Official Senate Procedural Resolution

[Sam Spade]

I have one amendment that has been suggested to me already by a third party.

Article 7, Clause 5 shall be amended to read (changes in bold):

The purpose of this Article is to provide for situations where a particular piece of legislation is of utmost National importance and requires an immediate debate and vote by the Senate at the soonest possible instance, and also in situations where any legislation under consideration is being blocked from receiving a cloture vote by a group of Senators.  It is also designed to provide some checks and balances to the power of the PPT and/or the President of the Senate in the realm of Legislation Introduction and Debate.

For all those unclear, this specifies that this power is also designed for the VP and the PPT the ability to keep legislation going.  They could probably do this anyway, but it's making it stated publicly rather than implied.

[King]

I think we should require every PPT candidate from now on to recite this word for word in order for them to take office.

Also, in the case of the PPT and President of the Senate absent (possible with no VP), we should also add the ability for a Presiding Officer to be appointed by the PPT for the absence.  It will prevent the entire branch from shutting down.

Sam, I ask that you propose the amendment as I have no idea where the hell this would go in the resolution.

How can you do that on the internet?  You could just copy and paste it.

That was just a joke.

[Sam Spade]

New amendment for proposal:

Sorry to add more to this.  As suggested by King:

Section 3:  Precautionary Powers

1.  In case of a publicly announced absence from the Atlas Forum by the PPT where the position of President of the Senate is vacant, the PPT shall have the right to appoint any office-holding Senator to serve as Presiding Officer of the Senate (PPT) during the PPT's absence or until the position of President of the Senate is filled, and shall have all the powers and responsibilities so granted to that office.

2.  In case the PPT has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven (7) days without prior notice and the position of President of the Senate is vacant, the longest-serving District Senator (in consecutive terms) shall serve as Presiding Officer of the Senate (PPT) in the PPT's absence or until the position of President of the Senate is filled, and shall have all the powers and responsibilities so granted to that office.

[Gabu]

New amendment for proposal:

Sorry to add more to this.  As suggested by King:

Section 3:  Precautionary Powers

1.  In case of a publicly announced absence from the Atlas Forum by the PPT where the position of President of the Senate is vacant, the PPT shall have the right to appoint any office-holding Senator to serve as Presiding Officer of the Senate (PPT) during the PPT's absence or until the position of President of the Senate is filled, and shall have all the powers and responsibilities so granted to that office.

2.  In case the PPT has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven (7) days without prior notice and the position of President of the Senate is vacant, the longest-serving District Senator (in consecutive terms) shall serve as Presiding Officer of the Senate (PPT) in the PPT's absence or until the position of President of the Senate is filled, and shall have all the powers and responsibilities so granted to that office.

Before I call a vote on this and the one above, where is this going to go?  I can't immediately see where it slots in.

[Sam Spade]

Apologies, Gabu.  That should go in Article 2, under powers of the PPT and President of the Senate.

[Gabu]

All right, I'll bring both of these amendments to the floor to see if anyone has anything to say about them:

Article 7, Clause 5 shall be amended to read (changes in bold):

"The purpose of this Article is to provide for situations where a particular piece of legislation is of utmost National importance and requires an immediate debate and vote by the Senate at the soonest possible instance, and also in situations where any legislation under consideration is being blocked from receiving a cloture vote by a group of Senators.  It is also designed to provide some checks and balances to the power of the PPT and/or the President of the Senate in the realm of Legislation Introduction and Debate."

and

Article 2 shall be amended to include the following section after section 2:

Section 3: Precautionary Powers

1. In case of a publicly announced absence from the Atlas Forum by the PPT where the position of President of the Senate is vacant, the PPT shall have the right to appoint any office-holding Senator to serve as Presiding Officer of the Senate during the PPT's absence or until the position of President of the Senate is filled, and shall have all the powers and responsibilities so granted to that office.

2. In case the PPT has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven (7) days without prior notice and the position of President of the Senate is vacant, the longest-serving District Senator (in consecutive terms) shall serve as Presiding Officer of the Senate in the PPT's absence or until the position of President of the Senate is filled, and shall have all the powers and responsibilities so granted to that office.

