The Imperial Dominion of the South's Legislature

[Enderman]

[1] Jack Enderman
[2] Sjoycefla

[Supersonic]

[1] Jack Enderman
[2] Sjoycefla

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

[1] SJoyce
[2] Enderman

[Enderman]

Congrats Sjoyce! You definitely deserved another run at the legislature. The Speakership is just the icing on the cake. So congratulations again.

[Donerail]

I thank the legislature for its confidence in me, and Rep. Enderman for giving us a fun race.

As an aside: our current flag is this:



I was updating the Wiki, when I noticed that the Dignity of the Flag Act repealed Section 1 of the 2004 Southeast Flag Regulations and the Change of Flag Bill (the latter of which gave us our current flag). Section 1 of the DotF Act was put to a public vote and failed, so it wasn't adopted as law, but Sections 2 and 3 (which repealed those parts of the statute) passed. The Change of Flag Bill superseded, but did not repeal, the Dirty South Flag Act of 2008. So under our statute, this is our current flag.

[Supersonic]

That flag makes us look like the Islamic People's Republic of South Carolina. I'm still upset that Scott's (I believe) flag proposal was narrowly voted down in our last referendum. Then again, it's difficult to create a flag that can garner majority support, especially in such a politically divided region as our own.

I'm almost of the mind that we mass repeal a large proportion of the old IDS legislation, every week now we seem to 'uncover' a new bill that contradicts current statute. On a personal level, trawling through the law books is an incredibly daunting measure.

[Donerail]

That flag makes us look like the Islamic People's Republic of South Carolina. I'm still upset that Scott's (I believe) flag proposal was narrowly voted down in our last referendum. Then again, it's difficult to create a flag that can garner majority support, especially in such a politically divided region as our own.

Or al-Abama. That said, I'm ambivalent as to whether to redesign the flag yet again - if you want to, go for it, but it seems fine for now.

I'm almost of the mind that we mass repeal a large proportion of the old IDS legislation, every week now we seem to 'uncover' a new bill that contradicts current statute. On a personal level, trawling through the law books is an incredibly daunting measure.

As someone who has trawled through the law books (and pulled out the more troubling statutes), I'm not sure how keen I am on mass repeal of a large proportion of it, but I do think once we get the CSCF started that'll be much less of a problem.

[Supersonic]

I'm almost of the mind that we mass repeal a large proportion of the old IDS legislation, every week now we seem to 'uncover' a new bill that contradicts current statute. On a personal level, trawling through the law books is an incredibly daunting measure.

As someone who has trawled through the law books (and pulled out the more troubling statutes), I'm not sure how keen I am on mass repeal of a large proportion of it, but I do think once we get the CSCF started that'll be much less of a problem.

A Consolidated Law Code sounds like a plan.

[Donerail]

We should probably begin discussion of our 2014 regional budget. I know it holds the potential of us significantly reducing taxes, so we should jump on that to spark some relief.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Indeed, we do start there. We need to update the spending and taxation numbers, which IIRC I used usgovernmentspending and usgovernmentrevenue. State spending only, adjusted for our own tax rates and with Puerto Rico extrapolated from the other 10 states based on population.

     Then we have to figure out the effects of bills. The ones already there shouldn't change too much, so we should look for bills passed in this last year that will change it. I don't have a comprehensive tally, but SJoyce's education law is a big one that I can think of.

     Speaking of which, I would also like to thank SJoyce for completing the update. I started it, but finals and then work got in the way of me finishing it.

[Donerail]

I got spending done, at least.

