Southern Legislation Introduction Thread - 2019/2020

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Introducing two bills for the next Chamber:

Order of the Southern Star Act.

1. The Order of the Southern Star shall be a recognition of merit awarded by the Governor of the South to recognize the achievements rendered to it by its citizens.

2. The Order shall be granted in one of two degrees, the Silver Star or the Gold Star, which shall be for particularly meritorious achievements.

3. The Chamber of Delegates, by a two-thirds vote, may strip a recipient of this award.

Regional Fuel Tax

1. The Southern Region shall tax gasoline at 20 cents per gallon and shall be indexed with inflation.

2. This act shall take effect September 1, 2020.

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Southern Schools COVID-19 Reopening Act

Per the July 27th Presidential address, the following is enacted:

1. Southern public schools located in Federal Alert Level 3 and 2 areas must operate fully remote.

2. Southern public schools located in Federal Alert Level 1 areas may fully operate in a physical location without capacity requirements. Strict social distancing guidelines must still be enforced.
School districts may opt out of this clause and continue to operate under Clause 1 of this act.

3. Failure for school districts to comply with this act may result in the freezing of regional funds, as directed by the Governor’s office.

4. This act shall go into effect immediately and shall expire on October 1, 2020. The Governor may extend this act at their discretion up to an additional 90 days before legislature reauthorization is required.

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Confederate Statue Removal Act

1. All physical statues commemorating Confederate leaders shall be moved to museums or Civil War Battle sites.
2. This act shall apply to statues on regional government property.
3. This act will take effect on October 1, 2020.

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Introducing three bills that were passed by the region prior to reset. To my knowledge and a quick review of our regional statue, not have been passed post-reset.

Financial Education Act
To require schools in the South to teach students basic finance techniques and skills.

Be it enacted by the Chamber assembled:

1. This legislation may be cited as the Financial Education Act.
2. All certified high schools in the South are hereby required to include basic tax law, finance, and mortgage techniques in the curriculum for students who are enrolled in their senior year.
3. All certified high schools will be required to comply with this law by the beginning of the 2021-22 academic year.

Sports Venue Reform Act

1. The Southern Government shall no longer subsidize the construction of venues whose purposes are to host professional sports games.
2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2020 and does not apply to any current agreements that have been made.

Preserve our Cetaceans Act

1. Whaling, sealing, and the sale of products produced in the past 30 years through whaling or sealing is prohibited. Violators shall be fined no less than $100,000 for sale and not less than $500,000 for whaling or sealing.

2. The taking of marine mammals by any person in Southern waters for purposes not authorized by the Southern government is prohibited. Permits shall only be authorized for scientific research, for enhancing the survival or recovery of a marine mammal species, or temporary educational photography purposes. Violators shall be fined not less than $500,000. This clause does not apply to incidental take during commercial activities.

3. Commercial gill netting in oceanic waters is prohibited. Drift nets longer than 2.5km are prohibited. All drift nets are required to be made from biodegradable materials and incorporate pingers in sufficient quantities to deter cetaceans. Violators shall be fined not less than $100,000.

4. All ships engaged in midwater trawling must include a device to exclude cetaceans or allow them to escape, such as a Nordmore grate. Violators shall be fined not less than $50,000.

5. All ships engaged in purse seine fishing are required to incorporate Medina panels into their nets and engage in backing-down procedures to allow dolphins to leave the nets. Violators shall be fined not less than $50,000.

6. All appropriate regulatory agencies are directed to consider cetacean safety as a major objective and to shift and narrow maritime traffic separation schemes as appropriate, including outright avoidance of key areas, and are further directed to consider the impact of oceanic noise created by commercial shipping and mineral exploration on such regulations.

7. Power plants that discharge water that has been used by the plant with no significant alterations save temperature are directed to prevent any undue restrictions to access to their discharge canals by marine mammals.

