Legislation Introduction Thread

[Gabu]

Okay, having seen what we need to do to balance the budget, I'm getting suitably scared enough to introduce the following:

Amendment to Remove the Balanced Budget Requirement

§1. Clauses 8-10 of Article I, Section 8 in the Constitution are hereby stricken.

[True Democrat]

All right, I'll agree to 10%.

Y'all do recognize what a 10% cut does right?

Choose your poison:

1. Pay increases are eliminated, resulting in even lower retention rates and more military poverty.
2. Procurement to replace older and/or damaged weapon systems is halted, resulting in a severe drop in ready weapons because of retirements/combat losses.
3. Training is cut down, resulting in less well trained soldiers overseas and more deaths.
4. Research is cut, resulting in other countries developing the weapon systems of the future rather than us.

I can give other examples for some other cuts Daniel has proposed, but at least some of those programs can be reconstituted on the regional level. The military is a federal responsibility though, and one we shouldn't be quick to ignore.

I agree.  I believe the State and Defense should be the last places to cut.

[Ebowed]

Add this to the original set of chainsaw budget cuts and we have a balanced budget:

Foreign Aid Reduction Bill

1. The budget of the International Assistance Programs division of the State Department shall be reduced to $3 billion immediately upon the passage of this bill.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

At the request of several concerned citizens...

The Children's Rights Amendment

Section 1: The term "child" shall be defined as a minor under the age of 16.

Section 2: The term "education" shall be defined as the full-time systematic instruction of basic life skills and knowledge by a child, and mentored by an adult.

Section 3: No person, government or organization shall abridge the right of a child to receive an education.

Section 4: The Senate shall have power to limit, regulate, and prohibit the labor of children.

Section 5: The power of the several Regional Governments are unimpaired by this article except that the operation of regional laws shall be suspended to the extent necessary to give effect to legislation enacted by the Senate.

[Ebowed]

While you can certainly classify me as one of those concerned citizens, I fear that this amendment takes it too far in the opposite direction.  While I am opposed to the abolition of the public school system, I am also not supportive of writing a "right to education" into law:  I believe that parents may withhold their children from regular schooling if they wish, whether it be for homeschooling or for other purposes.  Therefore I would be opposed to the amendment in its current form.

[Bono]

I see the reactionary left is into action.

[CheeseWhiz]

So, we’re all for regional rights until they do something we don’t like?  Doesn’t seem right to me.

[Gabu]

While you can certainly classify me as one of those concerned citizens, I fear that this amendment takes it too far in the opposite direction.  While I am opposed to the abolition of the public school system, I am also not supportive of writing a "right to education" into law:  I believe that parents may withhold their children from regular schooling if they wish, whether it be for homeschooling or for other purposes.  Therefore I would be opposed to the amendment in its current form.

I don't see anything in that amendment prohibiting homeschooling.  All it's saying is that, if someone is homeschooled, it needs to be a "full-time systematic instruction of basic life skills and knowledge", given by an adult.  The adult may very well be the child's parent.

[CheeseWhiz]

While you can certainly classify me as one of those concerned citizens, I fear that this amendment takes it too far in the opposite direction.  While I am opposed to the abolition of the public school system, I am also not supportive of writing a "right to education" into law:  I believe that parents may withhold their children from regular schooling if they wish, whether it be for homeschooling or for other purposes.  Therefore I would be opposed to the amendment in its current form.

I don't see anything in that amendment prohibiting homeschooling.  All it's saying is that, if someone is homeschooled, it needs to be a "full-time systematic instruction of basic life skills and knowledge", given by an adult.  The adult may very well be the child's parent.

Is this going to lead to Government testing?  Because I'd really hate that…

[Gabu]

Is this going to lead to Government testing?  Because I'd really hate that…

I never said that I supported the amendment, only that it wouldn't ban homeschooling.

[CheeseWhiz]

Is this going to lead to Government testing?  Because I'd really hate that…

I never said that I supported the amendment, only that it wouldn't ban homeschooling.

Oh, I know!  I wasn’t saying you did, but I was just asking if you thought it would.

[Gabu]

Is this going to lead to Government testing?  Because I'd really hate that…

I never said that I supported the amendment, only that it wouldn't ban homeschooling.

Oh, I know!  I wasn’t saying you did, but I was just asking if you thought it would.

I don't immediately see why it would.

[CheeseWhiz]

Is this going to lead to Government testing?  Because I'd really hate that…

I never said that I supported the amendment, only that it wouldn't ban homeschooling.

Oh, I know!  I wasn’t saying you did, but I was just asking if you thought it would.

I don't immediately see why it would.

Okay, just making sure.  I’m not very good at translating the laws, just making them, (and that’s up for debate )

[Emsworth]

I would hope that the Senate will trust in the judgment of the regions on issues such as education and child labor. Not everything needs to be centralized. If we are to deny even this modicum of trust to the regions, we might as well get rid of them altogether.

[Ebowed]

I wish to withdraw the Forgotten Atlasians Day bill.

Federal Land Within the Southeast Bill

1. The Senate, hereby acknowledging an initiative passed by the voters of the Southeast on the weekend of October 24th, 2005, proceeds to meet the request of the resolution with this bill.

2. All land currently owned by the federal government that is located within the Southeast Region of Atlasia shall have its ownership transferred to the Southeast Regional Government upon the passage of this bill, with the exception of land owned by the federal government that is used for military purposes.


Before anyone jumps on me for regional favoritism, I'd like to note that this resolution was passed (by a fairly decent margin) in the Southeast nearly a month ago and I felt it wouldn't be right to ignore it as it specifically calls upon the Senate to take action.  If any other region passed a similar resolution, a similar bill modified to fit the region's request would be just as appropriate.  Thus, I am not doing this without cause; it was specifically asked for by Southeast voters.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The Amendment to Remove the Balanced Budget Requirement has been bumped to the top of the legislative agenda

[Jake]

I'd like to co-sponsor Ebowed',s Bill.

[MasterJedi]

I would like to re-introduce the Forgotten Atlasian Days Bill now that Ebowed isn't sponsoring it.

[CheeseWhiz]

I would like to re-introduce the Forgotten Atlasian Days Bill now that Ebowed isn't sponsoring it.

Does this mean it goes to the back of the line, or does it get to keep its place?

[MasterJedi]

I would like to re-introduce the Forgotten Atlasian Days Bill now that Ebowed isn't sponsoring it.

Does this mean it goes to the back of the line, or does it get to keep its place?

I think it goes to the back of the line but if Al and Defarge say it's ok it could stay where it was.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

A certain constituent of mine wants this introduced so:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

And a certain constituent of mine would like this introduced as well:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[Joe Republic]

My my, that certain constituent of yours has been busy.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The following are bumped to the top of the legislative agenda:

Amendment to Allow a Secret Ballot

Electoral System Reform Bill

[Ebowed]

I honestly don't see the urgency of those bills, particularly so close to an election.  As the second bill requires the constitutional amendment to pass, can we really pass the amendment without debate and expect the regions to ratify it in time for the elections?  I'm not sure we can do that, and I'd rather not be on the sorry side and end up with a disgusting mess of one or two regions still voting on the amendment's ratification when the SoFA opens up the polls for the midterms, rendering the entire debacle useless until February.