Pacific Legislature Official Thread

[Ebowed]

We could look at lifting the exemption for religious organizations as a way of raising revenue instead.

Sales taxes are regressive, and while I don't mind some of the sales taxes we have on the books, I don't think expanding them is pertinent.

[Ebowed]

How could a tax on luxury goods be written?

I would assume that we already have one, if we only removed the sales tax on food, groceries and books.  Unfortunately I couldn't tell you the tax rate - might be worth checking the Arizona law code

I was waiting for Al to show up in this thread, btw

[Ebowed]

Bill Frist Bill:  Nay

[Ebowed]

Why do you all hate cute, wittle aminals?

a. It provides a strong disincentive for scientists to conduct research in the Pacific Region.
b. The wording is broad and ambiguous (how would this affect veterinarians?).
c. The penalty is too harsh.

[Ebowed]

Getting back to taxes...

Pacific Deficit Reduction Act:

1. The income tax rate on the bracket created by the Income Tax Increase Act will be raised by 4.5%.
2. The income tax rate on incomes exceeding $300,000 will be raised by 2%.
3.The provisions in this Act shall take effect on the 15th of October.

(We could also consider raising the estate tax if this isn't enough)

[Ebowed]

I'll re-introduce this just to gauge public opinion...

Abolition of Life Imprisonment Without the Possibility of Parole Act
1. The possible sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is hereby abolished.
2. Statute outlining the sentence abolished above shall be amended to read "life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after twenty years."

and this...

Alkyl Nitrites Deregulation Act
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laws to prohibit the sale, possession, consumption, distribution, or manufacture of alkyl nitrites ("poppers") are repealed.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]

Pacific Deficit Reduction Act

1. The income tax rate on the bracket created by the Income Tax Increase Act will be raised by 3.5%.
2. The income tax rate on incomes exceeding $300,000 will be raised by 2%.
3. The provisions in this Act shall take effect on the 15th of October.

As for not taxing books, well, I just feel that expanding regressive taxes would be unwise at this point in time.  We could always just vote on two separate bills, one which would re-instate the sales tax on books, and one which would have a slightly higher income tax increase.

[Ebowed]

What are the current tax rates? How progressive are the tax rates already?

The tax rate being referred into in the first clause is a tax of 45.5% on income exceeding $50 million.

[Ebowed]

Voting hasn't been opened on anything yet.  I have no idea what the present tax rate on income exceeding $300,000 is - a stab in the dark here is that the Pacific Region's income tax rates (excepting the new rate of 45.5% on income exceeding $50 million) happen to be the same as those of the real-life state of Arizona.  Which, if this is true, should probably be modified extensively to suit the progressive whims of this legislature.

Our estate tax law since August 2007 states as follows:

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This, I believe, is likely in addition to the federal estate tax rate, which according to F.L. 22-1 is:

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[Ebowed]

Abolition of Life Imprisonment Without the Possibility of Parole Act
1. The possible sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is hereby abolished.
2. Statute outlining the sentence abolished above shall be amended to read "life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after twenty years."

x Ebowed

Alkyl Nitrites Deregulation Act
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.

x Ebowed

Humane Farming Practices Bill
1) It shall be illegal to slaughter farm animals while they are still conscious.
2) Any farm found to be violating this rule due to negligence will be fined at least $10,000 and up to $1,000,000, depending on the scale and severity of the violation.
3) Any farm found to be purposely violating this rule (such as but not limited to an attempt to sell kosher meats) shall be fined up to $5,000,000 and shut down.

x Ebowed

[Ebowed]

Abolition of Life Imprisonment Without the Possibility of Parole Act
1. The possible sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is hereby abolished.
2. Statute outlining the sentence abolished above shall be amended to read "life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after twenty years."

what is this i dont even

Eh, keeping every 70 year old who committed a serious crime 45 years ago in jail is kind of a waste of money.  All this does is give them the possibility of parole twenty years into the sentence.

