Mideast Assembly Thread

[DownWithTheLeft]

I was thinking of a non-binding resolution expressing the Mideast's support for maintaining the current structure of the Atlasian government.  With challenges from one side with Lewis' proposal for essentially an Altasian Commune, and challenges from the other with the RPP's intense decentralization, do you guys feel it necessary for the Mideast to proclaim its support of the status quo?

The RPP supports the status quo on the setup of regions

[Franzl]

Welcome Inks and Peter to the Mideast Assembly...

Considering I'm the only member who has been RE-elected to this great office...I wish get things started as quickly as possible. I urge you both to swear yourselves in as quickly as possible so we can get to work for the people of the Mideast.

Then I wish to determine the Speaker of the Assembly... I hereby announce my candidacy, by the way.

Let the fun begin!

[HappyWarrior]

Welcome Inks and Peter to the Mideast Assembly...

Considering I'm the only member who has been RE-elected to this great office...I wish get things started as quickly as possible. I urge you both to swear yourselves in as quickly as possible so we can get to work for the people of the Mideast.

Then I wish to determine the Speaker of the Assembly... I hereby announce my candidacy, by the way.

Let the fun begin!

I, as the previous speaker, former governor, and current senator of the region, support you in this matter.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Welcome Inks and Peter to the Mideast Assembly...

Considering I'm the only member who has been RE-elected to this great office...I wish get things started as quickly as possible. I urge you both to swear yourselves in as quickly as possible so we can get to work for the people of the Mideast.

Then I wish to determine the Speaker of the Assembly... I hereby announce my candidacy, by the way.

Let the fun begin!

As do I, the incumbent Governor.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I'm sworn in.

[Peter]

I am not a candidate for Speaker

[Franzl]

Can we go ahead and hold a vote then?

Inks, do you have any wish to be speaker? If not...then we might not need a vote...

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Can we go ahead and hold a vote then?

Inks, do you have any wish to be speaker? If not...then we might not need a vote...

Who the heck holds session on Thanksgiving?  I support you for speaker.

I make a motion to elect Franzl as Speaker of the Mideast Assembly.

[Franzl]

I apologize....that was kind of rude

OK...I call the vote, as Inks has made the motion:

AYE

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

AYE

[Franzl]

It's been almost 24 hours....and I guess I can take that as a nomination, with 2 votes, can't I?

Anyway, thank you to both of you.

[Peter]

I heartily vote to confirm you as Speaker

[Franzl]

I heartily vote to confirm you as Speaker

thank you, sir. 3/3 is more heartwarming than 2/3

[Kaine for Senate '18]

This is the first piece of legislation I would like the Assembly to consider:

The Mideast Education Opportunity Act of 2008:
Section I:
1.   Because the number of college graduates in the Mideast has declined in recent years,
2.   And because the economic difficulties have further impacted the ability to pay for college,
3.   The Mideast has resolved to pass legislation that will ameliorate the financial difficulties of paying for college.

Section II:
1.   Beginning with the graduating class of June, 2009, all students who meet a majority of the following requirements:
2.   A four year GPA of at least 3.6,
3.   A median family income of under $125,000 per year,
4.   An SAT score of at least 2,000,
5.   Or an ACT score of at least 30,
6.   Will be provided with a full or partial academic scholarship to any 4 year school in the Mideast.

Section III:
1.   In addition to the requirements set out in Section II, the recipient must sign a pledge to attend, for all 4 years, a school in the Mideast.
2.   If the student chooses, sometime after receiving their scholarship, to attend a school not in the Mideast,
3.   Then the scholarship can be revoked, although it will not necessarily be so.

[Хahar 🤔]

2.   A four year GPA of at least 3.6,
4.   An SAT score of at least 2,000,
5.   Or an ACT score of at least 30,

No!

