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Title: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Passed) Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 11, 2017, 02:47:33 AM Quote New Senate Rules Resolution: Definitions: 1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment. 2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law. 3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Representative in his or her present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Senate may, by a two-thirds majority vote on an ordinary resolution, pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Senate, to the next longest serving Senate (not having been removed from the position by the Senate previously), for any reason whatsoever. 4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Senate that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which is defined as a majority of the sitting Senate. Article 1 : Officers of the Senate 1) The Vice President shall be the President of the Congress a.) The President of the Congress shall keep a ‘Congressional Noticeboard’, where the PPT shall update this board with recent events on their respective chamber’s legislation. b.) The President of the Congress shall also track the activity of legislation of both chambers, by posting an ‘Activity Tracker’ detailing the Congressional slots, Rejected and Passed Legislation, along with the current Congressional queue. 2. The most senior Senator (seniority shall be determined by length of continuous service) who isn't on Leave of Absence, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator, shall convene Senate to elect a President pro tempore on the first day of each legislative session and when the office of President pro Tempore is vacant. The Senate shall elect a President Pro Tempore from among its members by majority consent with the Vice President being the tiebreaker. The most senior Senator, who isn't on Leave of Absence, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator shall retain the powers and prerogatives as President pro Tempore until the election of the President pro Tempore. 3.) The PPT, after taking his oath of office, must appoint a successor should he or she fall inactive. This successor shall be named the Deputy PPT, and will retain all of the powers of the PPT, if the PPT falls inactive for over 120 hours or is on an LOA. 4.) The President Pro Tempore shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President of the Congress under the following circumstances: -A publicly announced absence by the President of the Congress from the Atlas Forum. - If the President of the Congress has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven consecutive days. - During any period of time when no person is presently holding the office of President of the Congress -The President of the Congress should be absent by reason of exercising responsibility as Acting President under the Constitution. -A publicly announced conferral of such powers by the President of the Congress. Article 2 : Introducing Legislation 1. The President Pro Tempore shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Senate Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Senators may post in this thread. The President pro Tempore shall also keep a separate thread listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread. 2.) If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause) 3.) 15 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously. a) The first 10 open threads shall be open to all legislations initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces legislation on the House floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the president officer for these open threads. b) The eleventh open thread shall be reserved for bills submitted by civilians in the Public Consultation and Legislation Submission thread. The PPT shall be the president officer for this open thread. c) The twelfth, the thirteenth, and the fourteenth open threads shall be reserved for legislation that previously passed the Senate. The President of Congress shall be the presiding officer for these open threads. d) The fifteenth open thread shall be reserved for legislation related to national emergencies declared by the President of Atlasia. The PPT shall introduce legislation to this thread as directed by the President, but only when the President has declared a state of national emergency. 4.) A legislation is no longer on the Senate Floor when it has been tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Senate. 5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates his office as Senator, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the next session, be declared withdrawn by the PPT by public post, if no Senator sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Senate floor, any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship. 6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 72 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Senator, Senators shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Senator objects, the PPT shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 72 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor. Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 11, 2017, 02:48:51 AM (cont'd)
Quote Article 3: Amendments 1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Senator may offer amendments to the legislation. The President Pro Tempore may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his fellow Senators. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged. 2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the PPT shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed. 3.) If judged hostile by the sponsor, or if a Senator has objected, a vote shall be started by the PPT once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Senators who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final. 4.) The PPT shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Senate session. Article 4: Debate 1. After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 72 hours. The Senate may waive the 72-hour requirement on non-controversial legislation by unanimous consent. To waive the 72-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Senator to object to this request. If the 72-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote. 2. The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw his or her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Senator, his or her sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Senate moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 36 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically. 