LC 2.8 Improving the efficiency of the Lincoln Government Act (Statute)

[Former President tack50]

Improving the efficiency of the Lincoln Government

Part I:
This bill shall expand the total slots of legislation that the Lincoln Council can consider to 25, of these 18 slots shall be held by the government and 7 slots shall be held by the opposition

Part II:
This bill shall take effect immediately upon signing by the governor

Sponsors: tack50 and S019

Debate time for this bill shall start now and shall last for no less than 72 hours.

Also to clarify as this is a bill with 2 sponsors, we will need both of them to agree to deem ammendments friendly. Since a member of the government is co-sponsoring this, this will go on a government slot

[Sestak]

25 slots?!?!?!

[Former President tack50]

Yeah, that's way too much. While I've decided to co-sponsor to bring this inmediately to the floor, 25 slots is indeed way, way too much.

I am personally in form of some variable system where the number of slots is somehow related to the number of councillors (in government, in opposition or total). But I am also fine with a fixed system

Also, we should probably clarify that this is an ammendment to the SOAP.

Worth noting that Fremont currently has 8 slots and seems to be running fine (though they only have 7 legislators). The South currently has 10.

[Mr. Reactionary]

This would be an improvement. Thanks for considering it.

[lfromnj]

Ill be frank

25 slots altogether is way too many for a regional government which has newer players who may not be as active. Keeping track of 25 could lead to spam bills trying to force a recall election. I agree a slight increase is good but I don't believe that all the legislators have time for 25.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Just going to remind people that the slots are enshrined in the standing orders, so this bill has to be reworded as a SOAP amendment.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Here's the bill reworded to be a valid SOAP amendment. Someone needs to formally sponsor this amendment, of course.

Amendment to the Standing Orders:

B. 7 25 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously. Of these 7 25 threads, 5 18 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government, and 2 7 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition. The Speaker shall move government and opposition legislation to these threads in the order in which it was introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

[S019]

Sponsor: Suburban NJ Conservative

Amendment to the Standing Orders:

B. 7 25 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously. Of these 7 25 threads, 5 18 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government, and 2 7 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition. The Speaker shall move government and opposition legislation to these threads in the order in which it was introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

[YE]

Take the square root of this and you have the ideal number of slots.

[Pyro]

As has been stated, this would effectively be an amendment to the Standing Orders.

Originally, the Council rules permitted four Government slots and one Opposition slot.
This was then reluctantly amended by the 1st Council to allow for five Government slots and two Opposition slots.

Considering the present docket allows for a healthy amount of bills to be debated at once, I'm going to need to see some convincing arguments from this bill's proponents about why this change is necessary beyond the sake of pushing Opposition-led legislation through at a quicker pace.

[Former President tack50]

S019's ammendment is also friendly for me

Ammendment L 2:08 by S019

Amendment to the Standing Orders:

B. 7 25 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously. Of these 7 25 threads, 5 18 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government, and 2 7 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition. The Speaker shall move government and opposition legislation to these threads in the order in which it was introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

Sponsor feedback: Friendly
Status: Added to the bill

[Former President tack50]

I'll also add my own ammendment. I've co-sponsored this to be able to bring the discussion into the floor, but I will say that as currently worded I would not support this. Here is my substitute ammendment (which replaces the bill in its entirety).

This ammendment shall replace the bill in its entirety

Ammendment L 2:09 by tack50

Improving the efficiency of the Lincoln Government Act

An act to improve the efficiency of the Lincoln Council by making the number of slots variable

1. Section 2.B of the Standing Orders of the Lincoln Council shall be ammended as follows

B. 7 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously. Of these 7 threads, 5 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government, and 2 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition.  The number of threads about legislation that may be opened simultaneously shall be as follows:
i. In Councils with 5 Councillors or less; there may be up to 7 threads about legislation. 5 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government and 2 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition.
ii. In Councils with 6 or 7 Councillors; there may be up to 9 threads about legislation.  6 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government and 3 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition.
iii. In Councils with 8 or more Councillors; there may be up to 11 threads about legislation.  7 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government and 4 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition.

The Speaker shall move government and opposition legislation to these threads in the order in which it was introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2. This ammendment shall become enacted inmediately after passage

Sponsor feedback: Hostile
Status: 24 h for debate, then a vote shall be opened

Fremont currently has 8 slots. This bill would allow up to 11 slots under a council as large as this one, while enabling smaller councils to have less slots and thus a larger buffer in case billmaking dries up.

It would also ensure that each member of the opposition would get an slot for themselves under most circumstances; and same with the government.

[S019]

I'll also add my own ammendment. I've co-sponsored this to be able to bring the discussion into the floor, but I will say that as currently worded I would not support this. Here is my substitute ammendment (which replaces the bill in its entirety).

