Legislation Introduction Thread

[MAS117]

The Helicopter Rearmament Bill

Primary Sponsor: Senator MAS117
Co-Sponsor:[/b] Senator Supersoulty

§ I. The Treasury of Atlasia shall allocate $1.5 billion dollars to Bell Helicopter, a Textron Company, towards the funding, building, and arming of 50 new AH-1Z Cobra Helicopters for use in the Atlasian Marine Corp.

§ II. The Treasury of Atlasia shall allocate $843.75 million dollars to Boeing to fund, build, and arm 15 new AH-64D Apache Longbow Helicopters for use in the Atlasian Army.

[MasterJedi]

Tax Equity Act of 2005

Section 1: Payroll Taxes Repealed
Subtitle C of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to payroll taxes and withholding of income taxes) is repealed.

Section 2: Estate and Gift Taxes Repealed
Subtitle B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to estate and gift taxes) is repealed.

Section 3: Conforming Amendments; Effective Date
(a) The Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--

(1) by striking subtitle H (relating to financing of presidential election campaigns), and
(2) by redesignating--
  (A) subtitle D (relating to miscellaneous excise taxes) as subtitle B,
  (B) subtitle E (relating to alcohol, tobacco, and certain other excise taxes) as subtitle C,
  (C) subtitle F (relating to procedure and administration) as subtitle D,
  (D) subtitle G (relating to the Joint Committee on Taxation) as subtitle E,
  (E) subtitle I (relating to the Trust Fund Code) as subtitle F,
  (F) subtitle J (relating to coal industry health benefits) as subtitle G, and
  (G) subtitle K (relating to group health plan portability, access, and renewability requirements) as subtitle H.

(b) Redesignation of 1986 Code-

(1) The Internal Revenue Code of 1986, enacted on October 22, 1986, as heretofore, hereby, or hereafter amended, may be cited as the 'Internal Revenue Code of 2005'.

(2) Except when inappropriate, any reference in any law, Executive order, or other document--
  (A) to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall include a reference to the Internal Revenue Code of 2005, and
  (B) to the Internal Revenue Code of 2005 shall include a reference to the provisions of law formerly known as the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

(c) The amendments made by this act shall take effect for all tax years (months) beginning after it becomes law.

Section 4: Enactment of Flat Tax

Subchapter A of Subtitle A is amended to read:

'Section 1. Flat Tax Imposed
'There is hereby imposed, on every resident, a tax equal to 16 percent of the total income, from whatever source derived, of such person, except for estates and gifts.'

Section 5: Supermajority Required for Structural Changes to Personal Income Tax

No measure to create any new personal income tax bracket, deduction, or exemption shall be considered by the Senate but by a vote of three-fifths of the total number of senators, taken by yeas and nays.

[King]

Tax Equity Act of 2005

...

I add my co-sponsor to this bill.

[Sam Spade]

Once again, I'm going to ask with Masterjedi's bill...

What does this do to the government's revenues and all?

Same thing still goes with King's bill; I still haven't gotten an answer on that question.

I don't care where you get the figures, as long as they're GM-approved or come from the GM himself.

Unless I get figures, I will oppose vigorously any and every tax change/raise/cut, etc. because I like to know what we're getting into.

[A18]

We did this in another thread, where we were discussing alternative tax systems for the United States. If taxes are at the same levels as in the United States:

http://www.wnjpin.net/OneStopCareerCenter/LaborMarketInformation/lmi10/tpi.htm
http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=1821&sequence=0

For 2004:
(total personal income)x = (income tax revenue + payroll tax revenue)
$9,672,205,074,000x = $1,542,400,000,000
x = 0.1595
x-> 0.16

Estate tax raises very little money as is, much less at a 16% rate, so exempting it is not a big change in net revenues at all. We're already abolishing it in real life without replacing it with another revenue source, and it'll do wonder for small business.

[King]

Once again, I'm going to ask with Masterjedi's bill...

What does this do to the government's revenues and all?

Same thing still goes with King's bill; I still haven't gotten an answer on that question.

I don't care where you get the figures, as long as they're GM-approved or come from the GM himself.

