Northeast Assembly Thread

[cinyc]

I really can't understand why opponents to this bill are voting nay to my Amenment, since it aims to make the bill less tough...

Likely due to the fact that they oppose the bill in general.

Pretty much - or oppose any ban on animal testing.  Why give the bill a better chance to pass?

Even some regulations?

Not everything in the world needs to be regulated by the government.  Organizations can regulate themselves or whistleblowers can raise their concerns with the pubic, who need not buy products of unethical companies. 

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I really can't understand why opponents to this bill are voting nay to my Amenment, since it aims to make the bill less tough...

Likely due to the fact that they oppose the bill in general.

Pretty much - or oppose any ban on animal testing.  Why give the bill a better chance to pass?

Even some regulations?

Not everything in the world needs to be regulated by the government.  Organizations can regulate themselves or whistleblowers can raise their concerns with the pubic, who need not buy products of unethical companies. 

Yes, let it's going wild. It's not working, Mr. Speaker. Never did,

[Dr. Cynic]

I really can't understand why opponents to this bill are voting nay to my Amenment, since it aims to make the bill less tough...

Likely due to the fact that they oppose the bill in general.

Pretty much - or oppose any ban on animal testing.  Why give the bill a better chance to pass?

Even some regulations?

Not everything in the world needs to be regulated by the government.  Organizations can regulate themselves or whistleblowers can raise their concerns with the pubic, who need not buy products of unethical companies. 

It would seem to me, Mr. Speaker, that animal testing would be one of the things that SHOULD be regulated. Given it involves living things.

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

Amendment 3 breaks the balls of research. Nay.

[cinyc]

By a vote of 3-5, the proposed amendment fails.

We will now vote on final passage of the original, unamended bill:

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All those in favor shall vote aye; those opposed nay.  This vote will be held open until the earlier of 12:50AM on Saturday, January 23 or when all Northeast Representatives have cast their vote

[cinyc]

Nay

[Sewer]

aye

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Nay

[Sewer]

"MeeeOUCH, plz vote Aye "

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

Nay.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Nay

Sorry Sewer but tis bill is just too radical.

[Dr. Cynic]

Abstain

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Aye

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Nay.

[Countess Anya of the North Parish]

Nay

the one million is to much. make it 100,000 and I will say aye.

[Hash]

Nay

the one million is to much. make it 100,000 and I will say aye.

Are you even a Rep?

[Countess Anya of the North Parish]

Nay

the one million is to much. make it 100,000 and I will say aye.

Are you even a Rep?

heehehe no I like playing one though.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Nay

the one million is to much. make it 100,000 and I will say aye.

Are you even a Rep?

heehehe no I like playing one though.

LOL

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Nay

the one million is to much. make it 100,000 and I will say aye.

Are you even a Rep?

heehehe no I like playing one though.

LOL

Doesn't that violate some rule in Fantasy Land?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Nay

the one million is to much. make it 100,000 and I will say aye.

Are you even a Rep?

heehehe no I like playing one though.

LOL

Doesn't that violate some rule in Fantasy Land?

Oh, damn... fortunately not ! Don't try to import your fascism in Atlasia.

(here is hoping I will finally get on his sig)

[cinyc]

Nay

the one million is to much. make it 100,000 and I will say aye.

Are you even a Rep?

heehehe no I like playing one though.

Please don't - it makes it more difficult for me to get a count when non-reps vote.

[cinyc]

By a vote of 2-5 with 1 express abstention, the Bill Frist Act fails.

Next bill:

Northeast Natural Gas Leasing Act
1) The Northeast shall publish an Invitation For Bid (IFB) on leaseholds to drill for natural gas on all Northeast public lands other than public parks, historical sites, highway rights-of-way or any portion of public lands within 660 feet of any inhabited dwelling, school or place of worship.  

2) Bidding Requirements
a) The IFB shall specify the size and location of parcels subject to bidding.
b) The initial term of any leases shall be five years.  The lessor shall have an option to extend the lease for two additional 5-year terms if a well on the parcel produces a commercially marketable quantity of natural gas at any time during the previous 5-year period.
c) The minimum fixed lease bid shall be $2,500 per acre per year.
d) The minimum royalty bid shall be 15% of the market value of the natural gas produced on the leased parcel.  
e) The market value of gas at the mouth of the well is determined by ascertaining the producer's actual marketing costs and subtracting those costs from the producer's gross cash receipts from the sale of the gas. Marketing costs are the costs incurred by the producer to get the gas from the mouth of the well to the market, including:
(i)  costs for compressing the gas sold, (ii)  costs for dehydrating the gas sold, (iii)  costs for sweetening the gas sold, and (iv)  costs for delivering the gas to the purchaser. Marketing costs do not include (i) costs incurred in producing the gas, (ii)  costs incurred in normal lease separation of the oil or condensate, or (iii) insurance premiums on the marketing facility.

