SENATE RESOLUTION: Omnibus Senate Rules Amendment (Passed)

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

SENATE RESOLUTION

So the Senate doesn't catch the House's Stupid and to fix some other errors in the text

Be it resolved in the Senate Assembled,

Omnibus Senate Rules Amendment aka Idiot Proofing the Senate

Section 1: Slot Changes
Article 2, Clause 2 is amended as follows:

3.) 15 20 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.
a.) The first 10 12 open threads shall be open to all legislations initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the president officer for these open threads.
b.) The eleventh thirteenth open thread shall be reserved for bills submitted by civilians in the Public Consultation and Legislation Submission thread. The PPT shall be the president officer for this open thread.
c.) The twelfth fourteenth, the thirteenth fifteenth, and the fourteenth sixteenth open threads shall be reserved for legislation that previously passed the House. The President of Congress shall be the presiding officer for these open threads.
d.) The fifteenth seventeenth open thread shall be reserved for legislation related to national emergencies declared by the President of Atlasia. The PPT President of Congress shall introduce legislation to this thread as directed by the President, but only when the President has declared a state of national emergency.
e.) The sixteenth eighteenth slot shall be reserved for budget debates and related resolutions and statutes. This slot shall be administered by the President of Congress.
f.) The nineteenth and twentieth slot shall be reserved for items deemed to be "Presidential Agenda" and shall only be operational when activated by the President via Executive Order. The President of Congress shall introduce legislation to this thread as directed by the President, but only when the President has declared a state of national emergency.

Section 2: Cloture Means Cloture

Article 4, Section 2:

4.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 36 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 36 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours but no more than 336 hours, any Senators may motion for cloture. When the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may motion for cloture.  Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate, and proceed to a final vote. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, or debate has ceased for 24 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.

People's Regional Senate
Pending

Sponsor: NC Yankee
Senate Designation: SR18:29

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

This makes several changes to the text, most of which correct for problems that exist from the copy ,pasting of years old provisions into a rules package designed for a chamber that didn't exist back then. This is not the first time we have run into problems like this and but it is the first time that this specific issue has come up.

Anti-Clogging
For a little background, right around the time I joined the game, a Senator was elected of the Libertarian Persuasion named SPC. He proceeded to introduce a lot of bills all at once and this led to the passage of the Anti-Clogging or Anti-SPC amendment to restrict Senators to two bills if there were subsequent legislation by other Senators in the queue. This was pushed to its limits when TNF was in the Senate, but other than that it is has generally worked as intended, to preserve equal access to the Senate floor.

We are now moving towards a situation where we have organized bill composition on a partisan basis and we have more stable parties to begin with, a feature that was not present back when SPC was a Senator. The RPP was like 5 months old, JCP was just starting to become a national presence and there were like 2 or 3 other parties of very small size with substantial electoral influence (the game was rather small).

The clogging rule was never really pegged to any specific number and the number of slots was never set based on clogging, however in light of this new situation, it is the best approach to address the issue. The amendment above expands the number of in order slots to 12, allowing for the maximum number of clogging enforced bills per Senator to not exceed the not exceed the number of slots.

This should preserve equal access to the floor on a non-partisan, non-majoritarian basis, which I would point out is in line with the original Duke Plan for the Bicameral legislature in 2013, which wanted to preserve the Senate as non-partisan while having the house be majoritarian, and partisan. The House does seem to be moving in the direction of that almost six years later, but my hope is that the Senate does not need to and it should not but it isn't necessary.


Administration Slots
During my time in the pre-reset Senate there was a push towards having a "Presidential agenda" and such Presidents like Marokai would run with a large number of bills pre-written. It thus became advantageous to have what I called administration slots. There were already a few such as Forum Affairs and Emergency, but over time we added ones for budget matters, foreign policy and the like. It was also during the Maroduke administration that we started having the VP administer slots, similar to how we do now with bills from the other chamber.

However these were eliminated when the rules were simplified in the late 2014 hatchet job that was done in the name of simplicity and yes the old rules needed to be condensed and simplified but I have long said they went to far and even created some other problems later on, which I will get to in a second. Much of the impetus of this was driven by Senators loyal to IRC and hostile to both Labor (specifically Windjammer) and also to myself.

