5th Pacific Legislation Introduction and Discussion Thread

[Хahar 🤔]

With Governor spamage being absent, I am currently the highest-ranking official in the Pacific government; therefore, it stands to reason that I should open this thread.

The first order of business is to elect a Speaker. Councillors, please list your preferred Speaker.

[LastVoter]

Xahar

[Хahar 🤔]

Xahar

[Fuzzybigfoot]

Xahar

[Kitteh]

Xahar

Xahar

Xahar

[Хahar 🤔]

With four votes in favor, Xahar is reelected as Speaker of the Pacific Council.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

FTR, Xahar

[Хahar 🤔]

Final Constitution of the Pacific Region of Atlasia

1.   The Pacific Region of Atlasia shall no longer have any official name, and will only be referred to by its former name (The Pacific) within this document for clarification purposes.

2.   The Pacific shall be called “the unincorporated territories,” with no capitalization, whenever a label is required for Federal Senate elections or any other Constitutionally-mandated purpose.

3.   Upon the passage of this Constitution, the prior Pacific Constitution shall be repealed in full, and all jurisprudence and judicial precedent related to it shall hereby be considered invalid.

4.   All statutes, laws, initiatives, executive orders, and other legal texts of the Pacific Region are hereby repealed and abolished.

5.   All regional offices are hereby abolished; the Region’s executive, legislative, and judicial authority shall not be vested in any person or office.

6.   Whenever the Atlasian Senate passes an amendment to the Federal Constitution, a referendum on its ratification shall occur. Ratification shall be an unannounced vote with no administrator, conducted by public post in the most recently posted thread in the Fantasy Elections board. Voting shall automatically begin at the exact moment the amendment passes the Senate, and shall conclude after one second.

7.   For the purpose of ratifying Federal Constitutional amendments, a tie shall be sufficient for approval.

8.   All other actions required of the region by the Federal Constitution shall be performed and administered directly by a majority vote of the Atlasian Senate.

9.   There shall be no method to amend this Constitution in any manner; it shall remain unaltered in perpetuity.

10.   Exactly one second after the passage of this Constitution, the government of the Pacific Region is hereby irrevocably abolished.

[LastVoter]

Pacific Budget FY2013


IN THE PACIFIC COUNCIL


A RESOLUTION


Establishing the budget for the Pacific Government lasting from July 2013 until June 2014

Resolved by the Pacific Council convened,

Expenditures

$146.20 billion - School aid

$56.50 billion - Elementary, Secondary & Vocational education
$89.70 billion - Higher education

$84.30 billion - Economic development

$49.30 billion - Community development
$35.00 billion - Area and regional development

$112.70 billion - Transportation

$30.00 billion - Highways and highway safety
$30.00 billion - Mass transit
$30.00 billion - Railroads
$3.50 billion - Air Transportation
$2.70 billion - Water transportation
$2.50 billion - Other transportation
$14.00 billion - Non-Highway Roads

$49.30 billion - Public safety

$34.60 billion - Health services

$7.00 billion - Substance abuse and mental health services
$4.60 billion - Disease control, public health and bioterrorism
$15.70 billion - Health research and training
$4.00 billion - Food safety and occupational health and safety
$3.30 billion - Other health care services

$10.40 billion - Environment & energy

$5.30 billion - Alternative energy fund
$2.60 billion - Regulatory enforcement
$2.50 billion - Clean energy retrofitting

$17.30 billion - Direct aid & incentives to municipalities

$4.00 billion - Government administration

===============================

TOTAL EXPENDITURES - $458.800 billion

===============================

PROPOSED TAXES

Income Taxes

0.0%    $0 - $49,999
4.0%    $50,000 - $99,999 ($47.553 B)
7.0%    $100,000 - $249,999 ($45.474 B)
10%  $250,000 - $999,999 ($39.593 B)
15%   $1,000,000 + ($20.329 B)

ESTIMATED REVENUE: $152.949 B

Property Tax

$50 per mil on assessed value of land ($134.481 B)
(;lands with forests of any kind are exempt from this tax)

ESTIMATED REVENUE: $134.481 B

Excise Taxes

Gas: $1.50 cents per gallon ($54.675 B)
Diesel: $1.35 cents per gallon ($32.841 B)

ESTIMATED REVENUE: $87.516 B

===============================

TOTAL REVENUES - $374.946 billion

===============================

PROJECTED DEFICIT - $83.854 billion

Endnote: The federal government must act appropriately and pass necessary legislation  for the Pacific economy to recover. With that in mind, a 5-7% increase in tax revenue can be expected, and the direct aid to municipalities can be significantly reduced after the federal government chooses to subsidize them. This budget should not be passed for another year, or austerity overlords will destroy the region.