3) Environmental Requirements
a) All successful bidders shall be required to secure a $50,000 lease bond for each lease and $100,000 plugging bond for each well drilled.  The Northeast shall be entitled to the proceeds from such bond to remediate any environmental damage caused by drilling or the cost of properly plugging the well.
b) Any successful bidder who drills for natural gas shall provide the Northeast with evidence that it has a Drilling-Well Control Insurance Policy of at least $25,000,000.   The Northeast shall be entitled to the proceeds from such policy to remediate any environmental damage caused by drilling not properly repaired by that bidder.
c) No successful bidder may drill more than one well per square mile on any parcel.
d) All successful bidders shall drill in an environmentally friendly manner without disrupting the water quality of the area drilled, pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Northeast Department of Conservation.  In particular, all wastewater shall be properly treated by the driller in accordance with such regulations and shall not otherwise be disposed of in any lake, stream, river or watershed area.
e) All successful bidders are strictly liable for any environmental damage caused by drilling and drilling-related activity, and shall remediate all environmental damage caused by such activity as soon as possible, and no later than 2 years of the end of the lease term.
f) All successful bidders must submit the location of any proposed drill site, access road, facility or pipeline to the Northeast Department of Conservation.  The Northeast Department of Conservation may require that a successful bidder move any proposed site, road, facility or pipeline to mitigate any potential adverse environmental effects.

4) Use of Proceeds from Leases.  
The government of the Northeast region may not borrow, pledge or transfer any proceeds from leases made under this Act except as follows:
a) 5% shall be transferred to the Northeast Department of Conservation to offset the cost of monitoring compliance with this Act and all other related environmental regulation and legislation.
b) 10% shall be transferred to the Northeast Department of Conservation to purchase additional public lands.
c) 35% shall be transferred to the Northeast Rainy Day Fund.  The Northeast Comptroller shall conservatively invest the corpus of the Northeast Rainy Day Fund and shall not transfer any portion of the Northeast Rainy Day Fund to any person or government fund, entity or agency unless the Northeast budget is in deficit and the Northeast unemployment rate is greater than 10% or the Northeast GDP has fallen by an annualized rate of more than 1% in two of the last four quarters.
d) 50% shall be transferred to the Northeast Permanent Dividend Fund.  The Northeast Comptroller shall conservatively invest the corpus of the Northeast Permanent Dividend Fund.  If the corpus of the Northeast Permanent Dividend Fund exceeds $7,000,000,000, every citizen who has been a permanent resident of the Northeast for at least 183 days in the prior year shall be entitled to a dividend from such fund.  Eligible residents shall file a dividend request on January 1 of each year, along with any information required by the Comptroller to establish such residency.  The gross amount of the dividend to be paid to all eligible residents shall be equal to (i) 30% of the gain in the Northeast Permanent Dividend Fund over the past two years or (ii) if there has been no such gain, the lesser of (1) 0.5% of the amount of the Fund that is over $7,000,000,000, adjusted for inflation after 2015, or (2) the maximum payment over the past 5 years.   The Comptroller shall mail or electronically transfer every eligible resident an equal share of the dividend on May 1.

Sponsor: Rep. cinyc

The question is whether the bill should be considered?

The ayes have it.

Debate on this bill will continue until at least 3:05PM Eastern on Sunday, January 24, 2010, unless the debate period is extended or shortened in accordance with the SOAP.

The Sponsor, Representative cinyc, has the floor.

[Sewer]

i has an amendment

Northeast Natural Gas Leasing Act
1) The Northeast shall publish an Invitation For Bid (IFB) on leaseholds to drill for natural gas on all Northeast public lands other than public parks, historical sites, highway rights-of-way or any portion of public lands within 660 feet of any inhabited dwelling, school or place of worship. 

2) Bidding Requirements
a) The IFB shall specify the size and location of parcels subject to bidding.
b) The initial term of any leases shall be five years.  The lessor shall have an option to extend the lease for two additional 5-year terms if a well on the parcel produces a commercially marketable quantity of natural gas at any time during the previous 5-year period.
c) The minimum fixed lease bid shall be $2,500 per acre per year.
d) The minimum royalty bid shall be 15% of the market value of the natural gas produced on the leased parcel. 
e) The market value of gas at the mouth of the well is determined by ascertaining the producer's actual marketing costs and subtracting those costs from the producer's gross cash receipts from the sale of the gas. Marketing costs are the costs incurred by the producer to get the gas from the mouth of the well to the market, including:
(i)  costs for compressing the gas sold, (ii)  costs for dehydrating the gas sold, (iii)  costs for sweetening the gas sold, and (iv)  costs for delivering the gas to the purchaser. Marketing costs do not include (i) costs incurred in producing the gas, (ii)  costs incurred in normal lease separation of the oil or condensate, or (iii) insurance premiums on the marketing facility.

