Southern Legislation Introduction Thread (3rd version)

[diptheriadan]

I motion for TimTurner's removal from the office of Speaker due to inactivity.

[diptheriadan]

6. Vacancies in the South Legislature shall be filled in a manner specified by law, and until such determination is made, by Gubernatorial appointment. Vacancies occur upon resignation, recall, impeachment, failure to swear in within one week of the legislative session’s opening or failure to vote on final passage of four consecutive pieces of legislation without publicly declaring absence.

Santander's out.

[diptheriadan]

On the Modification of the Southern Heritage Act, there was a 19 day difference from when debate stopped and when you called for a vote.
 
On the Amendment to Article IV Section 6 of the Constitution, there was an 8 day difference from when debate stopped and when you called for a vote.

On the Parks and Recreation Bill of 2017, there was a 6 day difference from when debate stopped and when you called for a vote.

On the Repeal of the Elimination of the Income Tax Act, there was a 13 day difference from when debate stopped and when you called for a vote.

To top it all off, the session has currently lasted for about a month now and we've only passed 4 bills.

So, we've either got a) an inability to call votes when debate stops or b) an inability to encourage debate.

[diptheriadan]

I've talked with Attorney General Encke and it appears that there isn't a specific procedure for removing a Speaker other than this:

Section II: The Southern Legislation Introduction Thread and Chamber Noticeboard
1. The "Southern Chamber Introduction” thread shall be used for the following purposes:
a. The introduction of bills, resolutions, and constitutional amendments.
b. The posting of any updates to the schedule, calendar, recesses, or other procedural details of the Legislature.
c. Any motions involving the procedure or hierarchy of the Legislature, including a motion for Speaker of the Legislature as well as votes on such a motion.

However, my motion currently has the support of three of four delegates. Because of this, I ask that the Speaker resign from his office and allow a new vote for Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

[diptheriadan]

The way that I see it, there really are only two reasons for why there was such a large gap between when debate ended and when you called for a vote. Either a) You were trying to let people debate and were unable to encourage debate or b) you were inactive and simply didn't do anything.

You still haven't actually stated as to why there was such a large gap.

[diptheriadan]

-snip-

-snip-

So your reasoning for waiting as long as you did to call votes was because you were waiting on people to submit amendments that they did not say there were going to create, correct? Why wouldn't you just message the delegates and ask them if they were planning on amending the bill in order to stop unnecessary waiting?

[diptheriadan]

Your approach last time didn't include waiting weeks to call votes. I'm not sure what you mean by a "drought of inactivity" because there was lively debate on the bills in the first week they were introduced.

[diptheriadan]

The problem here is not with the delegates but with the Speaker. The only thing that separates this session from every other is that there was such a long wait between when debate ceased and when voting began. You can go back and look and you'll see, having a few days of lively debate followed by minimal discussion is completely normal. What is not normal is the Speaker waiting weeks to call for final votes.

[diptheriadan]

I'd also like to state that we didn't have this problem a year ago in August and September. The Chamber functioned perfectly fine and would regularly vote on bills without prolonged periods of waiting.

[diptheriadan]

It is not the sole responsibility of the delegates to motion for a final vote. The Speaker can, after 72 hours of debate (I believe. I may be wrong), call for a final vote. I could understand you if the waits were only for a few days, but they weren't. They were regularly more than a week and sometimes more than two.

[diptheriadan]

Oh my God, The delegates have been active! We've debated every single bill brought before us to a satisfactory level! Just because we did not motion for a final vote does not excuse the fact that you often waited for weeks on end to call for votes! You could have, at any time, called for a vote, but you didn't!

 

[diptheriadan]

I'd be in favor of having some sort of exception somewhat along the lines of "If the Governor and x percent of the legislature agree, the Chamber size can decrease back to five seats" or something like that. With the two other seats being vacant, of course.

[diptheriadan]

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Y'all can fix any errors and make it look pretty.

[diptheriadan]

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Y'all can fix any errors and make it look pretty.