3. Any Senators may file a motion to table a piece of legislation during debate. The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table when at least an another Senator has seconded the motion. A two thirds majority is required for the approval of the motion to table. 4. When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 36 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 36 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours but no more than 336 hours, any Senators may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote. 5) If a bill has been vetoed, a Senator has 24 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to override a veto. 6) Final Votes and veto overrides votes shall last for a maximum of 3 days (i.e. 72 hours). Article 5: Confirmation Hearing 1.) Once a nomination is made by the President, it shall be brought to the floor immediately by the President of the Congress. The President of the Congress shall then open a confirmation hearing for presidential nominees immediately following the president's announcement of the nomination. 2.) Each hearing shall last for at least 3 days (i.e. 72 hours). The hearing may be abbreviated according to the unanimous consent rules outlined in Article III: Debate. 3.) The vote shall last for a maximum of three days (72 hours). No Senator shall be prohibited from voting until after the nominee has received enough votes to pass or fail confirmation, at which point vote changes shall be prohibited. Article 6: Motions to Table 1.) Any Senator can, during a period of debate, with the support of one other Senator, introduce a motion to table the legislation. 2.) The PPT shall open a vote on the motion to table. This vote shall last for a maximum of two (2) days during which time the Senators must vote. Voting may be declared final at any time if the motion to table has been approved or rejected. 3.) For the motion to table to pass, two thirds of those voting (excluding abstentions) must support the motion. 4.) Tabled legislation shall be taken off the Senate floor by the President pro Tempore. Article 7: Expulsion of a sitting Senator 1) Expulsion proceedings shall be initiated if: a) the Senator has not posted anything on the Atlas Fantasy Government board for 168 consecutive hours and hasn't posted a valid Leave of Absence (then the time covered by that LOA shall not count toward those 168 hours, but periods of inactivity before and after the LOA shall count as a continuous period, provided there are no interceding posts. In order to be valid, a Leave of Absence shall not be longer than 368 hours). And an article of expulsion has been introduced in the Senate Legislative Introduction Thread. b) 3 Senators have sponsored an article of expulsion, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues 2) The President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for 3 days. In order to expel the Senator, a two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed. Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 11, 2017, 02:49:49 AM (cont'd)
Quote Article 8: Impeachment Trials 1.) After the House has passed an article of impeachment, the Chief Justice shall convene the Senate to try the impeached official. 2.) A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to convict any impeached executive or judicial officer of the federal government. 3.) If a Senator objects to the proceedings to a final vote, they may object and require a 3/4ths majority before moving to a Final Vote Article 9: Congressional Committees and Sessions 1.) A Joint Congressional Session shall be held where the House Speaker, Senate PPT, and President of Congress shall hold meetings on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each Month. If, one of these three leaders cannot attend, the meeting will be postponed until the next scheduled meeting, unless the leaders can negotiate a gathering time before the next meeting. Deputy Leaders may and are encouraged to attend to represent their chamber, but cannot start votes on bills, if their Leader is absent. All members of both Houses are encouraged to attend. If a quorum can be reached, both the PPT and the Speaker may suspend the rules to vote on stalled bills. 2.) If a bill is amended in either Chamber, after being passed by the other chamber, a Conference Committee, made up by the sponsors of the proposed act and the amendments, along with the leaders of both houses and the President of the Congress, shall meet within a week of the proposed act’s passing, to find a compromise bill. This compromise bill, once supported unanimously by the sponsors of both the legislation and the amendments, shall move directly to the President’s desk for a signature or veto. Article 10: Rules Disputes 1. The Senate may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators. 2. The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Senator objects. If a Senator objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators. 3. If the Senate cannot resolve a rules dispute, the Supreme Court of Atlasia may issue a binding decision dictating the proper interpretation. Article 11: Relationship within the Congress 1.) The President of the Congress shall be in charge of overseeing both chambers and resolving complications between the chambers, and shall be the sole negotiator between either side of the legislative branch. 2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the Speaker and the President of the Congress of its passage. 3.) Should similar bills pass through both chambers with conflicting provisions, the Speaker of the House and PPT shall each appoint one member in addition to themselves to serve on a Conference Committee, which shall draft a compromise version of the bill. The bill must then pass both chambers on an up or down vote. 4.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by both chambers. The leader of the chamber it most recently passed shall notify the president. 5.) Whenever either house shall vote to pass a bill, order, or resolution that shall have originated in the other, having previously made amendment to the same, the President of the Congress shall immediately call the amended bill to a vote in the house in which it originated. If the original house should then vote to pass the amended bill, it shall proceed to the President; otherwise, the President of the Congress shall instruct the other house either to pass the bill as it stood prior to its amendment by that house, or else reject it entirely. Sponsor: PiT I hereby open the floor for debate. Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution Post by: Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee on March 11, 2017, 02:54:47 AM This was written by NeverAgain largely, with myself and PiT contributing. I encourage the Senate to pass these rules quickly.
