Northern Regional Committee

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I do hope this Committee sticks with Franklin.  Anything other than just "The North."  Come on, guys...

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I do hope this Committee sticks with Franklin.  Anything other than just "The North."  Come on, guys...

I believe naming the region anything other than a neutral, descriptive term like North will lead to interminable fights on renaming the region something else year after year, and lead to the idiotic renaming of individual states, like in the old Midwest.  I don't want to start down that road.

^

Weak argument.  Then I can personally lobby year after year for a name that isn't so ridiculously boring. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Perhaps some sort of combined long name that can casually be referred to as either? I recall someone else suggesting "the Northern Union of Franklin."

Really, this is probably the best compromise.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Point of clarification: is voting open to the public or only to committee members?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I implore the Committee to consider an official nickname.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

As a general principle, it's probably best that we try to keep the Assembly system as simple as possible.

Speaking as a private citizen, I'd rather that all five members are elected via proportional representation in a unicameral legislature.  If we need to have districts, then at the very least we should limit how often a person can change from state to state.  Drawing competitive districts can be enough of a hassle; we wouldn't want people flowing in and out of districts just to grab seats for a certain party.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I'm in favour of at-large elections; districts won't work on such a small scale imo

This is also a concern of mine.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I'm not a member of this committee, but I'm against districts and think that at-large elections for assembly is the best way to go.

FWIW, Maxwell, I believe it was you who succeeded me as Emperor of the former IDS when the region was experimenting with districts.  Do you recall if it was successful or popular?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Question 2: Should the North's legislature be indexed to activity:
[ ] Yes
[ ] No

Not really sure how this would work.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I would like to use the opportunity to again advise the Committee and reiterate my opposition to the establishment of the Lieutenant Governor's office.

When the former Northeast Region had an Lt.G, that position was abolished because few people wanted the job and because the Lt.G had little duties besides casting tie-breaking votes.  It was almost constantly vacant and seldom needed.  As an alternative, I propose that the succession line begin with the Speaker (who should hold Wiki updating responsibilities) followed by Assembly members by seniority.  In addition, I advise a principle vote on bills only passing the Assembly if they attain a majority (3) of the entire Assembly, with abstentions and non-votes carrying the same weight as nay votes.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I would like to use the opportunity to again advise the Committee and reiterate my opposition to the establishment of the Lieutenant Governor's office.

When the former Northeast Region had an Lt.G, that position was abolished because few people wanted the job and because the Lt.G had little duties besides casting tie-breaking votes.  It was almost constantly vacant and seldom needed.  As an alternative, I propose that the succession line begin with the Speaker (who should hold Wiki updating responsibilities) followed by Assembly members by seniority.  In addition, I advise a principle vote on bills only passing the Assembly if they attain a majority (3) of the entire Assembly, with abstentions and non-votes carrying the same weight as nay votes.

The Northeast ultimately made the Lt. Governor a member of the Assembly nominated by the governor.  So while we didn't have a separate Lt. Governor, we still had a Lt. Governor.  Whether we should continue that tradition or just make the speaker the next in succession and Acting Governor in case of a Leave of Absence is debatable.  One problem with making Speaker Acting Governor is that then he or she couldn't run the Assembly while acting as governor, potentially bringing debate to a halt.

I would still prefer that we just not have an Lt.G and let the Assembly elect a new Speaker, but I guess the alternative is fine, too.  Just as long as we don't have the Governor running with a pre-selected Lt.G or have them run on a separate ballot line.

I would appreciate a second for a vote on these ideas if a member finds it appropriate.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I would like to use the opportunity to again advise the Committee and reiterate my opposition to the establishment of the Lieutenant Governor's office.

When the former Northeast Region had an Lt.G, that position was abolished because few people wanted the job and because the Lt.G had little duties besides casting tie-breaking votes.  It was almost constantly vacant and seldom needed.  As an alternative, I propose that the succession line begin with the Speaker (who should hold Wiki updating responsibilities) followed by Assembly members by seniority.  In addition, I advise a principle vote on bills only passing the Assembly if they attain a majority (3) of the entire Assembly, with abstentions and non-votes carrying the same weight as nay votes.

The Northeast ultimately made the Lt. Governor a member of the Assembly nominated by the governor.  So while we didn't have a separate Lt. Governor, we still had a Lt. Governor.  Whether we should continue that tradition or just make the speaker the next in succession and Acting Governor in case of a Leave of Absence is debatable.  One problem with making Speaker Acting Governor is that then he or she couldn't run the Assembly while acting as governor, potentially bringing debate to a halt.