[Ebowed]

Humane Farming Practices Bill: Aye
Abolition of Life Imprisonment Without the Possibility of Parole Act: Aye

[Ebowed]

x Ebowed on Pacific Deficit Reduction Act

[Ebowed]

Pacific Deficit Reduction Act: Aye

[Ebowed]

Renaming of Jackson County Bill: x Ebowed

Legislature Amendment: x Ebowed

[Ebowed]

Renaming of Jackson County Bill: Aye
Legislature Amendment: Aye

[Ebowed]

Renaming of Jackson County Bill
By a vote of 4-1, this legislation has passed.

x Ebowed

Legislature Amendment
By a vote of 5-0, this legislation has passed.

x Ebowed

[Ebowed]

As your new Governor, I will be embarking on a raft of ambitious proposals to rapidly expand the size of the government and the influence it exerts in many areas of our lives.

Any constructive feedback on how to improve these proposals would be appreciated.

Handgun Phase Out Bill
1. Effective three months upon the passage of this act, the Pacific Region declares itself a handgun free area.
2. Handgun owners will have three months to give handguns to any local Handgun Amnesty Office without penalty.
3. Three months upon the passage of this act, possession of a handgun will be a crime eligible for up to a $5,000 fine and/or up to six months in prison.

Guaranteed Minimum Income Bill
1. The Pacific Government will ensure that every resident over the age of 16 will be given a minimum income of $14,900 per year.
2. To apply for this minimum income, a resident over the age of 16 must be earning less than $14,900; a citizen earning less than the amount will be given the necessary sum to total an income of $14,900.
3. Residents who do not earn income, including welfare recipients, will be eligible for the full annual $14,900.
4. The guaranteed minimum income will also be open to immigrants including those not documented with the federal government.

[Ebowed]

I fear the minimum income would encourage unemployment and cost us a lot of money.

That's certainly a valid concern, but given the current status of welfare in Atlasia I feel it is perhaps more pertinent to discuss drastic measures such as a guaranteed minimum income.

Last I read from the GM we do have the lowest unemployment of any of the regions, but I will work on a different bill to rapidly expand the safety net for the poor.

[Ebowed]

I fear the minimum income would encourage unemployment and cost us a lot of money.

That's certainly a valid concern, but given the current status of welfare in Atlasia I feel it is perhaps more pertinent to discuss drastic measures such as a guaranteed minimum income.

Last I read from the GM we do have the lowest unemployment of any of the regions, but I will work on a different bill to rapidly expand the safety net for the poor.

So in our present federal welfare law we have "Atlasians receiving public assistance will be allotted a three year maximum" with exceptions for disability and so on.  I suppose one way of addressing my concerns would be for the Pacific government to provide assistance to its residents who then get kicked off of the federal system - whether through a welfare program or a guaranteed income or whatever else would be politically feasible.

I might also look into a more comprehensive firearm control measure with trigger locks and waiting periods and so on.  I am cautious though as the last time I proposed the handgun ban it did not fare particularly well.  We'll see if the make-up of our citizenry has undergone any sort of ideological shift, I suppose.

[Ebowed]

The minimum wage in the Pacific is $7.50 per hour.

The guaranteed income would be tax-free.  The wording in clause 3 does need to be reworked a little since having a guaranteed minimum income would severely reduce the need for public assistance programs - at least in terms of people receiving money from the system for long periods of time.  I am fine to remove clause 4, though I am not willing to include a provision stating the opposite of what clause 4 presently states.

[Ebowed]

The minimum wage in the Pacific is $7.50 per hour.

It will climb to 8.50 "by the end of 2010", according to the "Reasonable Minimum Wage Act".

Yup.  The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 while the Pacific's is twenty five cents higher.  Of course we will be succumbing to the federal increase at the end of the year unless anyone in the legislature feels like strengthening the regional law regarding the subject beforehand (which I would happily support).

[Ebowed]

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

Handgun Phase Out Bill
1. Effective three months upon the passage of this act, the Pacific Region declares itself a handgun free area.
2. Handgun owners will have three months to give handguns to any local Handgun Amnesty Office without penalty.
3. Three months upon the passage of this act, possession of a handgun will be a crime eligible for up to a $5,000 fine and/or up to six months in prison.

[Ebowed]

Handgun Phase Out Bill: Aye

[Ebowed]

So our region appears to be suffering from an influx of illegal immigrants.  I can only blame the federal government for repealing many of the humanitarian legal stipulations that treated undocumented immigrants with basic dignity and respect.

I would also question whether it is our responsibility to foot the bill for the increased border protection funding that would seem to be necessitated by the recent reports from the GM.  Any thoughts?