Legislation Introduction Thread

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Wikimaster General Act

1. The Wiki Commission is abolished.
2. The Wiki Commissions duties shall be vested in a Wikimaster General. The Wikimaster General shall be a Cabinet position, requiring nomination by the President and confirmation by the Senate. The Wikimaster General must posses an active Wiki account.
3. The Wikimaster General shall be required to update the Wiki on all major federal developments.
4. Executive officers of the federal government shall be required to give the Wikimaster any assistance regarding their spheres of work he deems necessary. The establishment of the office of Wikimaster shall not affect other federal officeholders' already existing statutory duties to update the Wiki, if they possess an active account.
5. The Wikimaster General shall assist, if asked by a regional government, with updating the Wiki on regional issues.
6. The Wikimaster General shall be allowed to ask the President to nominate a Deputy Wikimaster General, subjected to the Senate confirmation, to assist him and serve as the Acting Wikimaster during absence or vacancy.
7. The Wikimaster General shall maintain a stickied thread where he shall make information on the Wiki updating progress and where the citizens shall be allowed to make suggestions and requests.
8. The F.L. 15-7 (Line of Sucession (Amendment No. 2) Act) shall be amended to include the Wikimaster General to the line, being preceded by the Attorney General and followed by the Dean of the Senate.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Article 2, Section 2 of the Senate Rules, Regulations, and Procedures shall be amended as follow:

3. In the event that the PPT should be absent by reason of having failed to post in the Atlas ForumAtlasia boards for a period of no less than 52 days, or declare temporary inability to perform his duties without being absent from the Forum, then the powers given by this Resolution to the PPT shall instead be exercised by the Dean of the Senate.

Article 2, Section 3 of the Senate Rules, Regulations, and Procedures shall be amended as follow:

1. If:

i. The Presidency of the Senate is vacant and there is no PPT in office or,
ii. One of these offices is vacant and the other office holder has been inactive on Atlasia boards for two or more days or has a declared absence or,
iii. Both of these office holders have been inactive on Atlasia boards for fivetwo or more days or have declared absences,

Then the Dean of the Senate shall be the Presiding Officer of the Senate, possessing all of the powers and prerogatives of the PPT.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Help The Refugees Act

Syrian refugees in the Turkish camps shall receive the same humanitarian assistance from Atlasia as refugees in the Jordanian camps are already receiving.

This provision shall extend to all neighbourhooding countries where Syrian refugees are located and where assistance from Atlasia is possible.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

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[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

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[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

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[/quote]

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

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[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Emergency Pacific Referendum Act

1. A biding referendum shall be held in the former Pacific Region to determine whether it's citizens wants return to the regionhood or to retain terms of the Pacific Final Constitution
2. The referendum shall be conducted by the Secretary of Federal Elections, who shall determine it's lenght
3. A simple majority is required to reach a decision

[Sbane]

A BILL

Recognizing the issues stemming from the recent changes to the Pacific's Constitution including the delegation of the Regions' Legislative authority to the Atlasia Senate, and the prohibition on subsequent amendments, the following is thus resolved and passed into law by the Atlasian Senate.


Section 1: Title
This bill is to be entitled the Regional Legislative and Constitutional Amendment Authority Act of 2013.

Section 2: Objectives
1. It shall be resolved that the Senate shall not be tasked with performing the duties of the legislative authority or any other responbilities deglated by "the unincorporated territories", know hereafter as the Pacific, or any other Region of Atlasia to the Atlasian Senate.
2. The Senate shall thus proscribe a process that shall ensure that the voice of the citizens of the Pacific Region, or any Region who has so delegated its authority in this manner, is the primary interest of any legislative organ for the said region.
3. The Senate shall also ensure that the Pacific Region's ability to amend or alter it's constitution, as desired by the will of region's citizens, shall thus be enabled.