Unless I get figures, I will oppose vigorously any and every tax change/raise/cut, etc. because I like to know what we're getting into.

I don't have exact figures, but our revenues would slightly increase as the tax increase goes for approx. 33% of the tax base while the decrease for appox. 31%.

[King]

Lets start cutting the fat from our budget:

Deficit Reduction Bill of 2005

(a).  Data below is indexed as millions of dollars. 

(b).  The 7th Senate shall make the following modficiations to the following programs in the FY2005-06 budget as passed by the 6th Senate:

NASA                                            -$14,484;
Corps of Engineers                                  -$4,975;
Agency for International Development                    -$3,390;
International Assistance Programs               -$2,089;
Small Business Administration                    -$1,439;
Export-Import Bank                            -$1,044;
Cargo Preference Program                        -$673;
Assistance for Former Soviet Union                -$484;
Federal Drug Control Program                    -$457;
Corporation for National and Community Service    -$433;
Assistance for Eastern Europe                    -$402;
Corporation for Public Broadcasting                -$375;
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission       -$331;
Legal Services Corporation                        -$329;
Peace Corps                                    -$284;
National Labor Relations Board                   -$238;
Overseas Private Investment Corporation            -$207;
National Endowment for the Humanities            -$125;
National Endowment for the Arts                -$113;
Appalachian Regional Commission                -$109;
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp.                -$105;
African Development Fund                        -$57;
Trade and Development Agency                   -$55;
Federal Labor Relations Board                    -$29;
Selective Service System                        -$25;
Commission on Civil Rights                        -$9.

Total Decreases:                           $32,261 
Total Increases:                           $0 

Change:                                   -$32,261 

[Sam Spade]

Once again, I'm going to ask with Masterjedi's bill...

What does this do to the government's revenues and all?

Same thing still goes with King's bill; I still haven't gotten an answer on that question.

I don't care where you get the figures, as long as they're GM-approved or come from the GM himself.

Unless I get figures, I will oppose vigorously any and every tax change/raise/cut, etc. because I like to know what we're getting into.

I don't have exact figures, but our revenues would slightly increase as the tax increase goes for approx. 33% of the tax base while the decrease for appox. 31%.

Well, please get me exact figures then.  My guess was that revenues would slightly increase, but I sort of figured that. 

Masterjedi is essentially calling for around a 400-500 billion revenue cut.  We'll have to keep that mind.

[A18]

Masterjedi is essentially calling for around a 400-500 billion revenue cut.  We'll have to keep that mind.

How? I gave you the numbers. It comes out to 16%.

[Sam Spade]

Masterjedi is essentially calling for around a 400-500 billion revenue cut.  We'll have to keep that mind.

How? I gave you the numbers. It comes out to 16%.

Average government revenue for a while has been roughly about 18% of GDP.

For example, if GDP is about 11 trillion, where it is presently, average government revenues are about 2 trillion at present.

[jokerman]

Lets start cutting the fat from our budget:

Deficit Reduction Bill of 2005

(a).  Data below is indexed as millions of dollars. 

(b).  The 7th Senate shall make the following modficiations to the following programs in the FY2005-06 budget as passed by the 6th Senate:

NASA                                            -$14,484;
Corps of Engineers                                  -$4,975;
Agency for International Development                    -$3,390;
International Assistance Programs               -$2,089;
Small Business Administration                    -$1,439;
Export-Import Bank                            -$1,044;
Cargo Preference Program                        -$673;
Assistance for Former Soviet Union                -$484;
Federal Drug Control Program                    -$457;
Corporation for National and Community Service    -$433;
Assistance for Eastern Europe                    -$402;
Corporation for Public Broadcasting                -$375;
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission       -$331;
Legal Services Corporation                        -$329;
Peace Corps                                    -$284;
National Labor Relations Board                   -$238;
Overseas Private Investment Corporation            -$207;
National Endowment for the Humanities            -$125;
National Endowment for the Arts                -$113;
Appalachian Regional Commission                -$109;
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp.                -$105;
African Development Fund                        -$57;
Trade and Development Agency                   -$55;
Federal Labor Relations Board                    -$29;
Selective Service System                        -$25;
Commission on Civil Rights                        -$9.

