SB 2018-161: MADA Act (Passed)

[Associate Justice PiT]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Atlasian People's House of Representatives
Passed 5-1 in the Atlasian House Assembled,

[/quote]

Sponsor: Pericles, LouisvilleThunder

     I hereby open the floor for debate.

[Pericles]

I'll sponsor this bill.

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

I will assume sponsorship of this bill too because I view it as extremely necessary to conduct more debates for elections. Even though we have talented people who will host these debates without this law on the books, I think it is necessary for the government to intervene to make sure this important public service is maintained regularly.

[wxtransit]

I will assume sponsorship of this bill too because I view it as extremely necessary to conduct more debates for elections. Even though we have talented people who will host these debates without this law on the books, I think it is necessary for the government to intervene to make sure this important public service is maintained regularly.

I'll sponsor this bill.

Oooooh...

[cinyc]

Proposed amendment:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I don’t see any need for off-cycle debates in some circumstances. For example, who would even debate in an off-cycle debate if there aren’t any declared opponents to the incumbent yet? How can we require a debate every month if there aren’t any participants?

[wxtransit]

Proposed amendment:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I don’t see any need for off-cycle debates in some circumstances. For example, who would even debate in an off-cycle debate if there aren’t any declared opponents to the incumbent yet? How can we require a debate every month if there aren’t any participants?

Party leaders could debate platforms. The whole point of the bill is to get frequent debates, and once every months IMO is too infrequent.

[cinyc]

Proposed amendment:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I don’t see any need for off-cycle debates in some circumstances. For example, who would even debate in an off-cycle debate if there aren’t any declared opponents to the incumbent yet? How can we require a debate every month if there aren’t any participants?

Party leaders could debate platforms. The whole point of the bill is to get frequent debates, and once every months IMO is too infrequent.

Even with my bill, nothing would stop the IDC from holding debates more frequently. I just don’t want to put the IDC in a position where they have to hold a useless debate with little participation due to lack of meaningful participants.

As someone who is not part of a party, I don’t find party leader debates all that important. They’re not running for anything.

[wxtransit]

Proposed amendment:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I don’t see any need for off-cycle debates in some circumstances. For example, who would even debate in an off-cycle debate if there aren’t any declared opponents to the incumbent yet? How can we require a debate every month if there aren’t any participants?

Party leaders could debate platforms. The whole point of the bill is to get frequent debates, and once every months IMO is too infrequent.

Even with my bill, nothing would stop the IDC from holding debates more frequently. I just don’t want to put the IDC in a position where they have to hold a useless debate with little participation due to lack of meaningful participants.

As someone who is not part of a party, I don’t find party leader debates all that important. They’re not running for anything.

On your first point: yes, that may be true, but having too infrequent a cycle might cause a lazy Debate Moderator to do the absolute minimum.

On your second point: Many Atlasians want to know where the parties stand and what they stand for. While you may not want to know this, many do, and a party leaders' debate would address this need.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Senators have 24 hours to object to Senator Pericles sponsoring the bill. Senator LouisvilleThunder will be allowed to co-sponsor it.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     With no objections, Senator Pericles is now the sponsor. If he does not object, Senator LouisvilleThunder can co-sponsor it. Senator Pericles is welcome to speak in favor of the bill, though I will thank Senator LouisvilleThunder for having already done so.

[Pericles]

This is a great bill and should be passed into law. We've heard a lot of talk about activity this election, well here we have the chance to do something about it. By having monthly debates we can have a voting populace that is more energized and informed resulting in a better game for all. Too often elections are just a popularity contest(I won't comment on how this may have impacted the current results), where whoever is seen as 'nice guy FF' wins. That's because those  who aren't in Fantasy Elections every day, like me early last year, don't know enough about the policies at stake, and short campaigns, often with candidates who are deliberately vague(I'm a notable exception) don't help that much. So monthly debates will inform voters and create a more interesting and fun game.

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

I'll support this bill as I can see it helping to breathe new life into the game and allow people to know where the candidates stand.

[Associate Justice PiT]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Status: Awaiting Sponsor Feedback
Sponsor Feedback: Pending

[Pericles]

The debates should be monthly to keep up public interest, ensure an informed populace and help boost activity.

[cinyc]

So I assume this amendment is unfriendly?

As I said earlier, I’m worried about binding a debate administrator to a debate schedule that might be a tad unrealistic. I’m not sold that there’s much to debate in off-cycle months.

Even after my proposed amendment, nothing would prohibit the IDC from holding debates more frequently. The proposed frequency of debates would be one question to ask during confirmation, I suppose.

[Anna Komnene]

I would support Senator cinyc's amendment, but I'm generally opposed to this idea. I agree with what oakvale said at some point that people have to actually want to do things. Atlasia isn't a job. I feel like if there was someone that wanted to be running debates every month, we'd already see it happening. As an aside, I'm actually a little concerned that this could discourage actual independent journalists from developing on their own.

[Pericles]

Monthly debates should be the objective. They can get an exemption if they find at a certain point monthly debates are unfeasible for a particular month.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Since the amendment is unfriendly, I bring it to a vote. Senators have 72 hours to vote aye, nay, or abstain on Senator cinyc's amendment.

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

Aye

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

Aye

[cinyc]

Aye

[Pericles]

Nay

[wxtransit]

Copied from Congressional Discussion Thread:

I'm not sure if this is the area to post this, but if the amendment for the MADA bill passes in the Senate, I will vote Nay on the bill in the House as it removes the major binding function of the bill. Once every two months is almost like our situation now. Once every month provides considerably more debate than present.

I'd rather see a complete bill passed than a half-baked one.

[cinyc]

Copied from Congressional Discussion Thread:

I'm not sure if this is the area to post this, but if the amendment for the MADA bill passes in the Senate, I will vote Nay on the bill in the House as it removes the major binding function of the bill. Once every two months is almost like our situation now. Once every month provides considerably more debate than present.

I'd rather see a complete bill passed than a half-baked one.

That makes no sense. As I’ve repeatedly said - nothing in my proposed amendment would prohibit the debate moderator from holding more frequent debates. Binding someone to a schedule that is too ambitious isn’t a good idea.

[Pericles]

At the very least the IDC's objective should be monthly debates, though if they can't do it they get a one-time exemption and have to try harder next time.