The amendment above would increase the number of administration slots to four to ensure that the President can get his agenda before Congress. These will be administered by the Vice President and to avoid cluttering the noticeboard, they only exist when the President activates them for use, so essentially an as needed basis.

Cloture and Filibusters
If you read the section on cloture, it makes absolutely no sense. Cloture is a process to end debate and yet it literally says, "after debate has halted for longer than 36 hours any Senator may motion for cloture". Translation: After Debate has ended, any Senator may motion to end debate"

It is really good we have not used cloture much at all because it is completely broken with this wording. I know it most likely comes from the 2014 IRClique driven rewrite because of the presence of "36 hours", which was a big part of that rules rewrite, shifting to 36 from 24. I also know this was not how it worked in the pre-Nov 2014 rules rewrite.

In the previous rules, debate meant actually discussion of the bill and it had to be ongoing and not cease for more than 24 hours. If it ceased, it would be the same as ending a filibuster in RL, the debate is ceased, a final vote could be started no motion necessary. Here it doesn't work that way.

In fact I came very close to going back to that completely by saying "When debate has ceased for 24 hours, the Presiding office may open a vote" instead of open a vote if no one objects within 24 hours.

Instead I stopped just short of that, removed the contradictory clause about cloture. Now once a bill has been on the floor for 72 hours (standing minimum 24 hrs for sponsor, 48 for responses), anyone can motion for cloture and if two thirds of the Senators agree. No waiting for debate to end, to end debate.

[Devout Centrist]

This is a pretty common sense rules package; I'm strongly in favor of these changes and I believe we should pass this as soon as possible.

[ON Progressive]

I echo the sentiments of my colleague Devout Centrist. These rule changes will certainly help make the running of the Senate easier, and I hope these pass as soon as possible.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Based on the support so for, I ask unanimous consent to waive the rules and proceed immediately to a final vote, Senators have 24 hours to object.

[windjammer]

This makes several changes to the text, most of which correct for problems that exist from the copy ,pasting of years old provisions into a rules package designed for a chamber that didn't exist back then. This is not the first time we have run into problems like this and but it is the first time that this specific issue has come up.

Anti-Clogging
For a little background, right around the time I joined the game, a Senator was elected of the Libertarian Persuasion named SPC. He proceeded to introduce a lot of bills all at once and this led to the passage of the Anti-Clogging or Anti-SPC amendment to restrict Senators to two bills if there were subsequent legislation by other Senators in the queue. This was pushed to its limits when TNF was in the Senate, but other than that it is has generally worked as intended, to preserve equal access to the Senate floor.

We are now moving towards a situation where we have organized bill composition on a partisan basis and we have more stable parties to begin with, a feature that was not present back when SPC was a Senator. The RPP was like 5 months old, JCP was just starting to become a national presence and there were like 2 or 3 other parties of very small size with substantial electoral influence (the game was rather small).

The clogging rule was never really pegged to any specific number and the number of slots was never set based on clogging, however in light of this new situation, it is the best approach to address the issue. The amendment above expands the number of in order slots to 12, allowing for the maximum number of clogging enforced bills per Senator to not exceed the not exceed the number of slots.

This should preserve equal access to the floor on a non-partisan, non-majoritarian basis, which I would point out is in line with the original Duke Plan for the Bicameral legislature in 2013, which wanted to preserve the Senate as non-partisan while having the house be majoritarian, and partisan. The House does seem to be moving in the direction of that almost six years later, but my hope is that the Senate does not need to and it should not but it isn't necessary.


Administration Slots
During my time in the pre-reset Senate there was a push towards having a "Presidential agenda" and such Presidents like Marokai would run with a large number of bills pre-written. It thus became advantageous to have what I called administration slots. There were already a few such as Forum Affairs and Emergency, but over time we added ones for budget matters, foreign policy and the like. It was also during the Maroduke administration that we started having the VP administer slots, similar to how we do now with bills from the other chamber.

However these were eliminated when the rules were simplified in the late 2014 hatchet job that was done in the name of simplicity and yes the old rules needed to be condensed and simplified but I have long said they went to far and even created some other problems later on, which I will get to in a second. Much of the impetus of this was driven by Senators loyal to IRC and hostile to both Labor (specifically Windjammer) and also to myself.