It brings the same changes in Article 11, that the House rules package a week ago did. Namely integrating the Vice President in accordance with the stipulations of the Constitution as pointed out to the point of frustration by Truman and others for weeks and months. This was the primary reason for my executive order in February as President, opening up the emergency slots to rules packages for the purposes of bring constitutional compliance. This package also gives extra slots to speed up the processing of bills and the VP gets three slots to whittle down the backlog of bills. Finally, it gives the PPT the responsibility of appointing a Deputy PPT in order to ensure there is no lapse in Senate administration. Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: NeverAgain on March 12, 2017, 03:28:23 AM This is a much-needed bill. A lot of the current rules are defunct, and only applied to the Senate of yesteryear, allowing for confusion, and even containing some unconstitutionalities. I'd ask the Senators to please read over it, and make their own comments. This correlates a lot with the House Rules, which were just passed, in the matters of establishing Committees and the duties of the Vice President.
A major section that I'd ask the Senate to view is Article 8, which establishes the clear rules on how impeachment trials, mandated that the Senate presides over by our constitution, will go about. Because it is constitutionally mandated that it takes "two-thirds majority in the Senate" to convict, and 2/3rds is the same as a simple majority, Art. 8 Sect. 3 allows for any member to object and require a 3/4ths majority before moving to a final vote. Meaning five Senators will be needed to proceed to a conviction. Anyways, I will leave this to the chamber to discuss! If you have any questions, I am here, along with the worthy duo of PiT and Yankee. I also want to thank both Yankee and PiT for their exceptional help in crafting this great step forward for the chamber. Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Grumpier Than Thou on March 12, 2017, 09:39:34 PM I see absolutely nothing wrong with this bill. It addresses some errors that are in desperate need of fixing, and I support these changes.
Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: The world will shine with light in our nightmare on March 13, 2017, 03:02:34 PM I like how this resolution appears to delegate more responsibilities to the Vice President. That is a job which I think is traditionally given very little direct powers or responsibilities, and I think these new rules signal a desire to change that as well as better facilitate cooperation between the chambers. And I'm happy to see the new requirement for bills to have a sponsor, so that we don't end up debating zombie legislation or fall into the same holes we did with the abortion bill.
I would like to know how much information this 'Activity Tracker' would include. Is the Vice President supposed to update it every time a chamber switches from general debate to voting on amendments to final votes and the like? I can see that being rather tedious when a simple thread title change should suffice. Apart from that little detail, I have no qualms about this package and I look forward to voting on it. Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: LLR on March 13, 2017, 03:13:02 PM Quote New Senate Rules Resolution: Definitions: 3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Grammatical edit + removal of a bad clause that will only be used for partisan gain (and is very unclear) Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 13, 2017, 03:33:29 PM Good point, though the Dean may want to pass on the responsibilities of the role if real-life issues are a concern. I would propose:
Quote New Senate Rules Resolution: Definitions: 3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Would you accept this as a replacement for your current amendment, Senator LLR? Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: LLR on March 13, 2017, 03:38:17 PM Yeah, that's fine by me
Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 13, 2017, 03:45:20 PM Senators have 36 hours to object to the amendment.
Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee on March 13, 2017, 05:13:26 PM I like how this resolution appears to delegate more responsibilities to the Vice President. That is a job which I think is traditionally given very little direct powers or responsibilities, and I think these new rules signal a desire to change that as well as better facilitate cooperation between the chambers. And I'm happy to see the new requirement for bills to have a sponsor, so that we don't end up debating zombie legislation or fall into the same holes we did with the abortion bill. I would like to know how much information this 'Activity Tracker' would include. Is the Vice President supposed to update it every time a chamber switches from general debate to voting on amendments to final votes and the like? I can see that being rather tedious when a simple thread title change should suffice. Apart from that little detail, I have no qualms about this package and I look forward to voting on it. It is this: https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=260022.msg5556788#msg5556788 Yes, it can be tedious at times, but it is only way that avoids bills from getting lost, amendments getting lost and so forth. It also provides a convenient means by which you, the members, can click on all the active threads and thereby ensure that every bill has action going on and not just sitting for weeks and months. Just clicking on bills from the AFG board, is a great way to overlook stuff. If you have a list, linked with the activity occurring, you know where you have to vote on each bill, by looking in one place. You served in several of my Senates, Scott. You should know the value of this. :P The VP's responsibility extends only to the VP administered slots (3 for House, and 3 for Senate once this passes), Cabinet confirmations and compiling lists of passed legislation from both chambers, so he can carry out his constitutionally mandated role of handing bills that are in between the chambers and sending bills to the President, when they have passed both houses. The PPT (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=260022.msg5556466#msg5556466) and Speaker (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=260022.msg5554467#msg5554467) handle the activity tracking for the rest of their respective chambers. This brings tangibility to the role of the VP, which would otherwise be that of a messenger between the chambers and the President. If it is publicly displayed, you can see the VP is accomplishing his tasks and the VP can see his responsibilities right in front of him. Any other way of doing it, would likely lead to the VP drifting back into the back ground like what happened last Summer and Fall. Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Anna Komnene on March 13, 2017, 11:26:58 PM I'm concerned about this:
Quote 3.) Should similar bills pass through both chambers with conflicting provisions, the Speaker of the House and PPT shall each appoint one member in addition to themselves to serve on a Conference Committee, which shall draft a compromise version of the bill. The bill must then pass both chambers on an up or down vote. I assume this is meant to refer to the same bill but been amended? It could give a lot of power to the PPT and Speaker, especially since they seem to be able to choose whoever they want to serve on the committee with them. I'm not saying I think PiT would abuse this, but who knows who might be PPT in the future. Plus, doesn't it conflict with clause 5 in the same section? Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee on March 14, 2017, 12:44:42 AM I'm concerned about this: Quote 3.) Should similar bills pass through both chambers with conflicting provisions, the Speaker of the House and PPT shall each appoint one member in addition to themselves to serve on a Conference Committee, which shall draft a compromise version of the bill. The bill must then pass both chambers on an up or down vote. I assume this is meant to refer to the same bill but been amended? It could give a lot of power to the PPT and Speaker, especially since they seem to be able to choose whoever they want to serve on the committee with them. I'm not saying I think PiT would abuse this, but who knows who might be PPT in the future. Plus, doesn't it conflict with clause 5 in the same section? The problem here is Clause 5 is in the Constitution Verbatim. It might be possible to halt that process while a conference takes place though. Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 14, 2017, 01:35:30 PM I would be fine with just scotching that. It's unlikely the two chambers would just coincidentally pass similar bills; I expect most such incidents would fall under the situation covered under Clause 5.
Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution Post by: Anna Komnene on March 14, 2017, 03:44:25 PM Okay introducing amendment. 9.2 seems to be another version of 11.3. As far as the meetings go, that's fine with me (not really sure they need to be required but might be good), but I don't like the idea of holding votes without everyone present. IMO, all bills should be voted on by the whole House or Senate in a public thread. If people decide that its time to vote in the meeting, the PPT or Speaker can just open the thread to vote on the government election board and let everyone vote like normal.
