Talk Elections

Forum Community => Mock Parliament => Topic started by: Barnes on August 25, 2015, 02:09:30 PM



Title: Government Bills Introduction Thread
Post by: Barnes on August 25, 2015, 02:09:30 PM
Bills introduced by government ministers shall be posted in this thread.  This thread is not open for debate or comment, and members will be asked to take their remarks to the floor.

The order in which government bills will be brought to the floor will be published by the Prime Minister and made available to the House.


Title: Re: Government Bills Introduction Thread
Post by: Oakvale on August 28, 2015, 12:23:42 PM
The Constitution of South America Act

Preamble:

To build a lasting foundation for this new state, a limited Constitution is deemed necessary.

I: The State

1. The name of the state is South America, a federal republic consisting of the nations of Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Guyana, Suriname. The state does not lay claim to the territories of Las Malvinas (or the Falkland Islands) or to French Guiana.

2. All citizens of the constituent nations will be citizens of South America. The specifics of citizenship and nationality will be determined by law.

3. Dual citizenship is permitted, but, to ensure a strong and independent state, the President, the Prime Minister, any minister with responsibility for foreign affairs, and any diplomat must not hold office in another nation.

II: The Government

1. (a) The President shall serve as the ceremonial Head of State of South America, representing the nation at the highest level. He shall be tasked with the appointment of a Member of Parliament as a Prime Minister to serve as Head of Government of South America.

(b) In order to be appointed, a potential Prime Minister must demonstrate to the President's satisfaction that he can command the confidence of Parliament.

(c) The President will appoint the Cabinet, consisting of government ministers, who must be Members of Parliament, on the advice of the Prime Minister.

(d) If the office of President falls vacant, the Speaker of Parliament shall temporarily discharge the duties of the office.

(e) The Cabinet must include at a minimum ministers with responsibility for financial, foreign relations and legal/law enforcement matters.

(f) The Prime Minister will meet regularly with the President to inform him of the progress of the government and the affairs of the nation.

(g) The Prime Minister shall hold office indefinitely until a successor is formally appointed, including upon his resignation or the dissolution of Parliament. In addition the entire incumbent government will hold office until a new government takes office.

2. All citizens of South America, without restriction, may serve as President, unless they are found guilty of treason against the state or hold office in a foreign nation.

3. (a) In the week preceding the conclusion of the incumbent President's term, the Parliament must elect a new President with a two-thirds majority of all sitting MPs.

(b) Should the President's term end without the election of his or her successor, the Speaker of Parliament shall preside over a special session of Parliament lasting no longer than one week to elect a new President.

(c) If the special session fails to elect a President, Parliament shall be dissolved by the acting President and elections held.

(d) Should the office of President fall vacant before the conclusion of a President's term, the procedure described in sections (b) and (c) shall be used.

(e) The first President, succeeding the interim President, will be nominated one week from the passage of this act.

4. The President will serve a term of three months from the date of his election.

5. A President may not serve more than one consecutive term.

6. Laws passed by Parliament will be considered effective immediately upon their passage - they are not subject to the signature of the President.

III: The Parliament and Elections

1. (a) Parliament is the sovereign legislative body of the state and is responsible to the people, and shall regularly be dissolved to allow its constituents to vote on its composition.

(b) Parliament may not sit for a period lasting longer than ten (10) weeks.

(c) Clause (b) may be suspended in times of war, both external and civil, if no more than one-third of Parliament opposes a motion to recognize such an event.

2. Parliament shall be dissolved by the President and a general election held upon:

(a) The passage of a motion of no confidence in the government, unless the President is convinced that an alternative government can be formed that can command the confidence of the house, in which case he may refuse a dissolution and appoint a new Prime Minister.

(b) The advice of the Prime Minister.

(c) The expiration of its mandate as described in 1 (b).

3. All citizens of South America, without restriction, may serve as Members of Parliament, unless they are found guilty by the courts of treason against the state.

4. (a) The method of nationwide closed-list proportional representation will be used to elect Members of Parliament.

(b) (i) Twenty-one (21) Members of Parliament will be elected representing a national constituency.

(ii) All lists must be submitted by a leader of a political party or by an independent citizen to the Registrar General. Edits to the list are possible, but only by the list's original submitter.

(iii) Election of MPs from the national constituency will follow highest averages by the D'Hondt method, such that a list will first have its votes divided by the number of seats won by constituency candidate affiliated with the list, and then divided by one more than the previous for every seat won through proportional representation.

(iv) Should a list be allocated a seat but lacks an additional candidate to fill it, that allocation will be nullified and offered instead to the list next in line according to the electoral method.