Section 3: Establishing a Regional Legislative Authority
1. The Pacific Region, or any other Region, that has delegated its legislative authority to the Senate shall have the delegated legislative authority vested in an initiative process.
2. The process shall be open to all citizens of the region and shall extend to all Legislative Authority that has been delegated to the Atlasian Senate by the Constitution of the region in question.
3. All initiatives must attain signatures equal to five percent of the region's voters in the last Federal election. This process is to be completed in a thread which shall remain open for the duration that the processes established in this Section shall remain in effect.
4. Regular votes on the valid initiatives shall begin between midnight Eastern Standard Time on the Thursday preceding the penultimate Friday of the month and 0001 Eastern Standard Time on the penultimate Friday itself, and shall conclude exactly 72 hours after beginning, except in the month of December. Regular votes on the valid initiatives in the month of December shall begin between midnight Eastern Standard Time on the Thursday preceding the second Friday of the month and 0001 Eastern Standard Time on the second Friday itself, and shall conclude exactly 72 hours after beginning.
5. The thread for the offering of initiatives and subsequent signatures, as well as the vote booth shall be opened and closed by the Regional Senator elected to represent the Region in question.
6. This process shall remain in place only until the Region has so amended or altered their Consititution so as to resume responsbility for the Region's legislative capacity.

Section 4: All Other Responsibilities Delegated
1. The Senate of Atlasia shall not serve as stand-in for any Region who has delegated any other responsbilities to the Atlasian Senate.

Section 5: Ensuring the Ability of a Region's Citizens to Amend their Constitutions
1. All regions must maintain the ability to amend, alter or replace their Constitutions through a process that shall reflect the will of the region's citizens.
2. The Pacific Region, organized as it is by the "Final Constitution", or any region that has forbid the citizen's residing there from amending their own constutition shall be empowered with the opportunity to amend, alter or replace their Constitution through the following process.
3. Following the passage of this legislation, the Regional Senator of the region in question, shall immediately open a thread in which any citizen of the said region may offer amendments to part or whole of the present "Final Consitution", with the signatures of at least five validly registered citizens thereof.
4. Votes to amend or replace the Constitution shall take place at the same scheduled time as defined in Section 3, Clause 4 of this bill.
5. The first vote shall contain a referendum on all valid amendments offered within that first 72 hours. Subsequent votes shall contain a referendum vote on all valid amendments offered in the appropriate thread since the last referendum vote was commenced.
6. All amendments shall become effective upon their successful adoption by a majority of the voters in the region.
7. If any Region shall maintain a Constitution that forbids the ability to the amend their own constitution, this process shall remain in place until such provisions are altered and the will of the region's citizen's is once again respected.

[Napoleon]

The It's Not Up To You Act

1. FL 52-2 Late Term Abortion Restriction Act is hereby repealed.

2. FL 18-1 Reproductive Rights Act is hereby repealed.

3. Funding for Safe-Sex Education and Contraceptive Services

a. $30,000,000 shall be appropriated to each region each year for the purpose of expanding safe-sex education programs and access to contraceptive services.
b. Programs shall also include information regarding adoption.
c. The Department of Internal Affairs shall be charged with designing a criteria of what constitutes a qualifying sex education program in each region.
d. The Department of Internal Affairs will be in charge of distributing all the said monies to each region.
e. Any region that fails to construct or maintain a qualifying program or expansion of services, will have their money withheld until the standards are met.

4. $60 million per year shall be appropriated for the purpose of caring for viable children born during a failed abortion procedure.

[MaxQue]

Fix Early Voting Amendment

Article V, Section 2, Clause 7 of the Third Constitution is amended as follows:

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Section 1, Clause 1 of F.L. 32-8: The Absentee Voting Act is amended as follows:

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Section 1, Clause 2 of F.L. 32-8: The Absentee Voting Act is amended as follows:

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[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Executive Branch Reorganization Act

A BILL

To clarify, streamline, and improve the structure of the federal government.

1. The following government departments, including all agencies listed in parenthesis, shall be recognized as falling under the authority of the Secretary of Internal Affairs / Secretary of the Treasury :