[Colin]

I'm guessing the abbreviation for the Presiding Officer of the Senate isn't PPT and that is just a mistake or am I just crazy.

[Sam Spade]

I'm guessing the abbreviation for the Presiding Officer of the Senate isn't PPT and that is just a mistake or am I just crazy.

Article 2 actually finally establishes the PPT as the Presiding Officer of the Senate, something which had never actually been stated before.

Still, to make it look clearer Gabu, please remove all of the (PPT)s in the amendment; they're not really necessary.

[Gabu]

I'm guessing the abbreviation for the Presiding Officer of the Senate isn't PPT and that is just a mistake or am I just crazy.

Article 2 actually finally establishes the PPT as the Presiding Officer of the Senate, something which had never actually been stated before.

Still, to make it look clearer Gabu, please remove all of the (PPT)s in the amendment; they're not really necessary.

Okay, I made that change.

As there appear to be no further comments, I'll bring the two amendments to a vote.

All senators in favor, vote "aye"; all against, vote "nay".

---

Aye, aye.

[Sam Spade]

Aye, Aye.

[Colin]

Aye, Aye

[MasterJedi]

Aye, Aye

[King]

Aye, Aye

[MAS117]

Aye, Aye

[jokerman]

Aye, Aye

[Gabu]

With seven votes in favor to none against, these amendments have passed.

[Sam Spade]

I would like to motion to bring this resolution to a vote.

[MasterJedi]

I would like to motion to bring this resolution to a vote.

I'll second that

[King]

I would like to motion to bring this resolution to a vote.

I'll second that

I'll third it for old time sake.

[Gabu]

Okay, here's the resolution's final state:

Official Senate Procedural Resolution[/b]

Article 1:  Purpose and Definitions[/b]

Section 1:  Purpose

The purpose of this Procedural Resolution is to provide the Senate with detailed, yet flexible rules for parliamentary procedure, define clearly the powers and prerogatives of the President Pro-Tempore (PPT) and the President of the Senate within the affairs of the Senate, excepting those provisions so stated by the Constitution, and provide a speedy, yet careful process for legislation to proceed from the Senator to the Senate to the President for Passage or Veto.  It is also designed to clean up many of the inconsistencies, redundant clauses and vague wording of previous Senate Procedural Resolutions.

Section 2:  Definitions

1.   Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.

2.   In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor.  An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.

Article 2:  Powers and Responsibilities of the President Pro-Tempore (PPT) and the President of the Senate[/b]

Section 1:  Powers and Responsibilities of the President Pro-Tempore

1.   The President Pro-Tempore, to be further known in this document as the PPT, shall be the Presiding Officer of the Senate and shall be responsible for upholding the provisions of this Procedural Resolution when it is in his power to do so individually or, as so defined in this document, whenever joint consideration with either the President of the Senate or the members of the Senate.

2.   The PPT shall also be responsible for maintaining regular contact with the President of the Senate, in case such need arises for joint use of power as laid out under Article 7 of this Procedural Resolution.

3.   It is also the PPT’s responsibility to present himself/herself to the rest of the Senate as an exemplary member and to make sure that the Senate’s debate remains civil and orderly at all times.

Section 2:  Powers of the President of the Senate

1.   The President of the Senate, in addition to his powers so stated in the Constitution, shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the Presiding Officer of the Senate under the following circumstances:
a.   A publicly announced absence by the PPT from the Atlas Forum.
b.   If the PPT has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven (7) days. 
c.   In any case where the PPT has failed to uphold the provisions of this Procedural Resolution when it is in his power to do so individually.
d.   During any period of time when no Senator is presently holding the office of PPT.

2.   The President of the Senate shall also be responsible for maintaining regular contact with the PPT, in case such need arises for joint use of power as laid out under Article 7 of this Procedural Resolution.

