Northeast Assembly Thread II

[Napoleon]

I will support cinyc.

[cinyc]

I will accept the nomination.

[Deus Naturae]

SomebodyWhoExists, would you like to nominate someone else, or do you support Cinyc? The reason I ask is so we can just move to a vote on this.

[SWE]

SomebodyWhoExists, would you like to nominate someone else, or do you support Cinyc? The reason I ask is so we can just move to a vote on this.

Sorry, didn't see this

I support cynic

[Deus Naturae]

I am now closing the nominations period.

A 48 hour voting period for Speaker will now begin.  The following candidate is officially nominated:

[ ] cinyc

[Deus Naturae]

[X] cinyc

[SWE]

[X] cinyc

[Napoleon]

Cinyc

[cinyc]

[X] cinyc

[Deus Naturae]

The voting period is now over.

Cinyc is elected Speaker.

[cinyc]

Thank you, Mr. Lieutenant Governor.  There is currently no legislation in the queue.  The Northeast Assembly Legislation Introduction Thread is currently on page 3 of the Regional Governments board.  It is open for Representatives and others to post new legislation for the Assembly's consideration.

[Deus Naturae]

Does anybody know which number session this is?

[Deus Naturae]

This is a bit early, but what form of debate do we want to use for the candidates' debate required by the Northeast Debate Act of 2013?

[Deus Naturae]

When I'm updating the wiki, should I create new pages for amendments to existing legislation passed by the Assembly, or should I just change the original page (presumably with bold/strikethrough format)? What page should I hyperlink to on the Statute page?

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

When I'm updating the wiki, should I create new pages for amendments to existing legislation passed by the Assembly, or should I just change the original page (presumably with bold/strikethrough format)? What page should I hyperlink to on the Statute page?

I think the practice has been to amend the existing pages but make a note of it in the Assembly it was amended.

example

[Deus Naturae]

Since I just introduced something of a mass repeal, it seems like a good idea for me to lay out basic explanations of my proposed repeals beforehand. For the most part, I selected these laws for repeal because I feel like their function is either unnecessary or redundant (in that it is already covered by another program). Here goes:

1. Northeast Regional Economic Policy and Improvement Act of 2013 - I want to repeal this law because I believe that it's function is served adequately by the Bank of the Northeast, which provides loans. Setting up another separate program for that purpose is a wastes taxpayer funds and creates unnecessary bureaucracy. This program does have another function, in that it allows municipalities to apply for aid for projects deemed necessary for economic growth. Not only do we already have programs that strategically invest in infrastructure developments with the purpose of creating growth (namely the BUILD Act of 2012) but this also allows municipalities to transfer the tax burden of funding local infrastructure from municipal citizens to regional citizens, at no cost to then.

2. Quick-Action Closing Fund Act of 2013 - First of all, it appears this law was defunded by default, because the funding for it was never renewed (or at least it wasn't renewed in the last regional budget). The law creates a board within the regional Department of Commerce that is mainly tasked with "negotiating for workforce training, capital investments, and other projects to help collaborate with businesses and manufacturers interested in locating or relocating their facilities in the Northeast Region (Section 2, clause 2)." It seems unclear what this means, or what chips this board would using to bargain with. The board also has the authority to create grants and incentives for recently located/relocated businesses. The law implies (though it is not entirely clear on this) that the funding for these incentives will come from the BNE. However, if the BNE has the authority to do this (which, based on my reading of the law that chartered the BNE, seems somewhat dubious) presumably it could so itself without a middleman like the board created by this law.

3. Job Creation and Infrastructure Renewal Act of 2012 - Either this law has not been enforced at all, or it automatically repealed itself a while ago. If someone can provide the necessary regional unemployment statistics to show that the latter should have occurred, I will just edit the Statute page on the wiki to denote that. Otherwise, we might as well just repeal it ourselves.

4. Sbane Windfarm Act of 2012 - I don't really care about the first two sections, my main issue with this law are that I doubt its necessity and take issue with some its blatantly corporatist aspects. I see know reason for the regional government to involve itself in wind energy startups by initiating takeovers of 49% of wind farm projects. If a project is sound, it will succeed. I see no reason for us to start running corporate projects and acting as if the regional government were itself a for-profit corporation. Furthermore, I see no reason for the regional government to expend taxpayer funds to subsidize utilities. Is there evidence that utilities require taxpayer assistance to construct energy transmission lines? Again, this another area where I see reason for the regional government to involve itself in what should be a private corporate affair. Finally, since we axed energy subsidies in the last budget, this was de facto defunded (although it is possible that, at least in regard to the subsidized construction of energy transmission lines, the law's purpose was already completed).

5. Northeast Small Business Incentive Act of 2010 - This law provides a two-part incentive to small business. It allows to pay employees $7.00 per hour (a violation of federal wage laws) and it grants them a two-year 
4% tax rebate (which is pointless now, as their is no regional corporate tax). This law is simply obsolete.

6. Northeastern Green Jobs Act of 2009 - This law sets ridiculous standards. It requires to constantly create "green jobs" until the unemployment rate drops below 5%. This has definitely not been adhered to, and would be ridiculous if it was. The government is simply not capable of creating jobs on such a scale.

7. Northeastern Revitalization Proposal of 2006 - This creates a committee (which is supposed to consisted of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor) to allocate money (which has not been specifically allocated to his committee in quite some time). If anyone knows if the Assembly voted against the continuation of this law, just show me so i can denote that on the Statute. Otherwise, we might as well repeal this.

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

Since cinyc is leaving us, does anybody have an interest in being Speaker?

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

Announcing a post-election shake-up:

I am picking Napoleon as my Lieutenant Governor for this session.

[Deus Naturae]

As the outgoing Lieutenant Governor, I'll open a 24-hour nomination period for Speaker of the Assembly. As the new Lieutenant Governor, Napoleon is ineligible for nomination.

[Deus Naturae]

I'll nominate myself for Speaker.

[Dr. Cynic]

I'll nominate SWE for Speaker.

[Napoleon]

I'll nominate myself for Speaker.

Seconded

[SWE]

I'll support Deus for Speaker

[BaconBacon96]

I will back Deus for the Speakership.

[Dr. Cynic]

How boring We never have had a proper contest for the job in any of my terms here.