• Department of Social Welfare (Fritzcare, Social Security, Food & Nutrition Services, Veterans Benefits Administration, Veterans Health Administration, Health Resources & Services Administration, Indian Health Service, Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services, Administration on the Aging)
• Department of Economic Development (Postal Service, Federal Aviation Administration, Bureau of the Census, Food & Drug Administration, Patent & Trademark Office, Federal Railroad Administration, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Rural Utilities Service, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Pension benefit Guarantee Corporation, Occupational Safety & Health Administration, Veterans Employment & Training Services, Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, International Trade Administration, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Mine Safety & Health Administration, Veterans Employment and Training Services, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Industry & Security, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
• Department of Education (Office of Federal Student Aid, Office of Elementary & Secondary Education, Office of Special Education & Rehabilitation, Employment & Training Administration, Office of Post-Secondary Education, Job Corps, Office of Innovation & Improvement, Office of Vocational & Adult Education, Institute of Education Sciences, Office of English Language Acquisition)
• Department of Science & Technology (National Institute of Health, NASA, National Science Foundation, Energy Science, National Environmental Satellite, Data, & Information Services; Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Nuclear Energy, National Institute of Food & Agriculture, Atlasian Geological Survey, National Weather Service, Fossil Energy, National Institute of Standards & Technology, National Telecommunications & Information Administration, Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, Center for Nutrition Policy & Promotion)
• Department of Public Works (Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Amtrak, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Maritime Administration, Power Marketing Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority)
• Department of Disaster Relief & Prevention (Nuclear Security Administration, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Coast Guard, FEMA, Office of Intelligence & Analysis, Directorate for Science & Technology, National Transportation Safety Board)
• Department of Environmental Conservation & Land Management (Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Management, Forest Service, Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park Service, Fish & Wildlife Service, Superfund, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation, National Ocean Service, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Assessment & Restoration Program)
• Department of Treasury (Internal Revenue Service, Mint, Customs & Border Protection, Secret Service, Comptroller of the Currency, Bureau of Engraving & Printing, Financial Management Service, Office of Thrift Supervision, Bureau of the Public Debt)
• Department of Community Development)
• Department of Agriculture (Farm Service Agency, Foreign Agricultural Service, Agricultural Marketing Service, Food Safety & Inspection Service, Agricultural Research Service, Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service, National Agricultural Statistics Service)
• Department of Culture (Smithsonian Institute, Library of Congress, Architect of the Capitol, National Cemetery Administration, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Archives, Institute of Museum & Library Services, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, Atlasian Battle Monuments Commission)
• Independent Agencies: FDIC, NSA, CIA, Office of Personnel Management, Securities and Exchange Commission, Agency for International Development, Peace Corps, equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, National Labor Relations Board, General Services Administration, Federal Trade Commission, Federal Housing Finance agency, Export-Import Bank of the United States, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Federal Election Commission)

2. The following government departments shall be recognized as falling under the authority of the Secretary of External Affairs / Secretary of the State:

• Department of State
• Department of Defense

3. The following government departments shall be recognized as falling under the authority of the Attorney General:

• Department of Justice

4. The following federal agencies are hereby abolished:

• Transportation Security Administration
• Office of Insular Affairs
• Millennium Challenge Corporation
• Broadcasting Board of Governors
• Office of Safe & Drug-free Schools
• Legal Services Corporation
• Federal Communications Commission
• Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
• Economic Development Administration
• Neighborworks Atlasia
• Small Business Administration
• Office of Indian Education (to be merged with Bureau of Indian Affairs)
• Office of the Special Trustee for Atlasian Indians (to be merged with Bureau of Indian Affairs)
• Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (to be absorbed by Nuclear Security Administration)

I am going to be taking over sponsorship for this once Nix becomes one of the departed.

[Napoleon]

Represntative Democracy Amendment

The Seventh Amendment is repealed. The Eighteenth Amendment is repealed.

[TNF]

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[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

A BILL

To close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, quality, and equality, so that all students may enjoy a proper education.

Be it enacted the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia assembled;

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the ‘Atlasian Education Modernization Act.’

SECTION 2. FINDINGS

The Senate of the Republic of Atlasia hereby finds and declares that;

1.   The current state of the Atlasian education system is poor, and student performance is on a long-term decline

2.    Children of minority and low-income households are being inadequately schooled.

3.   The traditional teachings of mathematics and science courses have been reduced to mere memorization games that do not adequately prepare students for life.

4.   Students have been taught to manufacture formulaic paragraphs on writing essays but are not being adequately trained as writers and readers.

5.   These findings demonstrate an urgent call for reform in the structure of education in the Republic of Atlasia.

SECTION 3. IMPLEMENTATION BY REGIONS

Each region in the Republic of Atlasia shall determine, via legislative or executive action, which policies of this legislation shall apply.  Regions will be expected to craft new education policy based on the reforms established by this legislation.  All new policies, waivers, grants, and funds must be approved by the Secretary of Internal Affairs, who may only approve plans which include all required information asked for by this law.

SECTION 4. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDUCATION

1.   All regional education proposals must specify the means of funding for public and private schools.  Schools, public and private, may either be funded exclusively by public funds from the region, the region's municipalities, or the Federal government.