[Franzl]

I agree with the principle...but a couple of things aren't entirely clear:

a.) where does the money come from? It should be stated in the act how we will fund the project.

b.) Section III/3: The scholarship MUST be revoked. It'd be foolish to pay for a citizen's education in another region.

c.) what criteria do we use to grant these scholarships. II/6 states that students will receive full or partial support....what does the question depend on?

d.) I think the required GPA shouldn't be set in stone like that. We should decide how much money we can spend on the entire project, than we can set a quota based on demand for the scholarships. The required GPA could even be potentially higher....but we need a mechanism to make sure we don't get in way over our heads financially. (the same goes for SAT and ACT scores...I don't think we should set concrete limits.)

[Kaine for Senate '18]

a.) where does the money come from? It should be stated in the act how we will fund the project.

My plan is to raise sales and income taxes, as the primary source of funding, and to cut spending on certain domestic projects.

b.) Section III/3: The scholarship MUST be revoked. It'd be foolish to pay for a citizen's education in another region.

If a student is able to get into a school like Harvard, or Yale, or Princeton, I don't want to force them to attend school in the Mideast because they can't afford to go elsewhere.

c.) what criteria do we use to grant these scholarships. II/6 states that students will receive full or partial support....what does the question depend on?

I'd like to have a scale based on grades, family income, test scores, and the schools to which they are applying.

d.) I think the required GPA shouldn't be set in stone like that. We should decide how much money we can spend on the entire project, than we can set a quota based on demand for the scholarships. The required GPA could even be potentially higher....but we need a mechanism to make sure we don't get in way over our heads financially. (the same goes for SAT and ACT scores...I don't think we should set concrete limits.)

I'm perfectly fine with altering the requirements, although I set numbers that were fairly high, so going above that may make it too hard for people to qualify.

[Franzl]

Well it may very well be incredibly hard to get these scholarships...but we have to be honest that we only have limited financial means...I think it's fiscally irresponsible to guarantee scholarships solely based on concrete grade point averages.

Imagine if....I dunno....15% of students meet every requirement in this amendment, but we can only afford to pay for 8.5%.

We need variable limits....based on supply and demand....to ensure that the program works, in my opinion.


EDIT: Of course that doesn't mean we HAVE to fund exactly 8.5% of students....we do need some sort of absolute minimum grade point average....maybe 3.25 or so....that can be raised according to demand.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

We need variable limits....based on supply and demand....to ensure that the program works, in my opinion.

Agreed.  I just want to make sure that if somebody gets into a top level school like UVA, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, University of Michigan, etc., that they aren't prevented from going by lack of financial means.

[Franzl]

to get to the funding aspect....do we even have an official income/sales tax, or do we always just talk in general about "raising or lowering" it?

[Kaine for Senate '18]

to get to the funding aspect....do we even have an official income/sales tax, or do we always just talk in general about "raising or lowering" it?

From what I can tell, it's the latter.

[Franzl]

to get to the funding aspect....do we even have an official income/sales tax, or do we always just talk in general about "raising or lowering" it?

From what I can tell, it's the latter.

That makes debate about raising and lowering taxes kind of pointless....but alright

Anyway...I would like to add the source of funding to the bill in some way. Then add the part about variable eligibility requirements...and I think we can agree quite quickly on passing the act.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Anyway...I would like to add the source of funding to the bill in some way. Then add the part about variable eligibility requirements...and I think we can agree quite quickly on passing the act.

Perfectly fine with me; I'll let you substitute it in as an amendment.

[HappyWarrior]

I would ask that you fellows also take into consideration the movement of the regional capital.

[Franzl]

Section I/4: The Mideast will fund the above mentioned program by an increase of the regional income tax.

and concerning section 2, I want to either eliminate the concrete limits....or set them quite low in order to allow us to raise them accordingly when appropriate. I'll opt for leaving them out right now:

Section 2: Potential student's eligibility will be determined by their GPA and SAT/ACT scores. The required level will be determined annually based on overall supply and demand of government support. No candidate whose family's yearly income is greater than $125,000 will be considered.