regional and local laws to prohibit the sale, possession, consumption, distribution, or manufacture of alkyl nitrites ("poppers") are repealed.
2. Sale of alkyl nitrites to persons under the age of 18 will remain illegal.

Universal Health Care Act Repeal
1. Clauses 1-3 of the Universal Health Care Act of 2007 are repealed.
2. The legislature will be required to consider a re-enactment of said legislation in the event of federal universal health care legislation being repealed or found unconstitutional.


Please vote 'aye', 'nay' or abstain.

Labeling Requirements Bill:
HDPE Taxation Bill:
Religious Institution Reclassification Bill:
Sodom and Gomorrah Bill:
Pad Thai Bill:
AIDS Prevention Act Funding Extension:
Alkyl Nitrites Deregulation Bill:
Universal Health Care Act Repeal:

[Ebowed]

Labeling Requirements Bill: Aye
HDPE Taxation Bill: Aye
Religious Institution Reclassification Bill: Aye
Sodom and Gomorrah Bill: Aye
Pad Thai Bill: Aye
AIDS Prevention Act Funding Extension: Aye
Alkyl Nitrites Deregulation Bill: Aye
Universal Health Care Act Repeal: Aye

[Ebowed]

Voting is closed.

Labeling Requirements Bill passes 5-0
HDPE Taxation Bill passes 4-1
Religious Institution Reclassification Bill passes 3-2
Sodom and Gomorrah Bill passes 5-0
Pad Thai Bill passes 5-0
AIDS Prevention Act Funding Extension passes 5-0
Alkyl Nitrites Deregulation Bill passes 3-2
Universal Health Care Act Repeal passes 5-0

x Ebowed

[Ebowed]

Recently passed federal legislation stipulates that Regions will forfeit 10% of their federal highway funding if provided statute designed to address drunk driving is not adopted into the regional law code.

In lieu of adopting the regulations (which to me appear to presume guilt until innocence is proven), I am happy to take the 10% highway funding cut.  I would like to work on a bill to expand public transportation and generally decrease the use and appeal of automobiles, as well as petroleum.  Despite our historically long-standing regional opposition to oil drilling in ANWR, the Senate has in the past approved measures opening up the wildlife reserves for drilling there.  If anyone is game I think we could write up a list of pretty tough environmental protection measures which would prohibit the federal drilling in Alaska as a violation of our own region's laws.

[Ebowed]

This is something from a federal environmental policy bill that I tried to pass a long time ago - I figure that as the Pacific contains much of Atlasia's publicly protected areas, a regional law will at least do something to address this otherwise neglected issue.

Snowmobile Regulation Bill
1. It shall hereby be illegal to use a snowmobile in any publicly protected national area.
2. Any person using a snowmobile in a publicly protected national area will be fined a minimum of $1,000 or a maximum of $5,000 per violation.

[Ebowed]

Voting is now open on the following bill and closes in exactly one week.

Snowmobile Regulation Bill
1. It shall hereby be illegal to use a snowmobile in any publicly protected national area.
2. Any person using a snowmobile in a publicly protected national area will be fined a minimum of $1,000 or a maximum of $5,000 per violation.

[Ebowed]

Snowmobile Regulation Bill:  Aye

[Ebowed]

By a vote of 5-1, the Snowmobile Regulation Bill passes.  x Ebowed

[Ebowed]

ANWR Petroleum Drilling Prohibition Bill

1. Effective immediately upon the passage of this act, any new instances of oil drilling occurring anywhere in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for commercial interests will be prohibited.
2. Companies presently drilling in the affected area will have three months upon the passage of this act to dismantle drilling operations and withdraw from the area.
3. Persons found to be in violation of this act will be sentenced to a fine not to exceed $100 million as well as a minimum of five years imprisonment.

[Ebowed]

Selective Education Funding Act

1. No funds from the Pacific Region may be diverted to provide assistance to privately owned schools operating for students in grades K-12.
2. This act shall also be interpreted to expressly prohibit "voucher" programs and any other indirect subsidy to private school tuition.

[Ebowed]

Are we actually voting now?

Not yet

[Ebowed]

Voting is now open on the following initiatives and closes in exactly one week.

ANWR Petroleum Drilling Prohibition Bill

1. Effective immediately upon the passage of this act, any new instances of oil drilling occurring anywhere in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for commercial interests will be prohibited.
2. Companies presently drilling in the affected area will have three months upon the passage of this act to dismantle drilling operations and withdraw from the area.
3. Persons found to be in violation of this act will be sentenced to a fine not to exceed $100 million as well as a minimum of five years imprisonment.

Selective Education Funding Act

1. No funds from the Pacific Region may be diverted to provide assistance to privately owned schools operating for students in grades K-12.
2. This act shall also be interpreted to expressly prohibit "voucher" programs and any other indirect subsidy to private school tuition.


Please vote aye, nay or abstain.