8. All commercial operations that operate to observe cetaceans in their native habitat are directed to maintain no more than a no wake speed when knowingly operating within 500 feet of a cetacean, and may not pursue, encircle, or come in between the members of a pod, make unnecessary sudden turns, make excessive noise, or approach such animals at an angle by which they would be taken by surprise. These operations also may not allow swimming with these cetaceans or coerce cetaceans into bow-riding. Violators shall be fined $25,000 per offense.

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Southern Small Business Administration Act
To establish a Southern Small Business Administration

Be it enacted by the Government of the Southern Region

1. A department shall be established called the "Southern Small Business Administration"
2. The Southern Small Business Administration shall have an annual budget of $750 million dollars. Money shall be appropriated from regional reserves.
3. The Southern Small Business Administration shall administer grants and loans under $50,000 for small businesses that have under $100,000 dollars of net revenue each year.
4. The Southern Small Business Administration shall form immediately upon the passage of this bill.

Inspired by legislation recently introduced in Lincoln

Signing on as a co-sponsor!

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Justice in Policing Act

Section 1: Police Accountability
1. The Southern government shall keep a registry of police misconduct complaints and disciplinary actions that occur within the region. Any disciplinary actions may be accessed by the public
2. The Southern Attorney General shall be instructed to establish an independent process to investigate all cases of misconduct and excessive force used by the police.
3. Qualified immunity shall no longer be a protected defense in the South. Any citizen may file suit against an officer or department for perceived violations of civil rights.
4. All regional and local police departments shall be mandated for vehicles to be equipped with dashboard cameras.
5. All regional, state and local law enforcement agencies shall be required to establish anti-bias and anti-discrimination training programs. These programs must be ongoing with officers participating in continuous professional development.
6. No regional, state or local law enforcement officer may use chokeholds or other carotid holds in order to receive regional funding. No-Knock warrants are hereby banned in the South.
7. Use of force may only be used when necessary to prevent the death or serious bodily injury. Deadly force may only be used as a last-resort after de-escalation attempts have been attempted.
8. Any officer who fires a weapon must immediately provide body camera footage and a detailed report of the incident and justification for use of a weapon. Failure to provide report or proof of misinformation may result in termination of employment.

Section 2: Funding
1. $XXX shall be appropriated to regional, state and local agencies to carry out the clauses of Section 1.

Section 3: Implementation
1. All regional, state and local law enforcement agencies must be in compliance with this act by January 1, 2021.

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Amendment to the Appointment Regulation Act

The Appointment Regulation Act is hereby amended to read:

Appointment Regulation Act

1. When filling a vacancy in the Southern Chamber of Delegates, the Governor shall select an eligible individual who is registered under the same party that the resigned, deregistered, or deceased incumbent was registered under at the time of their resignation, deregistration, or death.

2. If the resigned, deregistered, or deceased incumbent was registered as an independent, or if the party they were registered under has since been abolished, the governor may then select any eligible individual, regardless of party registration or lack thereof.

3. In all cases, the governor is encouraged to select someone of similar ideology to the incumbent.

4. In the event that the governor cannot find anyone from the appropriate party to take the seat, they then have the following options:
 a. They may appoint an eligible individual outside of the party, but this individual must be approved by a unanimous vote of the chamber before that individual can take office.
 b. In the event the Governor and the Chamber cannot settle on an appointment, the Governor may call a special election. The election shall occur on the following weekend and adhere to all regional election laws, but may not occur within 48 hours of the special election being called. If no appointment is made within 7 days of the vacancy arising, a special election shall automatically be called.

5. Once the appointed individual is sworn in, or once an election is called under 4b., the action is final and cannot be rescinded

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K9 Unit Reform Act

1)   The use of narcotics-detection dogs by Southern law enforcement agencies is hereby banned in the South. This does not prohibit other legal police activity involving dogs.

2)   Narcotics-detection dogs may be adopted by individuals trained to work with police dogs including but not limited to retired or former police officers and military officials.

3)   This legislation shall go into effect on July 1, 2021.