Section 3: Precautionary Powers

1. In case of a publicly announced absence from the Atlas Forum by the PPT where the position of President of the Senate is vacant, the PPT shall have the right to appoint any office-holding Senator to serve as Presiding Officer of the Senate during the PPT's absence or until the position of President of the Senate is filled, and shall have all the powers and responsibilities so granted to that office.Aye.

2.  In case the PPT has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven (7) days without prior notice and the position of President of the Senate is vacant, the longest-serving District Senator (in consecutive terms) shall serve as Presiding Officer of the Senate (PPT) in the PPT's absence or until the position of President of the Senate is filled, and shall have all the powers and responsibilities so granted to that office.

Article 3:  Rules on Legislation Introduction and Reintroducing Expired Legislation[/b]

Section 1:  Rules on Legislation Introduction

1.   The PPT shall establish and maintain a thread for Senators to introduce legislation, to be further known in this document as the Legislation Introduction Thread.  Only Senators who presently hold elected office may be allowed to post in this thread.  Any Citizens or Individuals who post in this thread may be subject to legal action pursuant to the relevant clauses in federal Criminal Law legislation so passed by the Senate.

2.   The PPT shall also establish and maintain a thread for all Citizens and Individuals of Atlasia to give opinions, thoughts, suggestions and ideas about recently introduced legislation or legislation presently under debate on the Senate floor.  This clause is not meant to deny Citizens or Individuals their right to post on Senate debate threads dealing with specific legislation presently being debated on the Senate floor.

3.   In the first seven (7) days of any new Session of the Senate, but at no other time during a Session of the Senate, the PPT may start a new Legislation Introduction Thread or a new commentary thread on legislation, as defined in Clause 2 of this Section, if the PPT determines that either thread has become too long or has been diverted off-topic.  Any legislation relevant to the present Session of the Senate that has been introduced on the old Legislation Introduction Thread must be posted on the new Legislation Introduction Thread by the PPT.

4.   If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor.  The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT.  (Nasolation clause)

5.   If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation addresses two or more divorced subjects, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor, strike any Sections from said legislation that deal with unrelated subjects, or split said legislation into multiple pieces of legislation which deal with only one subject individually.  The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of two-thirds (2/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT.

6.   The PPT may also utilize the Powers laid out in this previous Clause (Clause 5 of this Section) at any time during the Senate Debate on said legislation, as laid out in Article 4, Section 1 of this Resolution.  The rules for challenging the PPT’s actions by the sponsoring Senator shall also apply in this situation.

 Section 2:  Rules on Introducing Legislation to the Senate Floor

1.   The PPT will designate each piece of legislation debate time on the Senate Floor in the order of which it is posted in the Legislation Introduction thread.
 
2.   At any one time there may be no more than four (4) Bills/Constitutional Amendments/Resolutions on the Senate Floor being debated upon or voted upon by the Senate.

3.   Pursuant to Clauses 1 and 2 of this Section, legislation may only be introduced on the Senate floor by the PPT after another piece of legislation currently on the Senate floor is either:
a.   signed into law by the President or simply becomes law (by executive inaction for seven (7) days).
b.   in case of a Bill or Resolution, rejected by a majority of the Senate after a vote is called.
c.   in the case of a Amendment to the Constitution, rejected by more than one-third (1/3) of the Senate.
d.   withdrawn from the floor by the sponsor.

4.   In case of a veto override vote, legislation may only be introduced after the veto is sustained or overridden in a vote by the Senate.

5.   In case of a vote on an Amendment to the Constitution, legislation may only be introduced after the Senate has approved the Amendment in question and every Region has started a Public Poll on the Amendment, as so laid out in Article VII of the Constitution of the Republic of Atlasia.

6.   After any one of these events so stated in Clause 3 of this Section occurs, the PPT must wait at least twenty-four (24) hours before introducing new legislation to the Senate floor, but may wait no longer than seventy-two (72) hours before introducing said new legislation.