Quote Article 9: Congressional Committees and Sessions 1.) A Joint Congressional Session shall be held where the House Speaker, Senate PPT, and President of Congress shall hold meetings on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each Month. If, one of these three leaders cannot attend, the meeting will be postponed until the next scheduled meeting, unless the leaders can negotiate a gathering time before the next meeting. Deputy Leaders may and are encouraged to attend to represent their chamber Article 11: Relationship within the Congress 1.) The President of the Congress shall be in charge of overseeing both chambers and resolving complications between the chambers, and shall be the sole negotiator between either side of the legislative branch. 2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the Speaker and the President of the Congress of its passage. 3.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by both chambers. The leader of the chamber it most recently passed shall notify the president. 4.) Whenever either house shall vote to pass a bill, order, or resolution that shall have originated in the other, having previously made amendment to the same, the President of the Congress shall immediately call the amended bill to a vote in the house in which it originated. If the original house should then vote to pass the amended bill, it shall proceed to the President; otherwise, the President of the Congress shall instruct the other house either to pass the bill as it stood prior to its amendment by that house, or else reject it entirely. Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 14, 2017, 03:57:50 PM I will accept this amendment as friendly. Senators have 36 hours to object.
Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 15, 2017, 11:46:41 AM Amendment S5:3 has been adopted. There is still about 16 hours left to object to Amendment S5:6.
Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 16, 2017, 05:23:36 PM S5:6 is also adopted. I encourage Senators to look it over again and make sure everything in it is acceptable. This is an important resolution to pass, so let's not delay it any more than is necessary to craft a good bill.
Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee on March 17, 2017, 02:43:58 AM I would appeal to the Senators in the name of reason, that while I understand the desire perfection, this Senate is like the SS Poseidon facing a tidal wave of incoming House bills and unless PiT and Goldwater get these slots and soon, it is going to get flipped over and sunk.
Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 17, 2017, 12:16:01 PM I am proposing an amendment to Article II, Section 3:
Quote 3.) 15 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously. a) The first 10 open threads shall be open to all legislations initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces legislation on the b) The eleventh open thread shall be reserved for bills submitted by civilians in the Public Consultation and Legislation Submission thread. The PPT shall be the president officer for this open thread. c) The twelfth, the thirteenth, and the fourteenth open threads shall be reserved for legislation that previously passed the d) The fifteenth open thread shall be reserved for legislation related to national emergencies declared by the President of Atlasia. The PPT shall introduce legislation to this thread as directed by the President, but only when the President has declared a state of national emergency. Senators have 36 hours to object. Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 17, 2017, 12:18:33 PM I would appeal to the Senators in the name of reason, that while I understand the desire perfection, this Senate is like the SS Poseidon facing a tidal wave of incoming House bills and unless PiT and Goldwater get these slots and soon, it is going to get flipped over and sunk. I do agree, and with this in mind I will be using the objection period for this amendment as a last call for Senators. If there are no more amendments proposed when this amendment is adopted, I will open a final vote. Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Anna Komnene on March 17, 2017, 01:04:32 PM Maybe I'm just being low energy here, but am I the only one that thinks having potentially 15 threads open at once is a lot? We could end up seeing bills that Senators are less interested in falling through the cracks.
Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 18, 2017, 06:52:56 PM Maybe I'm just being low energy here, but am I the only one that thinks having potentially 15 threads open at once is a lot? We could end up seeing bills that Senators are less interested in falling through the cracks. This is a good point, but I would note that this kind of thing is already a problem. One of the things I do as PPT is scanning through the older threads (up to a week or so) to make sure that threads don't fall through the cracks. Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee on March 18, 2017, 11:49:58 PM The PPT doesn't have to fill the slots all the time.
I have been keeping 8-10 empty in the House. But having them to clear out the backlog is essential. We cannot have bills bouncing around in the void for months waiting action. Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 19, 2017, 02:14:13 AM The amendment is adopted. Since I have provided warning of the final vote, I will open a final vote on this resolution now. Please vote aye, nay, or abstain.
Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Anna Komnene on March 19, 2017, 03:12:59 AM Aye
Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Leinad on March 19, 2017, 05:19:48 AM Aye
Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: LLR on March 19, 2017, 08:08:59 AM Aye
Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: The world will shine with light in our nightmare on March 19, 2017, 03:00:00 PM Aye.
Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 19, 2017, 10:07:48 PM Aye. This resolution has enough votes to pass. Senators have 24 hours to change their vote.
Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 20, 2017, 10:37:50 PM Quote New Senate Rules Resolution: Definitions: 1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment. 2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law. 3.) The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President pro Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Senate in his or her present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Dean of the Senate may pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Senate, to the next longest serving Senator for any reason whatsoever. 4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Senate that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which is defined as a majority of the sitting Senate. Article 1 : Officers of the Senate 1) The Vice President shall be the President of the Congress a.) The President of the Congress shall keep a ‘Congressional Noticeboard’, where the PPT shall update this board with recent events on their respective chamber’s legislation. b.) The President of the Congress shall also track the activity of legislation of both chambers, by posting an ‘Activity Tracker’ detailing the Congressional slots, Rejected and Passed Legislation, along with the current Congressional queue. 2. The most senior Senator (seniority shall be determined by length of continuous service) who isn't on Leave of Absence, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator, shall convene Senate to elect a President pro tempore on the first day of each legislative session and when the office of President pro Tempore is vacant. The Senate shall elect a President Pro Tempore from among its members by majority consent with the Vice President being the tiebreaker. The most senior Senator, who isn't on Leave of Absence, or the Senator chosen by the most senior Senator shall retain the powers and prerogatives as President pro Tempore until the election of the President pro Tempore. 3.) The PPT, after taking his oath of office, must appoint a successor should he or she fall inactive. This successor shall be named the Deputy PPT, and will retain all of the powers of the PPT, if the PPT falls inactive for over 120 hours or is on an LOA. 4.) The President Pro Tempore shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the President of the Congress under the following circumstances: -A publicly announced absence by the President of the Congress from the Atlas Forum. - If the President of the Congress has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven consecutive days. - During any period of time when no person is presently holding the office of President of the Congress -The President of the Congress should be absent by reason of exercising responsibility as Acting President under the Constitution. -A publicly announced conferral of such powers by the President of the Congress. Article 2 : Introducing Legislation 1. The President Pro Tempore shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Senate Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Senators may post in this thread. The President pro Tempore shall also keep a separate thread listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread. 2.) If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause) 3.) 15 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously. a) The first 10 open threads shall be open to all legislations initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the president officer for these open threads. b) The eleventh open thread shall be reserved for bills submitted by civilians in the Public Consultation and Legislation Submission thread. The PPT shall be the president officer for this open thread. c) The twelfth, the thirteenth, and the fourteenth open threads shall be reserved for legislation that previously passed the House. The President of Congress shall be the presiding officer for these open threads. d) The fifteenth open thread shall be reserved for legislation related to national emergencies declared by the President of Atlasia. The PPT shall introduce legislation to this thread as directed by the President, but only when the President has declared a state of national emergency. 4.) A legislation is no longer on the Senate Floor when it has been tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Senate. 5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates his office as Senator, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the next session, be declared withdrawn by the PPT by public post, if no Senator sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Senate floor, any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship. 6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Senator may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 72 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Senator, Senators shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Senator objects, the PPT shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 72 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor. Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Debating) Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 20, 2017, 10:38:33 PM (cont'd)
Quote Article 3: Amendments 1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Senator may offer amendments to the legislation. The President Pro Tempore may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his fellow Senators. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged. 2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the PPT shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed. 3.) If judged hostile by the sponsor, or if a Senator has objected, a vote shall be started by the PPT once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Senators who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final. 4.) The PPT shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Senate session. Article 4: Debate 1. After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 72 hours. The Senate may waive the 72-hour requirement on non-controversial legislation by unanimous consent. To waive the 72-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Senator to object to this request. If the 72-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote. 2. The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw his or her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Senator, his or her sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Senate moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 36 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically. 