Northeast Assembly Thread

[cinyc]

FYI - our newest Representative, silent_spade07 is eligible to vote on the bill because he was appointed before the bill was put to a vote.

[cinyc]

Nay

[cinyc]

By a vote of 4-4, we have a tie that must be broken by the Lt. Governor.

Given that time is running out on this session and there is still legislation in the queue, I propose to move on to the next bill while waiting for the Lt. Governor's vote - unless there is an objection:

The People's Court Amendment

Article VI, Section ii of the Northeast Constitution shall be amended to read:

ii) The Chief Judicial Officer is to be elected by the voters of the Northeast region. He or she shall have a term of four months, with the option of re-election. Whenever the office of Chief Judicial Officer becomes vacant, then he or she must be replaced by special election within one month.

Sponsor: Rep. Libertas

The question is whether the bill should be considered?

The ayes have it.

Debate on this bill will continue until at least 2:15PM Eastern on Saturday, February 13, 2010, unless the debate period is extended or shortened in accordance with the SOAP.

The Sponsor, Representative Libertas, has the floor.

[cinyc]

Mr Speaker. I believe that each Representative has had 2 texts debated (except those who introduced less), and therefore you should perhaps start considering my bills, which were the first on the queue.

The only currently sitting Representatives to have 2 pieces of legislation debated and voted upon are you and me.  Rep. Kalwejt has had 2 pieces on the floor and removed one - but since he doesn't have anything else in the queue, I don't have to rule on whether he is entitled to introduce another piece without being affected by the rule.

Reps. Dallasfan65, Doctor Cynic and cutie_15 each have had 1 piece considered and voted on on the floor.  Rep. Libertas has 1 piece currently on the floor.  Rep. silent_spade07 hasn't introduced anything.

That's the current state of affairs - any legislation proposed by you or me will not be considered until the other Reps have had 2 pieces considered, there's nothing left in the queue, OR a majority of the Assembly agrees to a motion to consider a specific piece of legislation proposed by one of us at the same time as whatever else is on the floor.

Many Representatives have complained about legislation proposed by others allegedly wasting this Assembly's time, but have not availed themselves of the motion to consider more than one thing at a time.  The remedy is there if you want it.

[cinyc]

Actually I have recently proposed 2 bills, but I wouldn't mind them actually being considered as one since they both have similar aims.

We can't consider your two proposed amendments as one since they are on different topics and all legislation can only be on one topic.  You are free to move to consider the Northeast Senate Amendment right now, if you wish.  It would be put to a vote and needs a majority to be considered simultaneously with the proposed amendment currently on the floor.

[cinyc]

Actually I have recently proposed 2 bills, but I wouldn't mind them actually being considered as one since they both have similar aims.

We can't consider your two proposed amendments as one since they are on different topics and all legislation can only be on one topic.  You are free to move to consider the Northeast Senate Amendment right now, if you wish.  It would be put to a vote and needs a majority to be considered simultaneously with the proposed amendment currently on the floor.

Alright then, how much longer will we have to wait for this "Health Act"?

The Health Act is waiting for Lt. Governor Smid to cast the deciding vote.  If he votes aye, it goes to the Governor for his signature.  If he votes nay, it fails.

The People's Court Amendment is on the floor - and I'd appreciate your statement on it.  I will have some amendments - largely to schedule the CJO vote during gubernatorial elections, which your proposal doesn't really do.

I will open the vote on whether to simultaneously consider the Northeast Senate Amendment now.  We will have 24 hours to vote on whether to consider it simultaneously.  If we vote aye, a debate period will follow.  I doubt we will end up voting on both bills at the same time since the Northeast Senate Amendment is very complex and I'm likely to call for a full 48-hour debate period regardless of any motion to shorten.

[cinyc]

The question is whether to suspend section 2(b) of the SOAP and bring the Northeast Senate Amendment to the floor while we continue to debate the People's Court Amendment.

The text of the Northeast Senate Amendment is as follows:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

All those in favor of debating this proposed amendment alongside the bill currently on the floor shall vote aye; those opposed, nay.  This is NOT a vote on the merits of the bill - just a vote on whether to expedite the consideration of the bill.   