Section 3:  Rules on Reintroducing Expired Legislation

1.   Within seventy-two (72) hours after the beginning of a new Session of the Senate, the PPT shall start a thread detailing expired legislation left over from the previous Senate session, to be further known in this document as the Expired Legislation thread.  In order for legislation to be reintroduced, said legislation must not have received public debate time on the Senate floor, or if debate time has been given, must have not come up for a public vote in front of the full Senate.  Any withdrawn legislation from the previous Session may not be eligible for reintroduction.

2.   Office-holding Senators will be given seventy-two (72) hours from the starting of the Expired Legislation thread to reintroduce any piece of expired legislation by public post.  After seventy-two (72) hours, any legislation that has not been reintroduced shall be removed from the Senate agenda.  Said legislation may be reintroduced by any Senator at a later time, but it must then follow the rules and guidelines for legislation introduction so laid out in Section 1 of this Article.[/i]

(cont'd)

[Gabu]

3.   The PPT will designate each piece of reintroduced legislation debate time on the Senate Floor in the order of which it was originally introduced on the Legislation Introduction Thread.
 
4.   The PPT must wait at least twenty-four (24) hours after the Expired Legislation thread is officially closed before introducing reintroduced legislation to the Senate floor, but may wait no longer than seventy-two (72) hours before introducing said legislation.

5.   If a Budget must be approved at the beginning of a Senate Session, as laid out in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, said reintroduced legislation may only be brought to the floor of the Senate by the PPT after a Budget has been approved.

6.   The PPT must wait at least twenty-four (24) hours, but may wait no longer than seventy-two (72) hours after a Budget has been approved before bringing reintroduced legislation to the Senate floor for debate.

7.   Clauses 2-5 of Section 2 of this Article and all Sections and all Clauses of Articles 4 and 5 must apply to all reintroduced legislation.

Article 4:  Rules on Senate Debate and Amendment(s) to Legislation[/b]

Section 1:  Rules on Senate Debate

1.   After a piece of legislation is introduced on the Senate floor, debate shall begin immediately.  The PPT must give the legislation an amount of debate time no less than seventy-two (72) hours.

2.   If debate on the legislation under consideration has halted for longer than twenty-four (24) hours and the amount of debate time that the legislation has been given exceeds seventy-two (72) hours, any senator shall be able to call for a motion for a vote on said legislation.

3.   Debate shall proceed after the first seventy-two (72) hours as long as a senator is posting on the thread which details the legislation under consideration, provided intervals between different speeches are no longer than twenty-four (24) hours.

4.   If five (5) days have passed since the opening of the debate, and no Amendment(s) have been proposed for debate or are being presently voted on, a motion with the concurrence of a two-thirds (2/3) majority of senators shall end the debate and the PPT shall call a vote on the legislation under consideration. 

5.  After a motion under the guidelines set in Clause 4 of this Section has been made, no Amendment(s) to the legislation under consideration can be introduced unless said motion is rejected by the Senate.

Section 2:  Rules on Introduction of Amendment(s)

1.   At any time during the debate of a piece of legislation under consideration on the Senate floor, a senator may propose an Amendment(s) to said legislation.

2.   If two (2) or more Amendments are contained within a single post by any Senator, the debate time for such a proposal shall be the same as it would for a single Amendment.  If two (2) or more Amendments are contained within two or more separate posts, each post shall be treated as a separate Amendment, with debate time allocated for each single post being concurrent with the provisions for each single Amendment in Section 3 of this Article.

3.        No more than three (3) Amendments may be proposed or in proposal for debate time on the Senate floor by any one Senator at any given time.

4.   If the PPT determines that an Amendment(s) is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, he may, in a public post on the debate thread, remove said Amendment(s) from consideration.  The Senator who introduced the Amendment(s) shall have twenty-four (24) hours to challenge this action, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT.

5.   If the PPT determines that an Amendment(s) addresses two or more divorced subjects, he may, in a public post on the debate thread, remove said Amendment(s) from consideration, strike any Sections from said Amendment that deal with unrelated subjects, or split said Amendment(s) into multiple Amendment(s) which deal with only one subject individually.  If the PPT chooses to break such an Amendment(s) into multiple Amendments, the debate time for such an action shall be the same as it would for a single Amendment.  The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have twenty-four (24) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of two-thirds (2/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT.