3. Any Senators may file a motion to table a piece of legislation during debate. The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table when at least an another Senator has seconded the motion. A two thirds majority is required for the approval of the motion to table. 4. When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 36 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 36 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours but no more than 336 hours, any Senators may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote. 5) If a bill has been vetoed, a Senator has 24 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to override a veto. 6) Final Votes and veto overrides votes shall last for a maximum of 3 days (i.e. 72 hours). Article 5: Confirmation Hearing 1.) Once a nomination is made by the President, it shall be brought to the floor immediately by the President of the Congress. The President of the Congress shall then open a confirmation hearing for presidential nominees immediately following the president's announcement of the nomination. 2.) Each hearing shall last for at least 3 days (i.e. 72 hours). The hearing may be abbreviated according to the unanimous consent rules outlined in Article III: Debate. 3.) The vote shall last for a maximum of three days (72 hours). No Senator shall be prohibited from voting until after the nominee has received enough votes to pass or fail confirmation, at which point vote changes shall be prohibited. Article 6: Motions to Table 1.) Any Senator can, during a period of debate, with the support of one other Senator, introduce a motion to table the legislation. 2.) The PPT shall open a vote on the motion to table. This vote shall last for a maximum of two (2) days during which time the Senators must vote. Voting may be declared final at any time if the motion to table has been approved or rejected. 3.) For the motion to table to pass, two thirds of those voting (excluding abstentions) must support the motion. 4.) Tabled legislation shall be taken off the Senate floor by the President pro Tempore. Article 7: Expulsion of a sitting Senator 1) Expulsion proceedings shall be initiated if: a) the Senator has not posted anything on the Atlas Fantasy Government board for 168 consecutive hours and hasn't posted a valid Leave of Absence (then the time covered by that LOA shall not count toward those 168 hours, but periods of inactivity before and after the LOA shall count as a continuous period, provided there are no interceding posts. In order to be valid, a Leave of Absence shall not be longer than 368 hours). And an article of expulsion has been introduced in the Senate Legislative Introduction Thread. b) 3 Senators have sponsored an article of expulsion, introduced in the Legislative Introduction Thread, against one of their Senate colleagues 2) The President Pro Tempore shall open a thread and commence the debates. Debates shall last at least for 72 hours. After the debates have elapsed, the President Pro Tempore shall open a vote, which shall last for 3 days. In order to expel the Senator, a two-third majority of the sitting Senators is needed. Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Passed) Post by: Associate Justice PiT on March 20, 2017, 10:42:18 PM (cont'd)
Quote Article 8: Impeachment Trials 1.) After the House has passed an article of impeachment, the Chief Justice shall convene the Senate to try the impeached official. 2.) A two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate is needed in order to convict any impeached executive or judicial officer of the federal government. 3.) If a Senator objects to the proceedings to a final vote, they may object and require a 3/4ths majority before moving to a Final Vote Article 9: Congressional Committees and Sessions 1.) A Joint Congressional Session shall be held where the House Speaker, Senate PPT, and President of Congress shall hold meetings on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each Month. If, one of these three leaders cannot attend, the meeting will be postponed until the next scheduled meeting, unless the leaders can negotiate a gathering time before the next meeting. Deputy Leaders may and are encouraged to attend to represent their chamber. All members of both Houses are encouraged to attend. Article 10: Rules Disputes 1. The Senate may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators. 2. The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Senator objects. If a Senator objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Senators. 3. If the Senate cannot resolve a rules dispute, the Supreme Court of Atlasia may issue a binding decision dictating the proper interpretation. Article 11: Relationship within the Congress 1.) The President of the Congress shall be in charge of overseeing both chambers and resolving complications between the chambers, and shall be the sole negotiator between either side of the legislative branch. 2.) When a bill passes the Senate, the PPT shall notify the Speaker and the President of the Congress of its passage. 3.) A bill shall be sent to the president after it has been approved by both chambers. The leader of the chamber it most recently passed shall notify the president. 4.) Whenever either house shall vote to pass a bill, order, or resolution that shall have originated in the other, having previously made amendment to the same, the President of the Congress shall immediately call the amended bill to a vote in the house in which it originated. If the original house should then vote to pass the amended bill, it shall proceed to the President; otherwise, the President of the Congress shall instruct the other house either to pass the bill as it stood prior to its amendment by that house, or else reject it entirely. Atlasian Regional Senate Passed 5-0-1 in the Atlasian Senate assembled (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=260266.msg5572231#msg5572231) Be it resolved, X Senator PiT, PPT Title: Re: SB 2017-062: New Senate Rules Resolution (Passed) Post by: Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee on March 22, 2017, 03:34:11 AM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoopfp5iaKw
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