Regional Spending
Pensions
Base: $43.1 billion
Total: $43.1 billion
Health care:
Base: $130.1 billion
Total: $130.1 billion
Education:
Base: $76.0 billion
Tertiary Education/Other Capital Outlay-Higher Education/Southeastern Educational Incentive Act: $3.5 billion
Total: $79.5 billion
Defense:
Base: $0.8 billion
Military Defense/IDS Militia Structure Act: $0.4365 billion
Total: $1.2365 billion
Welfare:
Base: $31.3 billion
Total: $31.3 billion
Protection:
Base: $22.1 billion
Total: $22.1 billion
Transportation:
Base: $31.7 billion
Total: $31.7 billion
General government:
Base: $5.9 billion
Total: $5.9 billion
Other spending:
Base: $22.8 billion
Puerto Rico: $11.3 billion (total spending of PR- PR is not included in any other category in Spending but the Total Regional Spending)
Total: $34.1 billion
Total Regional Spending: $379,036,500,000


I'm questioning the necessity of a 'healthcare' line item of that size, given Fritzcare taking care of basically all healthcare spending. I assume this is programs like Medicaid in the state budgets that wouldn't be applicable to us. Apart from limited outlays mandated under Section 5 of my first education bill, our education spending, as you mentioned during the campaign, is under the control of municipalities and local school districts as well. It's mildly concerning that welfare spending has dropped - that may be something we should look into (especially to check out how it interacts with federal programs - I'd imagine we'd have much less of a need for it with the basic income in place).

I've put in a request with the GM to check over our revenue figures.

[Donerail]

The Emperor has nominated former Speaker Scott and myself to the districting Commission authorized by the Legislature Size Adjustment Act. These appointments will have to pass a vote in the legislature to confirm them.

All in favor of confirming each nominee to the Commission, please vote aye.

Speaker SJoyce:
[ ] Aye
[ ] Nay
[ ] Abstain

Fmr. Speaker Scott:
[ ] Aye
[ ] Nay
[ ] Abstain

[Supersonic]

All in favor of confirming each nominee to the Commission, please vote aye.

Speaker SJoyce:
[ ] Aye
[X] Nay (I don't think current legislators should be nominated).
[ ] Abstain

Fmr. Speaker Scott:
[X] Aye
[ ] Nay
[ ] Abstain

[Donerail]

Speaker SJoyce:
[X] Aye
[ ] Nay
[ ] Abstain

Fmr. Speaker Scott:
[X] Aye
[ ] Nay
[ ] Abstain

[Enderman]

aye on both

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Speaker SJoyce:
[X] Aye
[ ] Nay
[ ] Abstain

Fmr. Speaker Scott:
[X] Aye
[ ] Nay
[ ] Abstain

[Donerail]

With all legislators voting, both nominees have been confirmed.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     We need to get back to the budget.

     Looking at major changes, The Deficit Reduction Act saves us $3.2 billion. The Disability Employment Act will carry a certain amount of cost with it that will need to be qualtified. The Is Our Children Learning Act Part II should substantially reduce our education budget. The base shouldn't be 0, though, since we will still be funding universities.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Regional Spending
Pensions:
Base: $43.1 billion
Total: $43.1 billion

Health care:
Base: $130.1 billion
Total: $130.1 billion

Education:
Base: $76.0 billion
Tertiary Education/Other Capital Outlay-Higher Education/Southeastern Educational Incentive Act: $3.5 billion
Not Tertiary Education/Is Our Children Learning Act Part II: (-$14.2 billion)
Total: $65.3 billion

Defense:
Base: $0.8 billion
Military Defense/IDS Militia Structure Act: $0.4365 billion
Total: $1.2365 billion

Welfare:
Base: $31.3 billion
Total: $31.3 billion

Protection:
Base: $22.1 billion
Total: $22.1 billion

Transportation:
Base: $31.7 billion
Total: $31.7 billion

General government:
Base: $5.9 billion
Total: $5.9 billion

Other spending:
Base: $22.8 billion
Puerto Rico: $11.3 billion (total spending of PR- PR is not included in any other category in Spending but the Total Regional Spending)
Spending Waste Reduction/Deficit Reduction Act of 2013: $3.2 billion
Total: $30.9 billion

Total Regional Spending: $361,636,500,000

Regional Revenue
Income Taxes:
Base: $0 (state cannot collect their own income taxes)
Corporate Income Tax/Tax-Corporate Net Income/Put the "free" back in Free Enterprise Bill: (see personal income tax rate)
Corporate Income Tax Rate: 4% ($9.55 billion)
Personal Income Tax Rate: 5.8% ($63.37 billion)
Total: $72.92 billion