The amendment above would increase the number of administration slots to four to ensure that the President can get his agenda before Congress. These will be administered by the Vice President and to avoid cluttering the noticeboard, they only exist when the President activates them for use, so essentially an as needed basis.

Cloture and Filibusters
If you read the section on cloture, it makes absolutely no sense. Cloture is a process to end debate and yet it literally says, "after debate has halted for longer than 36 hours any Senator may motion for cloture". Translation: After Debate has ended, any Senator may motion to end debate"

It is really good we have not used cloture much at all because it is completely broken with this wording. I know it most likely comes from the 2014 IRClique driven rewrite because of the presence of "36 hours", which was a big part of that rules rewrite, shifting to 36 from 24. I also know this was not how it worked in the pre-Nov 2014 rules rewrite.

In the previous rules, debate meant actually discussion of the bill and it had to be ongoing and not cease for more than 24 hours. If it ceased, it would be the same as ending a filibuster in RL, the debate is ceased, a final vote could be started no motion necessary. Here it doesn't work that way.

In fact I came very close to going back to that completely by saying "When debate has ceased for 24 hours, the Presiding office may open a vote" instead of open a vote if no one objects within 24 hours.

Instead I stopped just short of that, removed the contradictory clause about cloture. Now once a bill has been on the floor for 72 hours (standing minimum 24 hrs for sponsor, 48 for responses), anyone can motion for cloture and if two thirds of the Senators agree. No waiting for debate to end, to end debate.

And in the end we destroyed the IRC our common enemy and we're still alive while they left the game after their final defeat and are now in an another forum still bitter

[Former President tack50]

No objection.

I hope that while the House is having discussions regarding legislative terrorism and what not at least one of the 2 chambers of Congress can be a reasonable place

[Esteemed Jimmy]

These changes are good.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Seeing no objection and under my power as Senate Dean established in Article I, Section 2 of the Senate rules, this resolution is now at vote. Senators please vote Aye, Nay or Abstain.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

AYE

[Devout Centrist]

Aye

[Former President tack50]

Aye

[ON Progressive]

Aye

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

This has enough votes to pass, Senators have 24 hours to change their votes.

[Comrade Funk]

Aye

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Vote on final passage of the Omnibus Senate Rules amendment:


Aye (5): Comrade Funk, Devout Centrist, NC Yankee, OntarioProgressive and Tack50.
Nay (0):
Abstain (0):

Didn't Vote (0):

With a unanimous vote and time having expired, the resolution is adopted.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

SENATE RESOLUTION

So the Senate doesn't catch the House's Stupid and to fix some other errors in the text

Resolved in the Senate Assembled,

Omnibus Senate Rules Amendment aka Idiot Proofing the Senate

Section 1: Slot Changes
Article 2, Clause 2 is amended as follows:

3.) 15 20 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.
a.) The first 10 12 open threads shall be open to all legislations initially regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. If the sponsor already has two or more pieces legislation on the Senate floor, legislation from Senators who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The PPT shall be the president officer for these open threads.
b.) The eleventh thirteenth open thread shall be reserved for bills submitted by civilians in the Public Consultation and Legislation Submission thread. The PPT shall be the president officer for this open thread.
c.) The twelfth fourteenth, the thirteenth fifteenth, and the fourteenth sixteenth open threads shall be reserved for legislation that previously passed the House. The President of Congress shall be the presiding officer for these open threads.
d.) The fifteenth seventeenth open thread shall be reserved for legislation related to national emergencies declared by the President of Atlasia. The PPT President of Congress shall introduce legislation to this thread as directed by the President, but only when the President has declared a state of national emergency.
e.) The sixteenth eighteenth slot shall be reserved for budget debates and related resolutions and statutes. This slot shall be administered by the President of Congress.
f.) The nineteenth and twentieth slot shall be reserved for items deemed to be "Presidential Agenda" and shall only be operational when activated by the President via Executive Order. The President of Congress shall introduce legislation to this thread as directed by the President, but only when the President has declared a state of national emergency.

Section 2: Cloture Means Cloture

Article 4, Section 2:

4.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 36 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Senate objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 36 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours but no more than 336 hours, any Senators may motion for cloture. When the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Senators may motion for cloture.  Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate shall end debate, and proceed to a final vote. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, or debate has ceased for 24 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.

People's Regional Senate
Passed 5-0 in the Atlasian Senate Assembled,