3) Environmental Requirements
a) All successful bidders shall be required to secure a $50,000 lease bond for each lease and $100,000 plugging bond for each well drilled.  The Northeast shall be entitled to the proceeds from such bond to remediate any environmental damage caused by drilling or the cost of properly plugging the well.
b) Any successful bidder who drills for natural gas shall provide the Northeast with evidence that it has a Drilling-Well Control Insurance Policy of at least $25,000,000.   The Northeast shall be entitled to the proceeds from such policy to remediate any environmental damage caused by drilling not properly repaired by that bidder.
c) No successful bidder may drill more than one well per square mile on any parcel.
d) All successful bidders shall drill in an environmentally friendly manner without disrupting the water quality of the area drilled, pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Northeast Department of Conservation.  In particular, all wastewater shall be properly treated by the driller in accordance with such regulations and shall not otherwise be disposed of in any lake, stream, river or watershed area.
e) All successful bidders are strictly liable for any environmental damage caused by drilling and drilling-related activity, and shall remediate all environmental damage caused by such activity as soon as possible, and no later than 2 years of the end of the lease term.
f) All successful bidders must submit the location of any proposed drill site, access road, facility or pipeline to the Northeast Department of Conservation.  The Northeast Department of Conservation may require that a successful bidder move any proposed site, road, facility or pipeline to mitigate any potential adverse environmental effects.

4) Use of Proceeds from Leases. 
The government of the Northeast region may not borrow, pledge or transfer any proceeds from leases made under this Act except as follows:
a) 5% shall be transferred to the Northeast Department of Conservation to offset the cost of monitoring compliance with this Act and all other related environmental regulation and legislation.
b) 10% shall be transferred to the Northeast Department of Conservation to purchase additional public lands.
c) 35% shall be transferred to the Northeast Rainy Day Fund.  The Northeast Comptroller shall conservatively invest the corpus of the Northeast Rainy Day Fund and shall not transfer any portion of the Northeast Rainy Day Fund to any person or government fund, entity or agency unless the Northeast budget is in deficit and the Northeast unemployment rate is greater than 10% or the Northeast GDP has fallen by an annualized rate of more than 1% in two of the last four quarters.
d) 50% shall be transferred to the Northeast Permanent Dividend Fund.  The Northeast Comptroller shall conservatively invest the corpus of the Northeast Permanent Dividend Fund.  If the corpus of the Northeast Permanent Dividend Fund exceeds $7,000,000,000, every citizen who has been a permanent resident of the Northeast for at least 183 days in the prior year shall be entitled to a dividend from such fund.  Eligible residents shall file a dividend request on January 1 of each year, along with any information required by the Comptroller to establish such residency.  The gross amount of the dividend to be paid to all eligible residents shall be equal to (i) 30% of the gain in the Northeast Permanent Dividend Fund over the past two years or (ii) if there has been no such gain, the lesser of (1) 0.5% of the amount of the Fund that is over $7,000,000,000, adjusted for inflation after 2015, or (2) the maximum payment over the past 5 years.   The Comptroller shall mail or electronically transfer every eligible resident an equal share of the dividend on May 1.

5) Bill Frist.
All testing on non-human vertebrate animals is hereby banned in the Northeast Region. Violation of this ban shall result in up to five years in prison and up to one million dollars in fines.

[cinyc]

As my fellow Representatives may know, a large natural gas reserve was recently found in the Marcus Shale formation in New York and Pennsylvania.  This bill opens up public lands in those areas for drilling in an enviornmentally friendly manner.  The proceeds from leases are to go toward monitoring compliance (5%), purchase additional public land (10%), a Northeast Rainy Day Fund, to be drawn upon to stabilize state revenues in times of recession (35%), and a Northeast Permanent Dividend Fund - to be distributed to the people of the northeast when sufficiently large - like the Alaskan Permanent Dividend Fund.

All drilling must be done in an environmentally friendly manner.  Wastewater must be properly treated by the driller before disposal.  Drillers must remediate all environmental damage within 2 years of the end of the lease term.  If they do not, the Northeast will be allowed to draw upon a required insurance bond that all drillers must post, and do the work themselves. 

Much of the language in this bill was taken from Pennsylvania law.

I hope you will support this action to allow drilling for cheap, environmentally friendly natural gas in a way that doesn't harm the great lands of the Northeast - and gives the bulk of the proceeds back to the people of this great region.

[cinyc]

Sewer Socialist's amendment is unfriendly -and not germane.  It will be put to a vote at the end of the debate period.