This vote shall remain open until the earlier of 1:20AM on Saturday, February 13, 2010, or when all Representatives shall have voted.

Debate on the People's Court Amendment SHALL CONTINUE while the vote on this motion is held.

[cinyc]

Aye on the motion to suspend Section 2(b) of the SOAP and simultaneously consider the Northeast Senate Amendment

[cinyc]

My proposed amendment to the People's Court Amendment is below.  I've tried to mimic the language regarding Gubernatorial elections in this draft.  The vacancy election provisions follow the proposed Lieutenant Governor Amendment's.  

I've also tightened the restrictions on the CJO so that he or she cannot hold any other office - Northeastern or Federal (today, the CJO could hold any other office but Northeast Governor or Lt. Governor - that was written before we had an elected Assembly).  And I've deemed there to be a vacancy in the CJO's office immediately upon passage, which would trigger an election within 2 weeks:

1. Article VI, Section ii of the Northeast Constitution shall be amended to read:

ii)  The Chief Judicial Officer shall be elected by the voters of the Northeast region.   Elections for Chief Judicial Officer shall be held simultaneously with the gubernatorial election held every October, February and June.  

2. New Sections iii, iv and v shall be added to Article VI of the New Northeast Constitution:
iii)  Candidates for Chief Judicial Officer will be given until the second Friday of the month in which he or she wishes to run in an election thereof to announce his candidacy. This is to be done by publicly posting his or her intention to run in the Candidate Declaration Thread.

iv)  If the office of Chief Judicial Officer becomes vacant at any time more than two weeks before the next scheduled gubernatorial election, an election shall be held to fill the vacancy.  The Governor of the Northeast Region will open the booth for such election on the second Friday after such vacancy occurs at 12:00:00am Eastern Standard Time, and will close said both on the following Sunday at 11:59:59pm Eastern Standard Time. Every citizen will be given the opportunity to vote during this time.  Candidates for Chief Judicial Officer will be given until the second Wednesday after such vacancy occurs to announce his or her candidacy.

v) When the polls close, the Northeast official responsible for opening the voting booth shall be given twenty-four hours to count the votes and declare a winner. The candidate with the most votes for the office of Chief Judicial Officer shall be made Chief Judicial Officer.  The newly elected Chief Judicial Officer is to be officially sworn in on the Tuesday following the election and shall immediately assume office at that point.  In the case of a tie, all tied candidates are to run in a run-off election the following week to determine a winner.

3. Current Article VI, Sections iii and iv of the New Northeast Constitution shall be renumbered Sections vi and vii.  Current Article VI, Section iv of the New Northeast Constitution shall be amended to read:

vii) No person shall hold the positions of Chief Judicial Officer and any other elected or appointed Northeast or Atlasian federal office at the same time.

4.  The office of Chief Judicial Officer shall be deemed vacant immediately after certification of the passage of this Amendment.

-------------------------------
Please let me know if you have additional comments - or if you deem this friendly or unfriendly in the entirety.

[cinyc]

I will vote for the People's Court Amendment in the Assembly - but I'm undecided about whether I will vote for or against it on election day.  An elected CJO is far more likely to be subject to political pressure than an appointed one.   Justice should be blind.

I have no problem letting the people decide whether to elect the CJO.

There's one potential conflict - the sitting CJO may certify his own reelection under the Constitution as written.

[cinyc]

Thank you, Lt. Governor Smid.



With the Lt. Governor's vote, the Health Act fails.

The vote on whether to simultaneously take up the Northeast Senate Amendment is still open, as is debate on the People's Court Amendment.

[cinyc]

I support the Democratic elections of the CJO.

Aye on the amendment.

We're not voting on the CJO amendment. but on whether to simultaneously consider the Northeast Senate Amendment, in the interests of time.

[cinyc]

The personal attacks will cease and there will be order!

The vote on whether to simultaneously consider the Northeast Senate Amendment is still open, as is debate on the People's Court Amendment.

[cinyc]

By a vote of 4-0, the motion to suspend Section 2(b) and simultaneously consider the Northeast Senate Amendment fails to receive the votes of a majority of all Northeast Representatives, and, therefore fails under Section 2(d) of the SOAP.

Debate on the People's Court Amendment continues until 2:15 PM Eastern time.

