MA: 2nd Amendment to the Constitution (Sponsor Needed)

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

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Sponsor: Harry S Truman

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Simply put, this amendment aims to reduce the size of the Assembly from 5 to 3 seats. Given the dearth of competition at the Regional level (the last election to see more than 5 candidates for Assembly on the ballot was in January) and the difficulty of finding enough active citizens to fill every office (exemplified by our 5th Assemblyman, Progressive Realist, who never even bothered to swear in), this seems to me to be a fairly straightforward change.

[NeverAgain]

As a citizen of the Mideast, I am frankly saddened by the lack of decorum in our assembly, but cutting the assembly and stripping the voice of the people isn't the way to do it. I call on all of the Mideast to get involved in our democratic process and our elected assembly to come up with solutions to the problems that we place in front of them. I respect the Speakers' idea and plan to fix our political inactivity, but I must respectfully ask the Mideast assembly to vote No on this amendment.

[Hatman 🍁]

I usually oppose decreasing legislature sizes, but this may be warranted. If passed, would this be put up to a referendum?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I'm glad to see citizens (or one citizen, anyways) taking an interest in the affairs of the Assembly. That said, I reject the contention that this amendment somehow "strips the voice of the people". Representatives in the Assembly would still be chosen by the direct vote of the electorate and would continue to hold all the authority they do now; the only difference is that, instead of electing five representatives and seeing 20-40% of them play no role in the lawmaking process, Mideasterners would choose three representatives, allowing them to select the best, most dedicated candidates. Not only would this make elections more exciting, it would increase the likelihood that the people who win those elections are active, committed citizens. In that sense, I would argue that this amendment actually strengthens the voice of the people, for surely there is no advantage in electing officials who neglect their duties.

Ultimately, anyone who is in favor of maintaining the status quo needs to have a plan for increasing interest in Regional politics. For the past five months, I have vested much of my energy in doing so within the structure of a five-man Assembly; yet despite all the legislation that has passed during that period and all the speeches, PMs, and posts that I and others have made during that period, elections in which the number of candidates is fewer than the number of seats remain the norm. It is not enough to find five people who can serve in the Assembly; the goal must be to involve a wide swath of Mideasterners, both in elected office and out of it, in the lawmaking process. Having spent my three terms in the Assembly fighting to achieve this, I firmly believe that a three-man legislature - which, for the record, is the status quo outside of the Mideast - is the best choice for our Region.

I usually oppose decreasing legislature sizes, but this may be warranted. If passed, would this be put up to a referendum?

Yes, it would.

[VPH]

I'm a bit conflicted on this. I'd like to hear what the MA citizens have to say on it! Pretty much, I can be swayed at this point on this issue.

[windjammer]

Well, I'm genuinely undecided.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I'm a bit conflicted on this. I'd like to hear what the MA citizens have to say on it! Pretty much, I can be swayed at this point on this issue.

Amendments to the Constitution must be ratified by the public in order to become law, so if you're genuinely conflicted I would recommend voting "yes" so that the people can decide the matter.

[NeverAgain]

Saying it "strips the voice of the people" was an exaggeration, but I do think that considering our assembly is relatively  active still, that we continue with our 5 person status quo. I do now see the difference between accurate representation and reprimanding representation, but I think that we can attempt to grow our active community, before we shrink the assembly. I think Speaker Truman makes a very good point by saying that 3 representatives would make our assembly more competitive and therefore drawing citizens to the MA, but I counter by saying as a citizen I feel we need 5 representatives to adequately address the problems that are ahead.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

The thing is, we have tried to grow our active community - I have spent the last five months doing everything I could think of to increase interest and participation in Regional affairs, as have a number of other Mideast officeholders. When I was elected back in March, I made a point of publicly explaining my position on the big issues confronting the Mideast - not just in the Assembly, but in my office thread as well - and have continued to do so throughout my three terms in this chamber; I and my colleagues have proposed bill after bill tackling issues ranging from Constitutional Reform to family farming regulations; and people like Windjammer have worked tirelessly to recruit new citizens and to get them involved in the Mideast. Despite this, we struggle to find enough candidates for office every two months. Worse, some of our elected leaders - Crabcake back in February and now Progressive Realist - have disappeared without debating a single bill. These are not the signs of a system that is working.