[Хahar 🤔]

Random Acronym relating to Council Order

1. The sole official of the Pacific Council shall be the Speaker.
2. The term of office of the Speaker shall last until an election for the office of Speaker is held.
3. An election for the office of Speaker shall be held within seven days of the signature by a majority of members of the Council of a petition to hold such an election.
4. Elections for the office of Speaker shall be administered by the most senior member of the Council; in the event that multiple members of the Council are equal in seniority, the outgoing Speaker shall designate an administrator from among those members.
5. In the event of an election for the office of Speaker, the first person to be nominated for the office by a majority of members of the Council shall be declared Speaker.
6. The Speaker shall have the power to determine the length of debate and shall administer all votes within the Council.
7. Votes within the Council shall end immediately upon the assent or dissent of a majority of members of the Council or after an appropriate length of time has passed.
8. In the event of the resignation of the Speaker, he or she may appoint the succeeding Speaker.

[Spamage]

Seeing as having 3 active Councillors is going much better than when we had 5 inactive ones, what do you guys think of amending the Constitution to have only 3 permanent councillors instead of a changing number. Right now with our inactivity we cannot afford to have empty offices and 3 slots in the Council ensures competitive elections which are one of the core aspects in creating activity.

[LastVoter]

Seeing as having 3 active Councillors is going much better than when we had 5 inactive ones, what do you guys think of amending the Constitution to have only 3 permanent councillors instead of a changing number. Right now with our inactivity we cannot afford to have empty offices and 3 slots in the Council ensures competitive elections which are one of the core aspects in creating activity.

My personal preference would be 0 councillors.

[Хahar 🤔]

I would prefer outright abolition of the Council as well, but I would be willing to consider an amendment to reduce the number of members to three, starting at the next election. I won't write the amendment, since the Constitution is a mess, but it's certainly worth looking into.

[Adam Griffin]

[Хahar 🤔]

Resolution on Amendment Ratification

In accordance with the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of Atlasia, the Pacific Council as the legislature of the Pacific Region hereby decrees that the process for ratification in the Pacific Region of amendments to the Constitution of Atlasia shall be approval by vote of the Pacific Council.

[PJ]

Protect our forests act

Section 1: Private land of less than
100 acres.

1. Landowners with rainforest on their land must preserve 80% of it.

2. Landowners with other kinds of forest on their land must preserve 50% of it.

3. Introduced and invasive species of trees are exempt from section 1 and 2, and the forest restoration act.

4. Logging of endangered species of trees is illegal.

5. Punishments for breaking section 1 will result in a fine of $1000.

Section 2: Private land of more than 100 acres.

1. The logging of rain forests is illegal.

2. The logging of endangered species of trees is illegal.

3. The logging of invasive and introduced species is encouraged.

4. Breaking section 2 will result in a fine of $10,000 per tree.

[PJ]

Sorry, I don't know if I was supposed to post this here, or if a new thread was supposed to be created. Disregard this otherwise.

[Spamage]

A new Speaker vote must be held, I assume.

[PJ]

I'm bumping this so the council can actually get to work.

[Spamage]

I'm bumping this so the council can actually get to work.

Yes, this needs to be much more active.


Councillors, please elect your speaker.

[Хahar 🤔]

There's no need to hold a new vote for Speaker; for one thing, this isn't a new Council session.

[Spamage]

There's no need to hold a new vote for Speaker; for one thing, this isn't a new Council session.

But does not the fact that there was a recall mean anything? Had you been not reelected there would've had to have been a new speaker vote.

[Хahar 🤔]

Yes, if I had not been reelected. I was reelected and so the matter is moot.

[Napoleon]

You were recalled, the fact that you were reelected simultaneously does not matter.

[PJ]

Yes, if I had not been reelected. I was reelected and so the matter is moot.

Scroll to the top of the page. Last time you were reelected there was a vote for Speaker. And if you are Speaker, why did you not open debate on the Protect Our Forests Act?