I would still prefer that we just not have an Lt.G and let the Assembly elect a new Speaker, but I guess the alternative is fine, too.  Just as long as we don't have the Governor running with a pre-selected Lt.G or have them run on a separate ballot line.

I would appreciate a second for a vote on these ideas if a member finds it appropriate.

or have the most senior representative be interim speaker. there's a lot of options.

Is that a second?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Anything else, or can we get this show on the road and head to ratification?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Are we going to do a special gubernatorial election in post-July 5 or before June 28?

I'd slightly prefer the latter, and doing it between June 28-July 5 would probably encourage low turnout due to the holidays. While that might benefit me a bit, I'd prefer a high turnout for democratic sake. Either way, this Committee may be the effective governing body unless we establish something else temporary fast.

It depends when we're done with the Constitution, doesn't it?  We still need a bill of rights, and I don't think anyone has gone through it extremely closely.  I named my major concerns, and they are in the process of being addressed.  Everyone else has been pretty silent since the proposed constitution was tabled.

What would this Bill of Rights include beyond what already exists in the federal Constitution?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Do the impeachment rules stand in the event that only three Representatives serve in the Assembly?  We might want to consider revising the Constitution to require a unanimous vote on impeachment, should the occasion arise that the Assembly gets two very partisan legislators who want to start a power coup.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Do the impeachment rules stand in the event that only three Representatives serve in the Assembly?  We might want to consider revising the Constitution to require a unanimous vote on impeachment, should the occasion arise that the Assembly gets two very partisan legislators who want to start a power coup.

I don't see the problem here.  Under the proposed constitution, impeachment requires a four-fifths vote.  That would require unanimity if the Assembly has only 3 members, as two-thirds is less than four-fifths.  So all 3 Assembly members would have to vote to impeach in an Assembly of 3.

4/5 of 3 still (barely) rounds to 2.  I think the Assembly should modify this section so that this doesn't become an issue of dispute.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

What else is there, now?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Some proposals for a bill of rights/miscellaneous amendments

1. An amendment barring the secession of a state from the region
2. A ban on religious qualifications for office
3. The exemption of campaign money from free speech protections
4. A balanced budget amendment (this is what we had in the former Northeast, and it worked rather well)
5. An amendment to protect Northerners from compulsory military service (might conflict with federal law; I'm not sure)
6. An amendment guaranteeing equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian Northerners

Some of these amendments are obviously controversial, but I tried to make the effort to propose amendments that most of the committee members can get behind and that won't prevent the final Constitution from being ratified by the public.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Passing along a concern raised by citizen Poirot:

This is the amendment proposal:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I have a question on the two thirds vote in the assembly. Exactly two thirds is enough, it's not more than two thirds. So if the assembly is 3 person, two Yes vote is enough ?

I think in a 5 person assembly in the NE we required at least three yes votes and two thirds to pass in case there is very low turnout. If there is 3 a person assembly, 1 yes, 1 abstain and 1 not voting is considered 100% approve. It's not a very high treshold for constituional change but I guess that is what small assembly can do.

Under a 3-person Assembly, amendments to the Constitution ought to be unanimous in the same way impeachments are.  We might want to fix that.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Thoughts/suggestions from other members, please?  I don't want the rest of this committee to be a back-and-forth between cinyc and myself when I don't even have power here.  Plus it would be nice if we could get this thing wrapped up so that we can have first elections by later this month...

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Is there any unfinished business left, or is this thing ready to be voted on?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I think the Committee will have to decide on a new location for the capital and designate that in the preamble.  That was the case for the Northeastern Constitution, after all.

A minor detail, perhaps, but the Committee can decide on that after everything else is finished.  Maybe we can move the capital to a place more practical than NYC and located near the central part of the region - say, Akron, OH or Erie, PA.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Is Detroit capital-oriented? :/

I mean, if we're going Michigan, I'd probably pick Flint before Detroit...

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Another point: do we allow voters to select "None of these candidates" for regional elections?  Is that something we want to consider adding?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I'd recommend basically any city that's not NYC.  It's already housed a region's capital before, and as I recall some people (myself included) were pushing for a more appropriate capital location that wasn't already a hotbed for the financial and entertainment industries.  On principle, I'd personally favor a capital closer to the former Mideastern states because the Northern region shouldn't be seen as merely an extension of the former Northeast.