If you want evidence that a three-man legislature can be effective, turn to the South, which went from a five to three seats in their legislative body earlier this year. Since making that change, the Region has had two highly competitive gubernatorial elections (compared to two veritable landslides in the Mideast during the same period), and their May legislative election saw twice as many candidates as open seats (compared to 4 candidates for 5 seats in the Mideast that month). All this took place despite a population that is much smaller than ours.

[NeverAgain]

You swayed me. I agree with this amendment and the good it will hopefully do for the Mideast. I will be voting yes to this in referendum and advocate our assembly to do the same. Thank you Mr. Speaker for enlightening me and probably many on this amendment. I do hope we can come back to a time when the Mideast assembly has enough active citizens to repeal this amendment.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Further thoughts on this?

[NeverAgain]

Can you call a vote?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

As I will be taking my seat in the Senate tomorrow, would any of my colleagues be interested in assuming sponsorship of this?

[NeverAgain]

As I will be taking my seat in the Senate tomorrow, would any of my colleagues be interested in assuming sponsorship of this?

I wish you luck in representing us, Mr. Senator.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

As the sponsor of this bill (Harry S Truman) is no longer a member of the Mideast Assembly, Representatives have 36 hours to assume sponsorship. If no Representative has stepped forward by the time that period expires, this bill will be automatically tabled.

[VPH]

I will sponsor this amendment

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

I recommend tabling this amendment until after the election.

[NeverAgain]

I recommend tabling this amendment until after the election.

The Mideast may not exist after that as we may be splitting in three. I think we need to have a serious debate on this amendment or else this assembly not have a leg to stand on.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

I recommend tabling this amendment until after the election.

The Mideast may not exist after that as we may be splitting in three. I think we need to have a serious debate on this amendment or else this assembly not have a leg to stand on.

We're not splitting in three.

[NeverAgain]

I recommend tabling this amendment until after the election.

The Mideast may not exist after that as we may be splitting in three. I think we need to have a serious debate on this amendment or else this assembly not have a leg to stand on.

We're not splitting in three.

Atlasia might be according to our senators. All I am saying is that we already have 4 assemblypeople and 2 are running for governor so unless we do something we might have only 2 members to our 5 man assembly.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

I recommend tabling this amendment until after the election.

The Mideast may not exist after that as we may be splitting in three. I think we need to have a serious debate on this amendment or else this assembly not have a leg to stand on.

We're not splitting in three.

Atlasia might be according to our senators. All I am saying is that we already have 4 assemblypeople and 2 are running for governor so unless we do something we might have only 2 members to our 5 man assembly.

Not if we send delegates who are against consolidation. If the convention vote passes we send 7 delegates.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I urge the Assembly to hold a vote on this amendment as soon as possible so that the people of the Mideast may vote on it in this week's election.

[NeverAgain]

I would like to sponsor this amendment.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

For those who still contend that this amendment is unnecessary, I present Exhibit A:

Mideast Assembly Election-September 2015

This is the election to fill the assembly of the Mideast Region. Voting shall begin immediately and end in 72 hours. Editing your vote after 20 minutes, voting twice, or campaigning in this thread will make your vote invalid. Any votes cast before the voting opens will not be counted, nor will those votes cast after it closes. Please rank the candidates for assembly. You'll need to write in some as we need 5 in the assembly.

Assembly:
[  ] NeverAgain
[  ] Write-In: ____________
[  ] Write-In: ____________
[  ] Write-In: ____________
[  ] Write-In: ____________


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That's right, folks: exactly one citizen filed to run for Assembly this month and met the legal requirements to appear on the ballot. If that isn't evidence that we can't sustain a 5 person Assembly, I don't know what is.