(v) The precise date of an election will be determined by the Registrar General on advice of the Prime Minister. There must be a period of at least five full days, or one hundred and twenty (120) hours, between the dissolution of Parliament and the beginning of the election.

(c) The Registrar General is responsible for the enforcement of Sections 1-3, and will post an official election thread shortly in advance of the election date advised by the Prime Minister.

(d) Elections shall last precisely forty-eight (48) hours from the moment indicated by the Registrar General in the official election thread described in  section 4. (c). Votes that are cast outside of this period shall be disqualified.

(d) To be eligible to vote in an election, citizens must , at least one week in advance of the start of the election, 'sign in' in the indicated thread posted by the Registrar General. In order to vote it is only necessary for citizens to 'sign in' once throughout their time in South America.

(e) Citizens who have 'signed in' before the date of implementation of this Constitution are hereby recognised as having done so and will not be required to repeat the process.

5. Parliament will elect, by majority vote, a Speaker tasked with maintaining order and managing the business of the house. The Speaker must be a Member of Parliament.

IV: The Game Moderator and Registrar General

1. Parliament will appoint, by a two-thirds vote, a Game Moderator upon the resignation of the incumbent or his impeachment by a two-thirds vote. The Game Moderator will be responsible for providing information to the Cabinet and designing events for the government to react to.

2. Parliament will appoint, by two-thirds vote, a Registrar General upon the upon the resignation of the incumbent or his impeachment by a two-thirds vote. The Registrar General will be responsible for the administration of elections and the maintenance of the citizenship register through the aforementioned 'Sign-In' thread.

3. The Game Moderator and Registrar General must both be citizens in good standing of South America.

4. The Game Moderator may not be a Member of Parliament or of any political party. No such restriction will exist on the position of Registrar General.

V: The Judiciary

1. Parliament will appoint, by a majority vote, a State Justice of South America who will serve as the highest judiciary authority in the nation. He will be charged with passing judgement on criminal and civil matters and will serve a six-month term, renewable indefinitely, or until his resignation, upon which a replacement will be appointed by Parliament.

2. The first State Justice shall be nominated one week from the passage of this Act.

3. The body of criminal and civil law and the corresponding penalties for violation will be determined by the Government.

4. Bringing charges against South American citizens for crimes against the state will be the sole responsibility of the designated minister for law enforcement and legal matters.

V: Amendments to this Constitution

1. This Constitution may be amended at any time by two-thirds vote of the Parliament.

VII: Implementation

1. This Act will come into effect as the Constitution of South America upon its passage.


Title: Re: Government Bills Introduction Thread
Post by: Filuwaúrdjan on August 28, 2015, 06:43:23 PM
As a basic functional document this looks reasonable. I'm sure that some details can be tweaked, but I suspect that there will be Socialist support for it.


Title: Re: Government Bills Introduction Thread
Post by: Oakvale on September 14, 2015, 11:39:37 AM
In order to resolve some of the issues raised by the honourable members of the Opposition in a way I believe better fits the system we wish to create -

Quote
Resolving Procedural Issues Act

1. Upon the resignation of a Member of Parliament, the member shall have his seat declared vacant and his seat filled by the highest placed unelected member on his party's list at the time it was submitted at the last general election.

2. In the event that a Member of Parliament is deemed to be inactive and derelict in his duties by both
   a. A vote to that effect conducted by the Member's party

   AND

   b. The consent of the Speaker

the member shall have his seat declared vacant and his seat filled by the highest placed unelected member on his party's list at the time it was submitted at the last general election.

3. In the event that a party's list is exhausted, meaning there are no unelected candidates from the party's list at the time of the last general election, the party shall be in this instance alowed, by consent of the Speaker, to choose a replacement candidate.

4. In the event that a Member of Parliament has left the party in which he was elected and joined a new party, he shall retain that seat until the dissolution of the house. The member's original political party may not petition the Speaker to have the Member replaced. Should this Member then become inactive, the issue will be resolved by his new party as described in 2.

5. In the event that a Member of Parliament has left the party in which he was elected to  sit as an independent and then becomes inactive, his seat will be declared vacant upon a two-thirds vote of the House on such a motion and shall be filled by the next unelected member on the list of his most recent former party at the time it was submitted at the last general election.


Title: Re: Government Bills Introduction Thread
Post by: Donerail on September 19, 2015, 06:41:51 PM
Quote
Military Organization Act of 2015
The nation of South America, affirming its faith in democracy, liberty, and the rule of law, recognizes that, to safeguard the freedom of her people, an organized military must be created to defend peace and security on the continent. The primary purpose of this military will be to guarantee the territorial integrity, political independence, and security of the nation. To those ends, we create this legislation to resist armed attack and promote the stability, well-being, and peace of the nation and the world:

Article 1
A Council of the chiefs of the militaries of each national authority represented in South America shall be established, presided over by the Foreign Minister. Parliament shall have the power to declare war, but other polices related to the military shall be determined by the Council, subject to the affirmative votes of two-thirds of its membership. The Council shall have the authority to set up subsidiary bodies as necessary. The Council shall convene whenever a meeting is requested by one-third of its membership, or when any one member determines that the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened.