Section 3:  Rules on Senate Debate of Amendment(s)

1.   After an Amendment(s) is proposed, the PPT must give the Amendment(s) an amount of debate time no less than twenty-four (24) hours.

2.   If debate on the Amendment(s) under consideration has halted for longer than twenty-four (24) hours during this timeframe, any senator shall be able to call for a motion to vote on said legislation.

3.   If three (3) days have passed since the opening of the debate on the Amendment(s) under consideration, a motion with the concurrence of a majority of senators shall end the debate and the PPT shall call a vote on said Amendment(s).

Section 4:  Rules for Voting on Amendment(s) and the Changing of Votes

1.   Once a motion has been passed to bring the Amendment(s) under consideration to a vote, per Clauses 2 or 3 of Section 3 of this article, the PPT shall open a vote on said Amendment(s).  This vote shall last for a maximum of five (5) days during which time the Senators must vote.  Voting may be declared final at any time if a majority of office-holding Senators has approved or rejected said Amendment(s).  Any and all Senators who do not vote will be considered to have abstained.

2.   If needed, an injunction may be brought by a Senator to keep voting on the Amendment(s) under consideration open for another twenty-four (24) hours after which time the voting shall close.  This injunction must be seconded by another Senator.

3.   Until an Amendment(s) under consideration has garnered enough votes to pass or fail, no Senator shall be prohibited from changing his or her vote on the legislation.  Once said Amendment(s) has garnered enough votes to pass or fail, all Senators who have voted will be prohibited from changing their votes.

Article 5:  Rules for Voting on Legislation, Changing of Votes and Veto Overrides[/b]

Section 1:  Rules for Voting on Legislation

1.   Once a motion has been passed to bring the legislation under consideration to a vote, per Article 4, Section 1, Clauses 2 or 4, the PPT shall open a vote on said legislation.  This vote shall last for a maximum of seven (7) days during which time the Senators must vote.  Any and all Senators who do not vote will be considered to have abstained.

2.   If needed, an injunction may be brought by a Senator to keep voting on the legislation under consideration open for another seventy-two (72) hours after which time the voting shall close.  This injunction must be seconded by another Senator.

Section 2:  Rules on the Changing of Votes

1.   Until a piece of legislation under consideration has garnered enough votes either to pass or fail, no Senator shall be prohibited from changing his or her vote on the legislation.

2.   Following the garnering of enough votes to either pass or fail, the PPT shall announce this fact publicly on the debate/voting thread.  All Senators shall have a period of time lasting twenty-four (24) hours after this announcement during which they shall not be prohibited from changing their votes on the legislation.

3.   Following the expiration of this twenty-four (24) hour time period, the PPT shall publicly declare the vote total to be final and shall apply said vote total to the legislation. All Senators shall be prohibited from changing their votes on the legislation after this time.

Section 3:  Rules on Veto Overrides

1.   If a piece of legislation is vetoed by the President, the sponsor of the bill must let the PPT know publicly on the Senate floor within 72 hours of the veto being placed whether he wishes to have a vote to override the veto.  If he replies in the negative or fails to reply within the given time, the legislation will be withdrawn from the Senate floor.

2.   Extensions to this time period may only be allowed by the PPT in case of a publicly announced absence from the forum.

3.   Sections 1 and 2 of this Article shall apply in full to voting on a Veto Override, with this exception:

For the purposes of a Veto Override only, any Senator who Abstains from voting shall be counted as a vote Against the legislation under consideration.

Article 6:  Rules on Presidential Nominations[/b]

Section 1:  General Statements on Nominees

1.  From time to time, various nominations may be made by the President requiring the advice and consent of the Senate for approval. 

2.  These nominations may be brought to the floor of the Senate immediately by the PPT and may skip the processes dealing with Legislation Introduction, as so laid out in Article 3 of this Resolution.