This ammendment shall replace the bill in its entirety

Ammendment L 2:09 by tack50

Improving the efficiency of the Lincoln Government Act

An act to improve the efficiency of the Lincoln Council by making the number of slots variable

1. Section 2.B of the Standing Orders of the Lincoln Council shall be ammended as follows

B. 7 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously. Of these 7 threads, 5 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government, and 2 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition.  The number of threads about legislation that may be opened simultaneously shall be as follows:
i. In Councils with 5 Councillors or less; there may be up to 7 threads about legislation. 5 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government and 2 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition.
ii. In Councils with 6 or 7 Councillors; there may be up to 9 threads about legislation.  6 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government and 3 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition.
iii. In Councils with 8 or more Councillors; there may be up to 11 threads about legislation.  7 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government and 4 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition.

The Speaker shall move government and opposition legislation to these threads in the order in which it was introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2. This ammendment shall become enacted inmediately after passage

Sponsor feedback: Unknown
Status: Waiting for co-sponsor. 24 h for a reply otherwise assumed unfriendly

Fremont currently has 8 slots. This bill would allow up to 11 slots under a council as large as this one, while enabling smaller councils to have less slots and thus a larger buffer in case billmaking dries up.

It would also ensure that each member of the opposition would get an slot for themselves under most circumstances; and same with the government.

I do not support this amendment, mostly because of the variable bill system, but I do agree that 25 slots is too many, however I think this amendment, especially for smaller Councils has the slot amount as too low

[S019]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to propose an amendment

Improving the efficiency of the Lincoln Government

Part I:
This bill shall expand the total slots of legislation that the Lincoln Council can consider to 25 18, of these 18 12 slots shall be held by the government and 7 6 slots shall be held by the opposition

Part II:
This bill shall take effect immediately upon signing by the governor

I have realized that 25 slots is way too much, so I am instead introducing an amendment to lower this number to 18, which is still a substantial increase

[Zaybay]

I will Co-Sponsor the amendment presented by SNJC.

[Adam Griffin]

In my view, this will inevitably lead to a "quantity over quality" situation. I could maybe see justification for a slight increase (a total of 10 or fewer), but any more than that and you'll almost certainly overload Councilors with work - thereby leading to thinner and lower-quality legislation that'll almost certainly be subjected to less debate and fewer amendments.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Did nobody bother to check the constitution?

13. Legislation shall fall into three categories in the Council once proposed in the Legislation Proposal Thread: government legislation, opposition legislation, and emergency legislation. Government legislation, which is proposed by councilors in the Chancellor’s government, shall have no less than three more slots than opposition legislation, which is proposed by any councilor not in government. The ratio of government to opposition slots shall be determined by the Standing Orders of Council Procedure. Emergency legislation, which must receive a sufficient second and third in the Proposal Thread by councilors other than the proposer, and must be sanctioned as necessary of emergency action by either the Chancellor or the Governor, shall not be confined by any slot as described above. An emergency designation may be denied by three-fifths of the Council voting to deny the designation.

So 2 things to remember.
1. Gov vs Oppo slots are constitutionally enshrined, and can only be removed with a constitutional amendment.
2. There must be at all times at least 3 more gov slots than oppo slots. This needs to be kept in mind when formulating slot allocations.

[S019]

ASV, I followed this both times

18-7=11, 11>3

12-6=6,    6>3

[Former President tack50]

Councillors, a vote is now open on the following:

Ammendment L 2:09 by tack50

Improving the efficiency of the Lincoln Government Act

An act to improve the efficiency of the Lincoln Council by making the number of slots variable

1. Section 2.B of the Standing Orders of the Lincoln Council shall be ammended as follows

B. 7 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously. Of these 7 threads, 5 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government, and 2 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition.  The number of threads about legislation that may be opened simultaneously shall be as follows:
i. In Councils with 5 Councillors or less; there may be up to 7 threads about legislation. 5 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government and 2 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition.
ii. In Councils with 6 or 7 Councillors; there may be up to 9 threads about legislation.  6 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government and 3 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition.
iii. In Councils with 8 or more Councillors; there may be up to 11 threads about legislation.  7 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government and 4 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition.

The Speaker shall move government and opposition legislation to these threads in the order in which it was introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2. This ammendment shall become enacted inmediately after passage

Please vote AYE, NAY or Abstain.
This vote shall last for 24 hours or until all councillors have voted. This particular ammendment replaces the bill in its entirety.

[Former President tack50]

Aye!

[S019]

NAY


Too few slots for smaller councils

[Sirius_]

Aye

[Zaybay]

That sounds good to me.

AYE

[lfromnj]

Aye reasonable amount.

[Pyro]

NAY

As Chancellor DKrol put it,

The docket system works fine - there have been no flaws to this point and the legislature is moving smoothly under the current SOAP.