Article 2
When confronted with a situation in which conflict occurs between this nation and a foreign foe, or any other collective threat, the commander of all forces under the banner of South America will be designated by the Foreign Minister; but when combating an internal foe, authority shall rest with the constituent nation.

Article 3
It is the obligation of all constituent nations of South America that an armed attack against any of them shall be considered an attack against them all, and should an attack occur, each of them will assist the nation attacked by taking such individual and collective actions as are necessary to restore and maintain continental security, including the use of military force.
3.1 These such provisions, except in the instance of military conflict between South America and their governing authority, will apply in full to attacks conducted against the French territories in Guiana.

Article 4
The militaries of the constituent nations of South America shall have no power to enter into any contract which might oblige them to use military force against the other militaries of South America.


Title: Re: Government Bills Introduction Thread
Post by: Dereich on September 28, 2015, 01:53:32 AM
Quote
South American Common Market Act

Article 1
1. By this Act, the South American States establish among themselves a common economic community. By establishing a common market and progressively approximating the economic policies of Member States, to promote throughout the South America a harmonious development of economic activities, an increase in stability, an accelerated raising of the standard of living and closer relations between the States belonging to it.


Article 2
1. For the purposes set out in Article 1, the States of South America shall, in accordance with the timetable set by the Chancellor of the Exchequer,

(a) Eliminate tariffs, restrictions on the import and exports of goods, and of all other measures having the same effect with other Member States.
   
(b) Grant to the Parliament of South America the right to set common customs tariffs and trade restrictions between other nations.

(c) Abolish, between Member States, obstacles to freedom of movement for persons, services and capital.

(d) Act to harmonize their laws to the extent required for the proper functioning of the common market.


Article 3
1. The common market shall be progressively established during a transitional period set by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
 
2. The provisions of Article 2 will not extend to the energy sector.


Title: Re: Government Bills Introduction Thread
Post by: Talleyrand on September 28, 2015, 09:24:33 PM
Quote
Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Act 2015

Part One -- Introductory Material
1. In this Act, the term "Minister" shall refer to the Minister tasked with the portfolio of energy and the environment.  

Part Two -- Caps on Carbon Emissions
1. The Minister shall issue regulatory caps (South American Carbon Caps) on carbon emissions to all companies, corporations, and businesses in the following legally defined industries:
  • Agriculture;
  • Energy production;
  • Forestry;
  • Liquid Fuels;
  • Mining;
2.  The Minister shall create both a state-based and pan-American trading scheme for the South American Carbon Caps.  Individual markets in each nation shall be brought into either scheme on a timetable established by the Minister

Part Three -- National Carbon Reduction Targets
1.  The Minister shall establish Carbon Reduction Targets for every constituent nation of South America.
2.  The base targets are outlined in the following schedule, and the Minister may not issue any target lesser than the established minimum.
3.  The set year of target completion is 2030.  

Nation --- Emissions reduction target based on 2005 levels
Argentina            40%                                          
Brazil                   45%                                          
Colombia             35%
Peru                    30%
Others                 No less than 25%

Part Four -- Intra-state integration
1.  The Minister shall work to integrate any pre-existing carbon reduction policy in a constituent state within the overall framework of the Act.
2. The Minister shall be authorized to establish an investment program to make grants and loans from the Treasury -- not in excess of $10,000,000 -- to businesses to further carbon reduction development.
3.  The Minister shall be authorized to establish an investment program to make grants and loans from the Treasury -- not in excess of $100,000,000 -- to constituent nations to further carbon reduction development.

Part Five -- International Agreements
1.  Following the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Paris, the Minister may authorize the targets within that agreement to form a part of the Act if he deems them to be sufficient.


Title: Re: Government Bills Introduction Thread
Post by: Talleyrand on September 28, 2015, 09:25:35 PM
Quote
South American Ecosystem Protection Act of 2015

Part One – Continental Parks System
1. The Continental Parks Administration (C.P.A.) shall be henceforth established under the Environment Ministry.
2. The C.P.A. shall be tasked with administration over all national parks and aquatic reserves in the twelve constituent countries of South America.
3. A review process shall be conducted by the C.P.A. each year, presenting a final report to the Minister responsible for the Environment by June 1 of each year. The report shall contain the following agenda items:
•   Recommendations for new protected areas to be designated;
•   Reviews on the management of pre-existing protected areas;
•   An overall assessment of the state of protected lands on the continent;
4. All national reserves accredited by the C.P.A. as possessing adequate management shall be maintained by their respective constituent nation. Those which fail to meet requirements shall be placed under C.P.A. review until these are met, upon which management shall be fully turned back over to the respective constituent nation.