3.  Nominees under consideration specifically do not count towards the restrictions laid out towards in Article 3, Section 2, Clause 2 in limiting the amount of legislation on the Senate floor at one time.[/i]

(cont'd)

[Gabu]

Section 2:  Rules on Senate Debate of Nominees

1.  For each Presidential nomination, the PPT must give each Nominee under consideration an amount of debate and question time in front of the Senate of no less than twenty-four (24) hours and no greater than seventy-two (72) hours.

2.  If debate and questions with regards to the Nominee under consideration has halted for longer than twenty-four (24) hours, any Senator may call for a motion to vote on the presumptive Nominee.

3.  After seventy-two (72) hours time, debate and question time shall cease, and the PPT must call for a vote on the Nominee under consideration.

4.   If needed, an injunction may be brought by a Senator to keep debate and question time on the Nominee under consideration open for another forty-eight (48) hours, after which time the debate and question time shall end for good and a vote shall be called.  This injunction must be seconded by another Senator.

Section 3:  Rules for Voting on Nominees and the Changing of Votes

1.   Once a motion has been brought to bring the Nominee under consideration to a vote or debate and question time has publicly ended, the PPT shall open a vote on said Nominee.  This vote shall last for a maximum of five (5) days during which time the Senators must vote.  Any and all Senators who do not vote will be considered to have abstained.

2.   If needed, an injunction may be brought by a Senator to keep voting on the Nominee under consideration open for another twenty-four (24) hours after which time the voting shall close.  This injunction must be seconded by another Senator.

3.   Until a Nominee under consideration has garnered enough votes to pass or fail, no Senator shall be prohibited from changing his or her vote on the Nominee.  Once said Nominee has garnered enough votes to pass or fail, all Senators who have voted will be prohibited from changing their votes.

Article 7:  Rules on the Overriding of Sections of this Procedural Resolution[/b]

1.  Only the PPT and the President of the Senate, acting in unison publicly on the Senate floor, can override these specific provisions (stated below) in this Procedural Resolution:
a.   Article 3, Section 2, Clauses 1 through 6
b.   Article 3, Section 3, Clauses 4 and 6
c.     Article 4, Section 1, Clause 1
d.   Article 4, Section 3, Clause 1
e.  Article 6, Section 2, Clause 1
   
2.   Any Senator shall have seventy-two (72) hours from such a public statement by the PPT and the President of the Senate to call for a resolution in the Senate to overrule the PPT and the President of the Senate in the use of powers designated by Clause 1 of this Article, if any Senator considers their decision to be on infringement of the intention of this resolution.

3.  If this resolution passes by a two-thirds (2/3) vote in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), this joint action by the PPT and the President of the Senate shall be overruled.

4.   If the PPT or the President of the Senate has publicly announced absence from the Senate or is absent from the Atlas Forum in general for a period longer than seven (7) days, then the powers provided by Clause 1 of this Article may be applied by the PPT or the President of the Senate in conjunction a simple majority vote in approval by the Senate at large.

5.     The purpose of this Article is to provide for situations where a particular piece of legislation is of utmost National importance and requires an immediate debate and vote by the Senate at the soonest possible instance, and also in situations where any legislation under consideration is being blocked from receiving a cloture vote by a group of Senators.  It is also designed to provide some checks and balances to the power of the PPT and/or the President of the Senate in the realm of Legislation Introduction and debate.

Article 8:  Repealed Legislation[/b]

The following Procedural Resolutions and Sections thereof, are hereby repealed:

1.   The First Senate Procedural Resolution is repealed in full.

2.   The Second Senate Procedural Resolution is repealed in full.

3.   The Senate Procedural Resolution of Multiple Issue Bills is repealed in full.

4.   The Senate Procedural Resolution on Legislation Introduction is repealed in full.

5.   The Senate Procedural Resolution on the Changing of Votes is repealed in full.[/i]

I hereby open voting on this resolution.

All senators in favor, vote "aye"; all against, vote "nay".

[MasterJedi]

Aye

[Colin]

Aye

[King]

Aye