NE3: Unnecessary Programs Repeal Act (Law)

[cinyc]

I am opening up NE3 to make sure we get through the queue.  There is one more piece of legislation in it.  I figure that the governor won't veto both pieces of legislation, so we should have time to get through the last piece before next Thursday - though we might need to shorten the debate period if the governor takes his time in signing or vetoing what is currently on the floor.  

Here is the bill:

Unnecessary Programs Elimination Act

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Sponsor: Rep. Deus naturae

Debate on this bill shall remain open for 72 hours, or until around 7:15PM on Friday, April 18, unless modified or extended.  The sponsor, Rep. Deus, is encouraged to speak on behalf of the bill within the next 36 hours.  If he does not, the bill may be tabled, depending on whether there is additional legislation in the proposed legislation thread at that time.

The floor is open for debate.

[Deus Naturae]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Here is my reasning for the repeal of each law:

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 no 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 is another area where I see no 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 consist of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor) to allocate money (which has not been specifically allocated to this 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.

[cinyc]

Thank you for linking to the statutes.  I will have to research them before knowing if I support or oppose this bill.

[sentinel]

Suggested Amendment

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[cinyc]

Suggested Amendment

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Does this amendment replace the bill or just add another section?

[sentinel]

Suggested Amendment

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Does this amendment replace the bill or just add another section?

Replace.

[Deus Naturae]

Amendment is hostile, obviously. I don't get the joke, what's that supposed to be a reference to?

[cinyc]

Under the SOAP, the proposed amendment will be put to a vote around 9:45PM tonight (24 hours after proposed) unless withdrawn by the sponsor before then.

[cinyc]

24 hours have passed before this amendment, deemed hostile by the bill's sponsor, was proposed.  It is time to vote on the amendment, which would replace the entire bill.

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Under the SOAP, this vote remains open for 24 hours.

[cinyc]

Nay

[SWE]

Nay

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

What's up with this amendment?

Deus' bill seems like a pretty sensible repeal of legislation that's been made obsolete.

[sentinel]

Aye

[sentinel]

What's up with this amendment?

Deus' bill seems like a pretty sensible repeal of legislation that's been made obsolete.

I believe Omnibus bills should be debated in the Assembly thread then proposed as legislation. Otherwise they should be introduced individually no matter how painful it is.

[Deus Naturae]

What's up with this amendment?

Deus' bill seems like a pretty sensible repeal of legislation that's been made obsolete.

I believe Omnibus bills should be debated in the Assembly thread then proposed as legislation. Otherwise they should be introduced individually no matter how painful it is.

I tried to debate it in the Assembly thread, but no one replied.

[Deus Naturae]

Nay

[Napoleon]

Aye

[Deus Naturae]

SomebodyWhoExists and Napoleon, what are you guys voting for this troll amendment?? If you oppose the entire bill, just say so (and preferably explain why) and then vote against the final passage...

[Napoleon]

SomebodyWhoExists and Napoleon, what are you guys voting for this troll amendment?? If you oppose the entire bill, just say so (and preferably explain why) and then vote against the final passage...

I oppose repealing the Sbane Windfarm Act and while I initially did as you are suggesting, I edited my post to increase the likelihood of my desired outcome. I'm open to repealing the outdated statutes.

[Deus Naturae]

SomebodyWhoExists and Napoleon, what are you guys voting for this troll amendment?? If you oppose the entire bill, just say so (and preferably explain why) and then vote against the final passage...

I oppose repealing the Sbane Windfarm Act and while I initially did as you are suggesting, I edited my post to increase the likelihood of my desired outcome. I'm open to repealing the outdated statutes.

Why not just vote Nay on Sirnick's amendment and introduce another amendment to keep the Sbane Windfarm Act? Passing this amendment doesn't even increase the likelihood of your desired outcome because, as sponsor, I can just amend it again without a vote.

Edit: Also, are you opposed to the repeal of all of the Sbane Windfarm Act, or just certain parts of it?

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

What's up with this amendment?

Deus' bill seems like a pretty sensible repeal of legislation that's been made obsolete.

I believe Omnibus bills should be debated in the Assembly thread then proposed as legislation. Otherwise they should be introduced individually no matter how painful it is.

Fair enough.

However, Deus posted his reasoning in the Northeast Assembly thread, and no one saw fit to reply. It doesn't seem fair to me to hijack what seems to be a reasonable proposal.

At the very least, table it and start up discussion in the Northeast Assembly.

[sentinel]

Remember, an omnibus bill is how Butafly tried to legalize bestiality.

[cinyc]

By a 2-3 vote, the amendment fails.

Debate shall continue on the bill, as originally drafted.  Does anyone want to extend the debate period?

[Deus Naturae]

When is the earliest that anybody can give feedback on this bill? I know it repeals a bunch of laws, so I don't mind people taking a long time. I just need people to to tell me their stance at some point so I can figure out what I need to change if there is any opposition to certain repeals. Napoleon, you've already stated that you oppose the repeal of the Sbane Windfarm Act, is that the only law you oppose repealing?

I'm offering an amendment to change the title to replace the word "elimination" with the word "repeal."  For some reason the current title sounds kind of awkward to me.

[SWE]

This seems like a pretty reasonable proposal. All of these bills appear to be obsolete