Part Two – Protection of Ecosystems
1. All development on any natural ecosystem shall be halted by June 1 of 2017, and no more shall commence until given approval by the Environment Ministry.
2. Approval for development on any pre-existing ecosystem (aquatic or terrestrial) in South American territory shall only be granted if deemed absolutely vital to the public welfare by the Department of Social Protection in conjunction with the Environment Ministry.

Part Three -- Restoration
1.  The Environment Ministry shall set guidelines for the required restoration of public lands and waters to their former natural state for each constituent country.
2. Countries which fail to meet their annual ecosystem restoration quota shall see their quotas for following years increase. If they feel to meet their quotas three years in a row, they shall pay a fine set by the Environment Ministry, not in excess of $50,000,000.

Part Four – Flora and Fauna
1. The South American Conservation Ministry shall be set up within the Environment Ministry and tasked with designating species according to their level of endangerment and creating species survival plans to ensure their preservation for future generations.
2. All South American constituent nations shall be expected to comply with the Ministry’s recommendations for all endangered species within their lands or waters, or face a fine not in excess of $50,000,000.
 
Part Five -- Ecotourism
1.  An intra-continental Ecotourism Ministry shall be set up within the Environment Ministry with the explicit purpose of promoting the national economy via tourism of the natural lands and waters on the continent.


Title: Re: Government Bills Introduction Thread
Post by: Oakvale on October 21, 2015, 10:21:38 AM
Quote

Industrial Relations Act

In order to open employment opportunities for all,

1. It will be illegal on a federal level for business throughout South America to abide by 'closed shop' policies, where only pre-existing union members are considered for employment.

Recognising that collective bargaining, when conducted in a conscientious manner, is an important part of a democratic society,

2. It will be legal on a federal level for businesses to require union membership post-entry.

3. In advance of a strike, labor unions must ballot the membership in public for a period not less than one (1) week.

4. In addition, if the ballot referred to in 3. passes, the union in question must give public notice of the strike action no less than three (3) full days in advance of the industrial action.

5. It will be illegal on a federal level to discriminating in employing a prospective hiree, or dismissing an employee on the grounds of race, religion, sexual preference or gender.

         To protect religious conscience,

   5.1 An exception to 5. is made for religious organisations or religiously-affiliated organisations such as churches, religious charities, religious schools etc., when the organisation in question can provide evidence to the Department of Justice that an employee's lifestyle or views conflict with its ethos.

6. The South American government recognises the National Congress of Labor as a legitimate labor union and the representative of a large mass of labor unions throughout the continent, and commits to discuss concerns about industrial relations in the future with the leadership of the Congress.



Title: Re: Government Bills Introduction Thread
Post by: Barnes on November 11, 2015, 10:20:57 PM
Unlocked and bumped for the Second Parliament.


Title: Re: Government Bills Introduction Thread
Post by: Potus on November 26, 2015, 05:44:16 PM
Quote from:  South American Tax Standardization Act

South American Tax Standardization Act

Powers and Responsibilities of Taxation
The federal government shall have the exclusive authority to levy taxes and grant power of taxation.

The Chancellor is entrusted with the collection of taxes on behalf of both federal and constituent governments.

A tax levied by constituent governments are to be collected and distributed by the Chancellor to the constituent government which levied the tax.

Constituent governments are hereby granted the authority to levy personal income, business income, and consumption taxes that do not exceed 30% of the federal rate on each of these activities.

Federal Taxation
The federal government shall levy a progressive income tax with the following rates:

()

The federal government shall levy a consumption tax exempting food, clothing, and housing at a rate of 5%.

The federal government shall levy a flat business income tax at a rate of 15%.

The federal government shall levy a common tariff on all foreign goods at a rate of 5% of good value, adjustable via parliamentary action.

The federal government shall collect a Social Protection Contribution at a rate of 4%-of-income from individuals and businesses.

Tax Exemptions
Households with <$25,000 in total annual income may claim a $1,000 income tax deduction for every dependent in the household, as defined by the Chancellor. For every $15 above $25,000, households lose $1 of exemption.

Civic, educational, religious, and charitable organizations are hereby exempt from income taxation and employer social protection contributions.

All contributions, financial or in-kind, made to tax-exempt organizations are hereby tax exempt.

Effective Date
This legislation shall go into effect immediately following the passage of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.