SE House legislation introduction Thread

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

"The Down with Imperialism and Tyranny Act

1. With the passage of this resolution, the IDS formally demands an end to the colonization of Virginia and Kentucky by Mideastern imperialists.  Furthermore, the Imperial Legislature demands that these occupied territories be permitted to take their rightful place as a part of the IDS.

2. Until such time as Virginia and Kentucky have been returned to the IDS and liberty has been restored, these states shall be referred to as the Occupied Territories on all maps made by the regional government.

3. We demand an immediate end to Mideastern colonial settlements in the occupied territories.  These settlements have already destroyed aspects of the rich Southern culture and history within the occupied territories.

4. All schools and universities receiving any funding from the regional government shall henceforth teach their students that Virginia and Kentucky are rightfully a part of the IDS and that they have been turned into de facto colonies by the Mideastern occupation forces.  

5. We demand the passage of a constitutional amendment recognizing the states of Kentucky and Virginia as falling within the regional borders of the Imperial Dominion of the South.

6. The regional government of the Imperial Dominion of the South condemns the actions of any who would try to end the Mideastern occupation through violence."

If nothing else, this should be a fun debate, Atlasia (and especially the IDS) could use a little nationalism every now and then to keep things interesting.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

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If nothing else, this should be a fun debate, Atlasia (and especially the IDS) could use a little nationalism every now and then to keep things interesting.

[Flake]

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[Flake]

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[Maxwell]

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[Maxwell]

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[Flake]

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[Flake]

[quote]
Neighborhood Teacher Act

Purpose
The Neighborhood Teacher program is intended to prepare highly skilled, committed teachers who will teach in high-poverty schools and who will commit to remain in these schools for substantial periods of time.

Neighborhood Teacher
1. The South will establish a Neighborhood Teacher college scholarship  that aims to provide four-year college scholarships and government support to low-income high school seniors who are committed to teach in their district's high-need public schools.

Scholarship
1. The Neighborhood program shall provide four-year scholarships of $8,200 per year to select high school seniors who graduated from a public high school in the South, were eligible for free or reduced price lunch throughout their four years of high schools, commit to (within two years after college graduation) to teach for four years at a public school where at least 45% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and is in the same state where they graduated high school.

2. The scholarships shall be provided through a competitive application process. To select scholarship recipients, the Southern Legislature shall designate a committee of highly-qualified people who reflect the socioeconomic diversity of the district’s high-poverty schools.

3. In the event that any scholarship recipient fails or refuses to comply with the teaching obligation under subsection 1, the sum of the amounts of any scholarships received by such recipient shall be converted to a loan and be subject to repayment with interest. The interest will accrue from the date of the initial scholarship award, in accordance with terms and conditions specified by the administrator organization. The scholarship administrator may establish provisions for partial forgiveness of the loan if the recipient partially but does not fully fulfill his or her teaching obligation.

Appropriations
1. The number of scholarships available each year will be based upon an annual appropriation by the Southern Legislature.

Effective Date
1. This law shall become effective on July 1, 2016.

[Flake]

(Can we do this bill first?)

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[/quote]

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

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[Chancellor Tanterterg]

The Stop PMing Me Act

1. Effective immediately upon the passage of this bill, the government of the South shall establish a Do Not PM list. 

2. Any voters living in the IDS who does not wish to receive campaign PMs may add themselves to the Do Not PM List by signing their username in the list's thread. 

3. Any voters whose names have been added to the list may not be sent a sample ballot, encouraged to vote for a specific candidate by either a candidate or a candidate's supporters via PM, or sent a PM reminding them to vote in any Gubernatorial, regional legislative, or regional Senate election.

4. The one exception to section three is if the individual who sent the campaign PM or sample ballot can prove with PMs that he did so purely at the direct request of the specific voter who filed a complaint against him and limited his campaign-related PM to the subject the voter PMed him about.  For example, a candidate responding to a voter's unprompted request for information about his position on abortion would not be in violation of section three if he send a PM in response that laid out his views on abortion.  However, said candidate would be violating section three if he sent an unprompted abortion-related pitch to a voter on the Do Not PM list or if he sent a sample ballot in addition to answering the voter's question about his abortion views. 

5. No voters on the Do Not PM List may send campaign-related PMs, sample ballots, etc while on the list.

6. Anyone wishing to be removed from the Do Not PM List may have there name removed by making a post in the list thread requesting that their name be taken of the Do Not PM List.  However, no voter may add or remove himself from the Do Not PM List at any point during either last 48 hours before the voting booth opens in a Southern Gubernatorial, regional legislative, or regional Senate election or while the actual voting in one of the aforementioned types of elections is underway in this region.

7. Any voter adding his name during the period described in section six shall not be recognized as having  added his name to the Do Not PM List. 

8. Any voter who is convicted of removing his name from the Do Not PM List during the aforementioned period shall receive a minimum sentence a ban on voting in the following regional election.

9. Anyone convicted of violating section three of this law once shall receive a minimum sentence of a six month ban on voting in regional elections or holding regional office (including, but not limited to regional Senate).  A second conviction will lead to the same penalty, as well as a year-long ban on appearing on any ballot in the region in any election for any office.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Southern Law Commission Act
1. The Commission on Southern Law and Code (hereafter CSLC) will be established upon passage of this bill. It shall be chaired by a member of the Legislature and staffed by two other citizens of the region.

2. The members of the CSLC shall be selected by a quorum in a joint meeting of the Judicial Overlord and the Legislature. Any member of the CSLC may be removed by the same process.