1a. Regions that adopt this policy will be required to:

• Require the founding of a new private comprehensive school to require approval from the region's appropriate regulatory apartment
• Allocate state grants to private schools comparable to that given to a municipal school of the same size
• Prohibit the use of tuition fees by private schools
• Require private schools to admit all their pupils on the same basis as the corresponding municipal school
• Require and ensure that private schools give their students all the social entitlements that are offered to the students of municipal schools

SECTION 5. TEACHERS

1.   The right of teachers to unionize shall be guaranteed across all regions.

2.   All teachers will be allowed to choose textbooks relevant to their respective curriculums.

3.   Regions applying for benefits must specify the minimum education level expected of their teachers.

3a.  Existing teachers whose level of education is below the region's requirement may retain their jobs, but will be required to attend a nightly college until the standard is met.  Tuition will be covered exclusively by the region.

4.   There shall be no specific curriculum assigned to any teacher from the Federal government.

5.   All school principals will be required to, assess their teachers for competence and expertise in their field of study and send their reports to their respective regions.  The appropriate regulatory department will be authorized to set its own guidelines on how each individual teacher will be paid and terminate the jobs of those deemed incompetent.

SECTION 6. SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

1.   All schools below college shall be required to be open to students for at least 190 days per year for at least 7.5 hours a day for no less than eleven years.  One hour each day must be reserved to study hall periods and recess, which shall be required in all schools.

2.   All students across all regions will be entitled to health care (including mental health) and daily lunch.  If a student is of an income level below $25,000, their lunches shall be at no cost.

SECTION 7. WAIVERS FROM STANDARDIZED TESTS

All applying regions must specify whether they would like to continue to assign federal standardized tests in their policy formulas.  Waivers will be distributed to regions under the condition that at least one regionally-prescribed test will be assigned to all its students at any point during the middle of their senior years.  Questions in this test must pertain to math, science, English, and social studies.

SECTION 8. FUNDING

TBD

SECTION 9. IMPLEMENTATION

This law shall go into effect at the start of the 2015 school year.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

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[HagridOfTheDeep]

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I will sponsor this amendment in Matt's stead, just to get it out of the queue. I won't be an enthusiastic sponsor though, sorry. I was planning to vote it down.

[Napoleon]

I will sponsor this amendment in Matt's stead, just to get it out of the queue. I won't be an enthusiastic sponsor though, sorry. I was planning to vote it down.

Its only in the queue because you sponsored it. Thanks.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Yankee messaged me and told me to sponsor it so we could get rid of it. I'm just going by what he told me.

[Napoleon]

Yankee messaged me and told me to sponsor it so we could get rid of it. I'm just going by what he told me.

Maybe he could come explain why...

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I never said to sponsor it to get it out of the queue.


I want to fast track these bills through slot five, but an Amendment cannot go into five so I wanted to put it through slot six and then get it back out again as quickly as possible so that one can be left empty for emergencies (it thus isn't delaying anything). However, the stimulus bill will be brought up soon by DemPGH into one of his slots and that would violate the clogging rule if I had four. So I had Hagrid sponsor this one instead of me.

If people cooperate, they will all be done with by next week.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

On behalf of the administration-

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[/quote]

[Napoleon]

Voter Registration Amendment

Persons may only change their State of registration from one region to another region once every 180 days. Changes in State of registration within a single region may occur once a month every 24 hours. Persons may submit a secondary voting-only registration in another region. Secondary registrations may only be changed once every 180 days.

[Napoleon]

Atlasian Senior Care Act

Amendment to Section 6 of the Comprehensive Social Security Reform Act

10a. Any Atlasian receiving a full old-age pension (age 70 or over) is entitled to register for Hospice Care.
10b. Hospice Care is to be provided by and administered though the regions' Community Health Partnerships.
10c. Out of pocket costs for seniors in hospice care is not to exceed 5% of pension salary.

[Napoleon]

The Atlasian Security Act
1.Terrorism is hereby defined, for the purpose of federal law, to include the following:
1a. Unlawful or antidemocratic acts of force or violence against people or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.
1b. Conspiring in a coordinated effort to render the game or part thereof unplayable

2. If any individual or group of individuals is found guilty of violation of either section they are to face minimum of a 2 month ban from voting and holding office, with the maximum not to exceed 24 months.

introduced on behalf of a good friend