Inspired by: https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=190517.0

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Efficient Products Credit Act
1. Southerners may receive a tax credit equal to 10% of the product cost of energy efficient windows and doors. This credit shall be applied on their regional tax return.
2. For windows and skylights, this credit may not exceed $200 in a given year.
3. For doors, this credit may not exceed $500 in a given year.
4. Southerns may receive no more than $2000 in a lifetime for all energy efficiency tax credits.
5. This act shall take effect for the 2022 fiscal year.

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Sponsoring the below bill. I'll admit I haven't been paying attention to NPC elections the last two months which is while this slipped my radar.

I wonder if a legislator might be kind enough to sponsor this, as the South remains the only region not to take action on this specific situation.

A BILL
To postpone the state and local elections in the South

Be it enacted by the Southern Chamber of Delegates resolved

Section 1. Title.

This legislation may be cited as the State and Local Government Special Extension Act.

Section 2. Term Extension.

i. The governors, legislators, and local officers elected between July and December 2020 shall remain in office an additional month after the expiration of the ordinary six-month terms to which they were elected, and the dates of the election of their successors shall be adjusted accordingly.

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Sponsoring these bills, which I co-authored with our Governor-elect:

Southern COVID-19 Vaccination Act

Section 1: Vaccination Infrastructure
1. $2 billion shall be allocated from regional reserves for the purchase of the Moderna vaccine approved by the FDA.
2. $500 million shall be allocated to secure physical infrastructure to securely hold and distribute the vaccines.
3. Training shall begin immediately to ensure healthcare worked at distribution and holding locations are trained and capable to properly store and administer all vaccines.
4. The Southern Government shall set up and maintain a website that will provide vaccination resources to residents, included, but not limited to: distribution locations, reasons to get the vaccine and tracking on what percentage of residents in each state have received the vaccine.

Section 2: Distribution Priorities
1. The distribution of the vaccine shall be divided into phases to ensure it is dispersed based on importance and need:
a. Phase 1 - Front-line healthcare workers, ambulance drivers, cleaners, first responders and all individuals working at distribution and storage locations.
b. Phase 2 - Those determined to have underlying conditions that put them at a significantly higher risk, those with two or more chronic conditions, those aged 65 and above living in group living facilities, all individuals age 80 and over.
c. Phase 3- Critical workers in high risk situations, including: teachers, child care workers, all remaining healthcare workers, those with underlying conditions that put them at a moderately higher risk.
d. Phase 4 - All individuals working in the service and other industries whose job requires working at a physical location and all people living in prisons, jails and detention centers.
e. Phase 5 - All remaining Southern residents who opt in to take the vaccine.

Section 3: Advertising Campaign
1. $50 million shall be allocated from regional reserves to launch a public advertising campaign encouraging Southern citizens to get vaccinated according to what phase they qualify for.


Section 4: Implementation
1. This act is effective immediately upon passage.

Southern COVID-19 Regulations Act

Section 1: School Regulations
1. All Southern Schools may operate in-person learning with the following conditions:
a. Masks must be worn at all times by students and staff, except when eating or drinking.
b. Social distancing practices must be encouraged at all times, with a minimum 6 feet apart rule enforced. Students and staff must regularly undergo temperature checks and must be sent home and participate virtually if temperature is deemed too high or if they are exhibiting other COVID-19 related symptoms.
c. In the event of a positive test from a student or staff member on-site, all operations must immediately move to virtual learning until affected areas have been cleaned and it is determined safe to return.
2. Repeated failure to comply with Section 1 of this act may result in loss of government funding.

Section 2: Business Regulations
1. Regional offices shall operate at a 50% capacity limit.
2. All Southern businesses may operate at 50% capacity with the following conditions:
a. Masks must be worn at all times by staff and guests, except when eating or drinking.
b. Social distancing practices must be encouraged at all times, with a minimum 6 feet apart rule enforced for separate parties.
3. These capacity restrictions shall be baseline numbers - local governments may adjust to a higher capacity percentage as needed based on the risk in their area.

Section 3: Implementation
1. This legislation shall go into effect immediately and will expire on March 31st, 2021, at which time, reauthorization by the legislature shall be required.