Social Security Taxes:
Base: $0 (-$23.0 billion from 2012 IDS Budget Amendments)
Total: $0

Ad-valorem Taxes:
Base: $150.4 billion
Excise Taxes/Tax-Alcoholic Beverage Sales/Southeast Alcohol Initiative, Section 8: $1.3127 billion ($1.00/proof liter or $0.385/gallon for beer, $0.909/gallon for wine, $3.31/gallon for spirits)
Excise Taxes/Tax-Tobacco Products Sales/Southeast Tobacco Initiative, Section 6: $0.04/cigarette ($6,034,000,000/year), $0.08/cigar ($80,000,000/year), $2.00/kg tobacco ($24,000,000/year)
Excise Taxes/Tax-Marijuana Products Sales: $3.00/ounce ($48,000,000/year)
Sales Taxes/Tax-Public Utilities Sale/Southeast Nuclear Energy Initiative, Chapter 4: 80% of standard electricity excise tax: $0
Sales Taxes/Tax-Public Utilities Sale/Southeast Biomass Initiative, Section 3: 80% of standard electricity excise tax: $0
Property Taxes/Tax-Property/Southeast Nuclear Energy Initiative, Chapter 4: n/a ($0)
Transportation/Tax-Motor Fuel Sales/Transportation Commission Initiative, Chapter 3, Section 22: $0.08/liter ($17,284,230,161/year)
Transportation/Tax-Motor Vehicle License/Fair Consequences Initiative, Section 3: $10,700,000/year
Total: $157.6654 billion

Fees and Charges:
Base: $51.6 billion
Other/Charges-All Other/Pentagram Creation Act: $5,700,000/year
Other/Charges-All Other/Safe Roads Initiative, Section 6: $44,400,000/year
Total: $51.6521 billion

Business and Other Revenue:
Base: $37.6 billion
Business and Other Revenue/Utilities Tax/Southeast Nuclear Energy Initiative, Chapter 4: -66.1 million (-0.0661 billion)
Puerto Rico: $8.47 billion
Total: $46.0039 billion

Gross Public Debt: $598,700,000,000 (assumes that Regional Government has not accumulated its own public debt)

Rainy Day Fund: $50,000,000,000
Total Regional Revenue: $327,971,400,000 (does not include Gross Public Debt or Rainy Day Fund)

Balance: -$33,665,100,000

     This is what I have. People are welcome to look for mistakes, but what I am seeing is that our funding situation is very dire. The election booth will close within the hour and I will be sending out a PM shortly thereafter.

[Donerail]

I'd think we'd need to wait for the GM before we can act on this. We have an estimates request for tax revenues in his queue at the moment. That said, we do need to consider how much of our spending (if we're just getting it from what states are spending) accurately reflects Atlasian conditions - why do we have a healthcare line item when we can provide that through Fritzcare?

[Associate Justice PiT]

I'd think we'd need to wait for the GM before we can act on this. We have an estimates request for tax revenues in his queue at the moment. That said, we do need to consider how much of our spending (if we're just getting it from what states are spending) accurately reflects Atlasian conditions - why do we have a healthcare line item when we can provide that through Fritzcare?

     Looking at our largest state, Texas, it is contributing $35 billion in health care expenditures. The large majority of that is categorized as "Current Operations - Public Welfare, Vendor Payments for Medical Care". That category covers something like Medicaid, which I am guessing has been replaced in full by Fritzcare? Even so, I don't know how much exactly Medicaid contributes to that. I am guessing it is not the only such program.

[Donerail]

Scott is temporary speaker from now until Tuesday. I'll be very busy.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Doesn't the Speakership go to the legislator with the longest continuous service if the current Speaker declares absence?

[Donerail]

Doesn't the Speakership go to the legislator with the longest continuous service if the current Speaker declares absence?

I believes it goes to whoever I want it to go to - I remember Yelnoc picking different people to do it on different instances when he was away, and they weren't always the one with the longest service. You're the only one here who's done it before.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Okay, cool.  Thanks for the privilege.