The Imperial Dominion of the South's Legislature

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Puts finger on nose*

not it.

I'd be up for it in the future, but I've got too much on my plate at the moment. I know Adam ran on the idea of wiki modernization, so I do think he'd be a good fit if he's up for it. Haven't seen him around much lately though.

Re: the Valkyrtweed Act... I strongly support the spirit of this bill.

But I do wonder if we might be able to avoid more bloodshed by sheltering the duly-elected president somewhere in the IDS and working to establish a temporary capitol here.

Either way, I will support this bill.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Seizing control of Nyman D.C. means we are not just simply some rebel group.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

PiT's suggestion ain't bad either.

If there's no other way to weasel in a little extra power for the region though, I guess I'm happy to leave it as is. It'll have my support.
  

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Aye

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I'm on the same page as JBrase here. It's hard enough to get people to run for office at all. This ammendment could discourage people from running, especially if they hailed from the same state as an already-successful incumbent legislator.

Since state changes are frequent and easily made, I don't really understand the point of the ammendment.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I like PiT's idea, but I would be more enthusiastic if the proportion of at-large seats to regional seats was a bit different.

Maybe we up the legislature to six members and have three at-large and three regional seats?
Or divide the Dominion into two regions and keep three at-large seats?

I'm just thinking that we could lessen the problems associated with electing legislators from these sub-regions if we made sure at least 50% of the legislature was still at-large.

(also concur that we'd need to re-assess the boundaries regularly)

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Yeah, I hear ya.

I'd suggest going on a big recruitment drive even if we don't re-up the number of seats.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Nay, sorry SJoyce.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Sorry to be late for debate, but I don't think I was about to change any minds.

Nay

[HagridOfTheDeep]

In light of my temporary speakership, I introduce the following bill for debate in this chamber:

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Have at it.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I'll let SJoyceFla properly change this to an ammendment, but in the interim, I am supportive of the spirit of this bill.

I wonder, though, if the recall is necessary for officials serving a two-month term. It's a pretty short timespan anyway. I'd be open to the idea of lengthening the Emperor's term to four months and then providing the recall option just for that position. Emperors seem to have long and successful tenures, so lengthening the term, to me, wouldn't be groundbreaking. If an Emperor finds the new term to be too long, he can of course resign and we'd hold a special election. Similarly, if voters get fed up with the Emperor, they can start the recall process.

In terms of the bill as it stands now... I've got to think about it. I could see myself supporting it though.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I'm in favour of this. Is everyone happy with the lengthened term for emperor? If not, I'm willing to budge on it. But I do thank you for putting it in there, SJoyce.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I'll give Duke and Adam Griffin a chance to respond to the proposed four-month term for Emperor. Barring any changes you'd wish to make, SJoyceFla, we can then bring it to a vote. Hopefully we can find a way to make everyone happy.

The four-month term, I believe, would lead to longer and more substantial campaigns for Emperor that could actually excite the electorate.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

All rightie. For the sake of time, I'm going to assume SJoyceFla is happy with the final version of this amendment and put it up for voting. Up for vote is the Recall And Term Length Amendment of 2012, as seen below:

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Y'all know the drill. Aye, Nay, or Abstain.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Aye

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Cool. It passes, 4-1.

You wanna resume your duties as Speaker now, JBrase?

[HagridOfTheDeep]

In that instance, wouldn't it be more preferable to actually have domestic horse slaughterhouses? If this bill does not effectively stop the trade of horse meat, why not just allow farms to operate in our region and let the free market decide whether or not they are successful? If the industry can be sustained regionally, there'd be jobs in it for at least a few hundred people.

What's interesting is that the 2007 ban in America actually saw thousands of horses being abandonned and mistreated because there was no use for them (see here). Since I don't think there are currently any Atlasian laws on the books regarding horse slaughter (I could be wrong), who is to say that similar unintended circumstances would not occur here in the IDS?

I would be in support of enforcing drug standards for "agri-horses" similar to the standards for cows. Perhaps we could create an "Agri Meats Regulatory Board" to ensure these standards are met. Regardless, I am not sold on the proposed ban.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Those were my thoughts, too. A general "Meat Standards" Act.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

It was illegal in the US after a ban in 2007, but I believe it's since been overturned. One of the concerns re: banning horse slaughterhouses involved the fact that horses were being mistreated. Unfortunately, the ban actually led to more animal abuse because many of the animals were left to starve and fend for themselves after the ban.

Since there are no laws on the books about horse meat in Atlasia, I think it's fair to assume that there's at least some current economic activity in this industry.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I'm gonna do a bit of personal investigation into those ingredients before I can judge where I stand. I agree with the intentions of the bill though. I'm just concerned about overregulating the industry... Still, the bill could be 100% fine as it is. I'll check in later.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Ah shoot. I did a bit of research and then got pre-occupied. A lot of this is good. One thing I'm having a hard time supporting, though, is removing animal fat from the diets of livestock. "Lack of quality" does not necessarily mean "unhealthy," and from what I've read, disallowing the use of animal fats could really hit the dairy industry.

While animal fats only make up a percentage of what goes into the "fats" fed to dairy cows, these fats increase yields and profits, with marginal risks to the consumer and animal. (You can read more here if you're interested.)

So I don't know that banning this type of feed would be the greatest thing. I also don't know how big the effects would actually be. Is it worth overturning the whole bill over? I don't know. So I feel like I must...


Abstain


It's always possible to retroactively amend parts of this bill in the future. Maybe that will be something to look into if the legislation has unforeseen consequences.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I appreciate the pause, but even from the reading I've done I still just "don't know." Would it water down the bill too much if we just created an advisory board of experts (say, folks in the agriculture business and scientists who are familiar with these ingredients) to set reasonable standards for the industry? Standards that find a good balance between safetly, yields, and profits?

As it stands now, I'd probably still abstain.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Beautiful. Thanks for making the changes. I will support this bill.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Aye

[HagridOfTheDeep]

^Ditto to that.

I'll be gone for a few days on a camping expedition, and then I guess I'll be sworn into the senate after that, so... yeah. Hopefully I'll be able to drop in a bit from my phone, but I can't make any promises.

So with that being said, I just want to thank everyone for being so welcoming here. I know I haven't been a part of this body for months and months, but I really enjoyed working with all of you. It's been great. Now go get that education bill passed.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Sorry for my absence. I'm back from the woods and will be around to participate until my swearing in as senator next Friday.

I'm content with this bill.