Total Decreases:                           $32,261 
Total Increases:                           $0 

Change:                                   -$32,261 

I support all of these cuts except those for NASA.

[A18]

Masterjedi is essentially calling for around a 400-500 billion revenue cut.  We'll have to keep that mind.

How? I gave you the numbers. It comes out to 16%.

Average government revenue for a while has been roughly about 18% of GDP.

For example, if GDP is about 11 trillion, where it is presently, average government revenues are about 2 trillion at present.

His bill only replaces the current payroll and income taxes; not corporate taxes, excise taxes, or anything else.

It will raise the same amount of revenue that the United States government is generating from the income and payroll taxes each year. It hikes rates on interest and lower-to-middle income bracket capital gains, while slashing the tax on unearned income.

[A18]

Um, that's $32 billion.

[12th Doctor]

Lets start cutting the fat from our budget:

Deficit Reduction Bill of 2005

(a).  Data below is indexed as millions of dollars. 

(b).  The 7th Senate shall make the following modficiations to the following programs in the FY2005-06 budget as passed by the 6th Senate:

NASA                                            -$14,484;
Corps of Engineers                                  -$4,975;
Agency for International Development                    -$3,390;
International Assistance Programs               -$2,089;
Small Business Administration                    -$1,439;
Export-Import Bank                            -$1,044;
Cargo Preference Program                        -$673;
Assistance for Former Soviet Union                -$484;
Federal Drug Control Program                    -$457;
Corporation for National and Community Service    -$433;
Assistance for Eastern Europe                    -$402;
Corporation for Public Broadcasting                -$375;
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission       -$331;
Legal Services Corporation                        -$329;
Peace Corps                                    -$284;
National Labor Relations Board                   -$238;
Overseas Private Investment Corporation            -$207;
National Endowment for the Humanities            -$125;
National Endowment for the Arts                -$113;
Appalachian Regional Commission                -$109;
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp.                -$105;
African Development Fund                        -$57;
Trade and Development Agency                   -$55;
Federal Labor Relations Board                    -$29;
Selective Service System                        -$25;
Commission on Civil Rights                        -$9.

Total Decreases:                           $32,261 
Total Increases:                           $0 

Change:                                   -$32,261 

King, do you have any information on how much each of these programs are alotted each year?

[MasterJedi]

This was written by Joe Republic, I'm sponsering it for him.

Secret Ballot Procedure Bill

Section 1

1. During any federal election, a registered voter may choose to submit their ballot or absentee ballot in secret.  This is considered an optional alternative form of voting to a public ballot.  The method of vote submission is outlined in Section 2, Clause 4 below.

2. All secret ballots must satisfy all clauses outlined in Section 1 of the Omnibus Election System, Procedure and Certification Act.

3. No registered voter may vote both publicly and secretly in the same election.  If this occurs, the Secretary of Forum Affairs will discount both votes.

Section 2

1. For the purposes of counting and validating secret ballots, an Electoral Committee will be assembled by no later than a week before the election is scheduled to begin.

2. The Committee will be comprised of three members, consisting of the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

3. In the event that any of the office holders listed either are themselves candidates in the election or are not present to fulfill their duty, those in the aforementioned situation shall be replaced by the highest office holder in the following list who is not a candidate present in the election and who is present to fulfill the duty:

Senior Associate Justice
Junior Associate Justice
Vice President
President Pro Tempore
Secretary of State
Attorney General
Secretary of Defense
Secretary of the Treasury
1A Senator
1B Senator
2A Senator
2B Senator
3A Senator
3B Senator
4A Senator
4B Senator
5A Senator
5B Senator

4. Identical copies of all secret ballots will be submitted for counting by the voter to each of the three members of the Committee in the form of a personal message.

5. Once voting has officially ended, the Committee will convene in a private and suitable manner.  Each member will ensure that their own collected ballots are identical to the corresponding ballots collected by the other two members.

6. In the event that any one of the three copies of a ballot does not match the corresponding copies, the ballot will be discounted.