[cinyc]

Speaker, may I motion again to consider them simultaneously?



The wonderful appointments our governor made apparently don't take the responsibility of even showing up to vote in the Assembly seriously.

You certainly can make the motion - but at this point, unless everyone votes quickly, we're not going to end up saving much time even if it passes.  Note that I can't guarantee I'll be around at 2AM tomorrow to promptly start the debate on the motion, even if it passes.

I will put up the motion post again next.

[cinyc]

The question again is whether to suspend section 2(b) of the SOAP and bring the Northeast Senate Amendment to the floor while we continue to debate the People's Court Amendment.

The text of the Northeast Senate Amendment is as follows:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

All those in favor of debating this proposed amendment alongside the bill currently on the floor shall vote aye; those opposed, nay.  This is NOT a vote on the merits of the bill - just a vote on whether to expedite the consideration of the bill.   

This vote shall remain open until the earlier of 2:00AM on Sunday, February 14, 2010, or when all Representatives shall have voted.

Debate on the People's Court Amendment SHALL CONTINUE while the vote on this motion is held.

[cinyc]

Aye on the motion to suspend Section 2(b) of the SOAP and simultaneously consider the Northeast Senate Amendment.

[cinyc]

The debate period for the People's Court Amendment is over.  It is now time to vote on the merits of it.  Since it is a proposed constitutional amendment, passage requires a vote of at least 2/3rds of the voting members and a majority of all members:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

This vote shall remain open until the earlier of 2:15PM on Sunday, February 14, 2010 or until all Representatives shall have voted.

Please note that because we're ALSO voting on the motion to expedite debate on the proposed Northeast Senate Amendment, Representatives who have not voted on that motion for the second time should specify what they are voting for by using the following form:

On The People's Court Amendment:
On expediting debate on the Northeast Senate Amendment:

[cinyc]

On the People's Court Amendment: Aye

I've already voted aye on expediting debate of the Northeast Senate Amendment.

[cinyc]

By a vote of 5-0, with one express abstention and two absences, the Northeast Senate Amendment will now be put on the floor simultaneously with the ongoing vote.  

Northeast Senate Amendment

"Amendment to Article IV"

i) The legislative branch of the Northeast Region shall consist of the Legislative Assembly of the Northeast Region (lower house) and the Northeast Senate (upper house).
ii) Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northeast Region are called Representatives and members of the Northeast Senate are called Senators. Members of both houses shall be elected by all Northeast citizens legally registered to vote.
iii) Elections to the Legislative Assembly of the Northeast Region shall be held every February, April, June, August, October and December and elections to the Northeast Senate shall be held every January, April, July, and October.
iv) A polling booth shall be created by the Chief Judicial Officer of the Northeast Region. He or she will open the booth on the third Friday at 12:00:00am EST of every January, February, April, June, July, August, October and December and will close said both the following Sunday at 11:59:59pm EST. Every citizen will be given the opportunity to vote during this time. The Chief Judicial Officer of the Northeast Region must accept any absentee ballot conducted one week prior to the opening of the polls.
v) Candidates for the Legislative Assembly of the Northeast Region and the Northeast Senate will be given until the second Friday of the month in which he or she wishes to run in an election thereof to announce his or her candidacy. This is to be done by officially declaring his or her candidacy in the Candidate Declaration Thread.
vi) When the polls close, the Chief Judicial Officer of the Northeast Region shall be given twenty-four (24) hours to count the votes and declare a winner. The newly elected Representatives and Senators shall officially assume office on the Tuesday following the election.
vii) The number of Representatives to be elected shall be six. The number of Northeast Senators to be elected shall be three.
viii) The method of election shall be PR-STV, as specified in Sections 4 to 17 of the Atlasian Proportional Representation Act (F.L. 21-2), unless the Assembly shall provide otherwise by Law.
ix) Vacancies in the Legislative Assembly of the Northeast Region shall be filled by Gubernatorial appointment, to be confirmed by Legislative Assembly of the Northeast Region before seating. Vacancies in the Northeast Senate shall be filled by special election to be administered on the second Friday following the vacancy and ending 72 hours later.
x) The Legislative Assembly's sessions shall be conducted in public threads at all times of the year.
xi) All ordinary legislation shall first be considered in either the Assembly or the Northeast Senate. Legislation shall be considered by the Legislative Assembly upon petition of any Representative or the Governor, or by being passed in the Northeast Senate. Legislation shall be considered by the Northeast Senate upon petition of any Northeast Senator, or by being passed in the Legislative Assembly of the Northeast Region.
xii) Any piece of legislation attaining a majority (50%+1) of actual votes from Representatives and Senators shall be considered as successful. This shall be the case for all pieces of legislation except constitutional amendments (see Article VIII subsections (i) and (ii)) and previously vetoed legislation (see Article IV subsection (xi)). Every piece of legislation shall relate to but one subject and that shall be expressed in its title. All pieces of legislation and votes of support and consent by the Legislative Assembly and Northeast Senate must go through this process in order to become law.
xiii) Any Representative or Senator that does not take part in three consecutive votes on legislation without posting an official leave of absence beforehand, or that does not take part in any discussion of the Assembly or Northeast Senate for more than one month shall be expelled.
xiv) The Lieutenant Governor of the Northeast acts as the President of the Northeast Senate. He or she officially opens and closes the sessions, organizes votes on legislation and notifies the Senators of the results of any official vote. He does not take part in any vote in the Northeast Senate unless a vote results in a perfect tie. In this case, he or she shall be allowed to vote to break said tie. The Legislative Assembly shall elect its own Speaker of the Northeast Assembly to serve as a presiding officer. He or she officially opens and closes the sessions, organizes votes on legislation and notifies the Representatives of the results of any official vote.
xv) The Assembly shall have the power to override the Governor's veto. If the Assembly passes legislation previously vetoed by the Governor by more than a two-thirds majority vote, it becomes law without the Governor's signature.
xvi) In the event that legislation passed by either the Assembly or Northeast Senate is amended before passing the other house, that legislation must be reconsidered by the house it was initially passed in. Legislation can not be signed by the Governor until both houses come to agreement on a final bill.

