Northeast Assembly Thread

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I rise in support of the gentleman from Rhode Island's amendment and further move that the bill be amended to insert '8 AM', the later of the two opening times suggested by the gentleman from Connecticut, into section 1 following the close of the parenthesis, change the word 'until' to 'between', strike '2 AM', and insert '1 AM' in its place. It may seem like a minor difference to some, but as a person who frequently stays up very long into the night, on many occasions within the past few weeks alone hitting the crack of dawn, I can tell you that there is in fact a difference between these times in terms of the darkness of the night, the general quietness, and the possibility of a business with a liquor permit creating an impediment to the peace of the citizenry if open.

Although I would support simply changing the time in the legislation, I would also be open to a form of the legislation mandating some form of a 'winding down' time between midnight or 1 AM and 2 AM.

I am as yet unsure if I would vote for the bill as it currently stands without the gentleman from Rhode Island's amendment or my own. While I strongly support it on principle, I have concerns about the too-young age and too-late time listed in section 1 of the bill.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

All right. I do not drink, so I will take your word for the reasonableness of the closing time. It just seemed a bit too late for my tastes, since I do in fact live across the street from a tavern and often have trouble sleeping on weekends.

As I am new to this body, I am not aware of the procedures for an Assemblyman who has introduced an amendment making changes to that amendment. If I may I would like to withdraw my amendment and introduce a new one that simply inserts 'from 8 AM' after the parentheses in section 1 and before the word 'until'.

I still strongly support the gentleman from Rhode Island's proposed change to the minimum age stated in the bill. In fact, not only would I prefer 18 to 16, I would prefer it to 21 as well. The plethora of different minimum ages for different things strikes me as confusing and unnecessary.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

At this time I would like to introduce Senator Napoleon's proposed Constitution for the Northeast Region in the nature of an amendment.

The constitution may be read here:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=138801.0

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

At this time I would like to introduce Senator Napoleon's proposed Constitution for the Northeast Region in the nature of an amendment.

The constitution may be read here:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=138801.0

Please do so in the Legislation Introduction thread, and the Assembly will consider it.

I apologize. I misconstrued the rules of order to indicate that I could do it in the nature of an amendment.

As for the liquor bill, I agree that we should open discussion on whether it would be prudent to limit hours for liquor stores and taverns on Sundays through Thursdays.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

A clarification--I did not say or intend to imply that 21 would be better than 18. I think that 18 would be better than either 16 or 21 unless we were to begin raising other minimum ages to 21 as well (which depending on the context I might in fact support).

I agree with the Governor's proposal for the exact hours of operation on different days but I would accept anything from 12.30 to 1 AM as weekday hours as a compromise.

I move that, given the options of 16, 18, or 21, we put our personal preferred minimum drinking age on the record.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I concur with the Governor's amendments and will happily vote for this bill if they are carried. If they are not carried, I am undecided.

I would submit that we may want to make it clear that this bill is not to be construed as banning persons under whatever age is decided upon consuming alcohol. At least, I don't think we should do that.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

What would your proposed age and hours be?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I agree in the sense that this is why I wanted to ask earlier if we could please clarify whether or not we mean this to imply any sort of restriction on consumption of alcohol by people younger than the minimum age of purchase. Again, I don't think this should be the case.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

While I still maintain that I would be more enthusiastic about this bill if there was a stated opening time included and an earlier closing time for weeknights, I will gladly vote Aye if the amendment to change the figure 16 to 18 in section 1 is carried.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I would like to put forward a version of the bill that contains 18 as a minimum age but keeps 8-2 as the hours of operation for all days of the week. While I agree with the Governor's proposals, I would like there to be a version that contains the age amendment (which I view as both more important and more likely to pass) without the weekday night amendment (which I support but which I do not want to sink the age amendment).

Amendment:

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[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Should we vote on age (16 or 18) and time (12/2 or 2) separately? That's how I'd do it.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

1. A
2. Aye
3. Nay

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Aye.

I was also informed by the Chair that during the vote I could also bring up a motion to move Senator Napoleon's proposed new Constitution for the Region to the top of the queue.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Aye on the motion to suspend section 2a.

Has the bill been passed?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I concur with the Governor's proposed amendment. If he will propose an exact text therefor I will officially introduce it.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I hereby move that we amend Article II, Section 6 to read as follows.

A Governor may be impeached at any time while he or she is in office by the will of two thirds of the Legislative Assembly of the Northeast Region following having been found guilty of an impeachable offence.  Impeachment proceedings shall begin when a motion to impeach offered by a Representative is seconded by another Representative, excluding the Representative serving as Lieutenant Governor.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I would ideally like 4 Representatives and a Lieutenant Governor, but would be content with 5 and no Lieutenant Governor.

Also, Mr Speaker: 'capital' is the correct spelling for the city that serves as a country's seat of government (derived from Latin capus, head); 'capitol' is the correct spelling for the building or complex that provides the primary public space used for the activities of said government (derived from the name of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, which doesn't have the same etymology). I apologize if this correction is deemed desultory, but the Senator's original usage is correct.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

In that case I would support five, with no Lieutenant Governor.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Nay
Nay
Aye

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Aye.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Would it be possible to define what constitutes a balanced diet in section 2, or is the sense of the Assembly that that should be left up to the wardens and staff of the prisons?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

How and by whom would the nutritionists be selected? Would they be employed by the prisons directly and if so would there be oversight of their choices?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Then, I propose to amend section 2 to read:

All inmates shall be given the right to decide amongst themselves which crops shall be maintained within the garden; however, prisons must require enough variety as so to allow for a balanced diet for the inmates as consistent with present prison dietary standards.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Aye on the amendment.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Aye on the bill.