7. All legitimate ballots will then be incorporated into the vote count and subsequent certification for the relevant election.

8. Once the election has been certified, the Committee will disband.

[Emsworth]

1A Senator
1B Senator
2A Senator
2B Senator
3A Senator
3B Senator
4A Senator
4B Senator
5A Senator
5B Senator

I would like to note that starting with the next election, we won't have a 1A Senator, a 1B Senator, etc. Instead, we will have 5 District Senators and 5 Regional Senators.

Might I suggest that we instead order Senators by seniority? The President pro Tempore would be the most senior Senator. The others would be ranked by length of service. If length of service is tied, then the tie would be broken by the order in which the oath of office was taken.

[Joe Republic]

That's fine by me.  I more or less copied that list almost exactly from the Election Procedures, Certification and Challenges Act.

[King]

Lets start cutting the fat from our budget:

Deficit Reduction Bill of 2005

(a).  Data below is indexed as millions of dollars. 

(b).  The 7th Senate shall make the following modficiations to the following programs in the FY2005-06 budget as passed by the 6th Senate:

NASA                                            -$14,484;
Corps of Engineers                                  -$4,975;
Agency for International Development                    -$3,390;
International Assistance Programs               -$2,089;
Small Business Administration                    -$1,439;
Export-Import Bank                            -$1,044;
Cargo Preference Program                        -$673;
Assistance for Former Soviet Union                -$484;
Federal Drug Control Program                    -$457;
Corporation for National and Community Service    -$433;
Assistance for Eastern Europe                    -$402;
Corporation for Public Broadcasting                -$375;
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission       -$331;
Legal Services Corporation                        -$329;
Peace Corps                                    -$284;
National Labor Relations Board                   -$238;
Overseas Private Investment Corporation            -$207;
National Endowment for the Humanities            -$125;
National Endowment for the Arts                -$113;
Appalachian Regional Commission                -$109;
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp.                -$105;
African Development Fund                        -$57;
Trade and Development Agency                   -$55;
Federal Labor Relations Board                    -$29;
Selective Service System                        -$25;
Commission on Civil Rights                        -$9.

Total Decreases:                           $32,261 
Total Increases:                           $0 

Change:                                   -$32,261 

King, do you have any information on how much each of these programs are alotted each year?

Senator, you can pick up a copy of the Atlasian Federal Budget that you voted on yourself.

[MAS117]

I hereby withdraw the Candidacy Declaration Bill.

[MasterJedi]

Entered by StatesRights Before

Atlasian National Parks Act

Section One
•  Atlasia shall set up a senatorial commission to investigate the creation of several national parks within Atlasia.
•  National Parks shall be created with the consent of the several Regions.
•  A National Park shall be considered a natural wonder or site of historical significance (i.e. battlefield, historical home/birthplace).

Section Two - Protections
•  Any area deemed a Natural Wonder or Historical Site shall be protected from all construction, development or any other act which would destroy the integrity of the site.
•  Any construction to sites to improve them (i.e. Parking lots, visitor centers, etc) shall be done upon the approval of the senate.
•  Any homes, businesses or private properties currently on areas deemed to be national parks shall be purchased by the Atlasian government at fair market value.

Section Three - Declaring a Park
•  Intentions for a park may be declared by the President simply by requesting the senate to investigate and vote on the matter.
•  Senators may petition for the creation of a park to the senate.
•  Citizens may start a petition for a national park to be voted on by the senate.

Section Four - Voting for a Park
•  Creation of a park will require a simple majority of the senate to pass.

[MasterJedi]

Entered by StatesRights Before

Atlasian Wetlands Act

Section One - What is a Wetland?
•  Wetlands shall be considered any area of undeveloped land greater then five acres which is either partially submerged or submerged under water for greater then six months of the year.
•  Wetlands shall be considered any area in which development has not already occurred and/or development has not already begun.