3. The goal of the CSLC shall be to sort the region's statute into a continuous document reflecting structure in the form of code sections and clearly defined section headers.
     a. The deadline for a completed product will be set to six months from the passage of this bill, with possibility for extension based on progress towards the goal.
     b. The completed product shall be posted on the Wiki, linked to at the top of the regional statute page.

[Flake]

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[Flake]

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[Associate Justice PiT]

Southern History Commission Act
1. The Commission on Southern History (hereafter CSH) will be established upon passage of this bill. It shall be chaired by a member of the Legislature and staffed by two other citizens of the region.

2. The members of the CSH shall be selected by a quorum in a joint meeting of the Governor and the Legislature. Any member of the CSH may be removed by the same process.
     a. No two members of the CSH may belong to the same party.
     b. Should any member of the CSH resign or be removed from the commission, preference shall be given to selecting a new member of the same party.

3. The goal of the CSH shall be to create a balanced narrative of the region's history stretching to the present day.
     a. The deadline for a completed product will be set to six months from the passage of this bill, with possibility for extension based on progress towards the goal.
     b. The completed product shall be posted on the Wiki, linked to in the regional template.
     c. At the beginning of each calendar year, the CSH shall be reconvened to add the previous year to the narrative. Those citizens who were previously members of the CSH will be given preference for inclusion, should they still be eligible for membership on the commission.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Healthcare Competition Act
1. Private insurance carriers shall be permitted to offer insurance plans on the exchange established by the Atlasian National Health Act.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Asset Forfeiture Restriction Act
1. The practice of asset forfeiture may only be undertaken for the express purpose of collecting evidence in advance of criminal prosecution.
     a. The assets to be seized must be solely possessed by a person suspected of committing a criminal act as defined within the regional statute.
     b. If charges against that person are dismissed, or that person is found not guilty in a trial by jury or judge, then any seized assets must be returned to that person's possession within seven calendar days.
     c. If charges are not filed within six months of seizure then those assets must be returned to that person's possession within seven calendar days.

2. Upon a finding of guilt or a pleading of guilt or no contest in a trial by judge or jury, any seized assets will be put up to auction at a time and place to be determined by the regional Treasurer. The proceeds from the auction will be disbursed into the Southern regional Treasury.

3. Any police officer found in violation of any part of this act will be subject to disciplinary action, up to 15-day suspension without pay for a first time offense and termination for repeated offense.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Act Fixing Clerical Errors and Returning Taxpayer Dollars
1. In recognition of the fact that Fritzcare has supplanted regional healthcare spending, all laws and provisions providing for regional spending on healthcare are hereby repealed. Effective retroactive to the beginning of CY15, regional spending on healthcare is hereby set to $0.

2. Effective retroactive to the beginning of CY15, the regional corporate and personal income tax rates are hereby set to 0%.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Anti-Strategic Registration Amendment

Article IX, Section 4, Clause a, Subsection 5 is added, reading:
"5. has been registered as a voter of a Southern state for at least seven days prior to the earliest possible commencement of the election."

[Associate Justice PiT]

2015 South Budget

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% ($9.2 billion)
Personal Income Tax Rate: 5.8% ($57.15 billion)
Total: $66.35 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: $1.2 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: $5.9 billion
Excise Taxes/Tax-Marijuana Products Sales: $3.00/ounce ($0.25 billion)
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 ($16.9 billion)
Transportation/Tax-Motor Vehicle License/Fair Consequences Initiative, Section 3: $10,700,000/year
Total: $174.6607 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: $338,666,700,000 (does not include Gross Public Debt or Rainy Day Fund)

Balance: -$22,969,800,000

     I have not updated the numbers yet. I want to do that on the floor, to document the process for reference.

[Leinad]

Alright, I have a few bills here to introduce:

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Police officers lie to people too often; this needs to stop.

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I'm pro-life, but I can see that the goal isn't merely to outlaw abortion, but to take common sense measures to reduce the number of abortions. This is a way to do it, and I think even our pro-choice members can appreciate it's intent. Estimated cost: $1.5-2B, no more than a few percent of our surplus. (And yes, #1 was stolen borrowed from the Northeast.)

It's not a perfect bill at all, and I expect it will be improved a lot on the legislature floor. I'm willing to incorporate other ideas, or dramatically alter the current ones.

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[/quote]



All of these might need some work, but that's what we're here for, right? We need to be doing something, I think this is a good start.

[Leinad]

This thread has been too quiet...

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Spiral, Clarence, and Goldwater should PM me if they have any vague ideas/epiphanies/visions they want to flesh out into workable bills.

[Leinad]

This thread has been too quiet...

[Ex-Assemblyman Steelers]

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[Former Senator Haslam2020]

The IDS Child Care Act:

1. This act hereby declares that anyone in the IDS can adopt a baby, regardless of sexual orientation, race, gender, etc, their personal matters if given permission by the parent or parents who are giving it up for adoption, or they are not convicted felons who have served 3 plus years in prison.

2. Adopters, who adopt a child from the ages of 5-18 shall be given $150 dollars a month for 6 months in order to help care for the newly brought in child. After that time, the child should have adjusted to his home.

3. If a foster parent is in custody of a child 0-18, within the first six months of them having it they shall receive $150 dollars. Anyone who wants to be a foster parent can be, as long as they are not convicted felons who have served 3 years or more in prison. Anyone can be a foster parent regardless of sexual orientation, race, gender, etc as long as the Orphanage gives it's permission.