Sponsor: Rep. Libertas

Debate on this Amendment will continue until 2:20AM Eastern on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 unless the debate period is shortened or lengthened in accordance with the SOAP.

The sponsor, Rep. Libertas, has the floor with respect to the Northeast Senate Amendment.  

Note that the vote on final passage The People's Court Amendment is still ongoing, and will remain open until 2:15 PM Eastern on February 14.  It is very important for Representatives to cast a vote or make their presence known on proposed amendments, as the standards for passage are higher than a regular bill.

[cinyc]

Nay

Care to explain why you vote nay?

Yes, it uselessly makes the Northeast institutions more complicated by adding a second house, which is totally ridiculous for a region.

We're NOT voting on the Northeast Senate Amendment yet.  We're voting on The People's Court Amendment for the next hour or so.

[cinyc]

By a vote of 3-0 with 2 express abstentions and 3 unexcused absences, the People's Court Amendment fails to receive the support of a majority of all 8 sitting Representatives and therefore fails.

Debate on the Northeast Senate Amendment shall continue.

[cinyc]

I have concerns about the Northeast Senate Amendment.  Not about the concept of a Senate itself, but about the large number of elected officials it would require.  We can't maintain an Assembly of 8 for two months without the Governor having to make numerous appointments to fill vacancies.  It will be even more difficult to maintain a government of 9.  For that reason, I hope the Seat Number Amendment passes next week, and we set the number of representatives at 6.

I'd also have to do a check of the Constitution and all proposed Amendments to try to figure out if there are any conflicts that need to be addressed.  Plus, we'd have to figure out how to phase the Senate in.

[cinyc]

wait, will this add offices?

It would add 1 new position versus now.  We'd go from 8 Assemblymen to 6 Assemblymen and 3 Senators.

Note that the number of Representatives  isn't fixed right now.  It depends on the number of Northeast citizens.  If the Seat Number Amendment passes, we'd be down to a set 6 Representatives.

[cinyc]

Seeing no proposed unfriendly amendments to the Northeast Senate Amendment, it is now time to vote on final passage.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

This vote will remain open until the earlier of 2:20AM Eastern on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 or when all Representatives shall have voted.  Because this is a proposed Constitutional Amendment, more than a mere majority is required for passage.