Section Two - Protections
•  All undeveloped wetlands shall henceforth be protected under federal law and be enforced by the regional governors under their discretion.
•  Wetlands shall not be drained, rechanneled or otherwise damaged once declared as a declared protection zone.
•  ATVs and Airboats shall not be restricted from recreational usage of these waterways but their usage (ie speeds) shall be determined by the regional governors.
•  Wetlands will be protected from use as sewage dumps, drain off points or other such non-natural usages.

Section Three - Penalties
•  Violators shall face a ladder penalty of 500$ for the first offence, 1000$ for the second offence and 10,000$ for the third offence.
•  Habitual violators shall face the above mentioned fines plus up to 3 years imprisonment to be determined by the court.

[MasterJedi]

Wow three bills in one day. Thanks to John D. Ford for writing this one for me!

Prescription Drug Reimportation Act

1. Atlasian trade law shall be amended to allow private citizens to purchase prescription drugs from Canadian retailers and transport them into the United States for private use.

  A. Section one shall not apply in cases where the Atlasian citizen does not have a properly
      issued prescription for the drug in question.

2. Drugs reimported from Canada may not be resold in the United States.  Only private non-commercial use is permitted.

   A. Violation of Section 2 will result in a penalty of maximum ten years imprisonment and
      a maximum fine of $5,000.

3. No commercial enterprise may purchase drugs in Canada and reimport them.  The privileges are restricted to private citizens who have been prescribed the medication in question.

   A. Any commercial enterprise that attempts to reimport drugs into the US will be fined a
     maximum of $50,000 per dosage of drugs they attempt to reimport.

4. No drug may be purchased directly from a drug producer or wholesaler, only from retailers.

[King]

Wow three bills in one day. Thanks to John D. Ford for writing this one for me!

Prescription Drug Reimportation Act

1. Atlasian trade law shall be amended to allow private citizens to purchase prescription drugs from Canadian retailers and transport them into the United States for private use.

  A. Section one shall not apply in cases where the Atlasian citizen does not have a properly
      issued prescription for the drug in question.

2. Drugs reimported from Canada may not be resold in the United States.  Only private non-commercial use is permitted.

   A. Violation of Section 2 will result in a penalty of maximum ten years imprisonment and
      a maximum fine of $5,000.

3. No commercial enterprise may purchase drugs in Canada and reimport them.  The privileges are restricted to private citizens who have been prescribed the medication in question.

   A. Any commercial enterprise that attempts to reimport drugs into the US will be fined a
     maximum of $50,000 per dosage of drugs they attempt to reimport.

4. No drug may be purchased directly from a drug producer or wholesaler, only from retailers.

I wish to add my sponsorship of this act.

[King]

By the request of the SoFA:

Amendment to the (F.L. 6-12) Government Thread Act

Clause 2 of the (F.L. 6-12) Government Thread Act shall be amended to read:

It is the responsibility of each member of the Cabinet to create and/or maintain a thread in the either the Atlas Forum Government Board or the Atlas Forum Elections Board relating to their office. There shall also be a similar thread for the President of the nation. If the Vice-President determines it useful, a Vice-Presidential thread shall be created using the same guidelines outlined for the previously listed thread.
[/list]

[Colin]

Entered by StatesRights Before

Atlasian Wetlands Act

Section One - What is a Wetland?
•  Wetlands shall be considered any area of undeveloped land greater then five acres which is either partially submerged or submerged under water for greater then six months of the year.
•  Wetlands shall be considered any area in which development has not already occurred and/or development has not already begun.

Section Two - Protections
•  All undeveloped wetlands shall henceforth be protected under federal law and be enforced by the regional governors under their discretion.
•  Wetlands shall not be drained, rechanneled or otherwise damaged once declared as a declared protection zone.
•  ATVs and Airboats shall not be restricted from recreational usage of these waterways but their usage (ie speeds) shall be determined by the regional governors.
•  Wetlands will be protected from use as sewage dumps, drain off points or other such non-natural usages.

Section Three - Penalties
•  Violators shall face a ladder penalty of 500$ for the first offence, 1000$ for the second offence and 10,000$ for the third offence.
•  Habitual violators shall face the above mentioned fines plus up to 3 years imprisonment to be determined by the court.

Now we can finally protect the Stow, Ohio wetlands.