S2: Rules and Procedure of the Southern Legislature (passed)

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Considering all the BS, arguing about the rules, and useless bickering going on the last few days, I am now opening up this proposal in an emergency slot so that we can restore order in the Chamber and get things moving again.


Rules and Procedure of the Southern Legislature:

Definitions:
1.) Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.
2.) In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Chamber floor. An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.
3.) The Dean of the Chamber is defined as the serving Delegate, who is not the Speaker, with the longest continuous service in the Delegate in his or her present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service. The Chamber may, by a two-thirds majority vote on an ordinary resolution, pass the title, powers and responsibilities of the Dean of the Chamber, to the next longest serving Delegate (not having been removed from the position by the Chamber previously), for any reason whatsoever.
4.) A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the Chamber that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid, which is defined as a majority of the sitting Chamber.
5.) The Southern Legislature is defined as the ‘Chamber of Delegates’.

Section I: Officers of the Chamber of Delegates
1.) The Chamber shall entrust the position of enforcing these rules with a Speaker who shall defend and protect both our constitution and these rules to the best of his or her ability. Any citizen of the Southern Region shall be eligible to serve as Speaker.
2.) On the Monday before the Friday after a legislative election, the Dean of the Chamber shall start a 24-hour nominating period for Speaker and Deputy Speaker, followed by a 48-hour vote on these positions. In the event of a tie, the Governor shall appoint an Acting Speaker to serve until the tie is resolved, or until a new Chamber is elected.
3.) The Speaker shall be tasked with upholding Chamber procedures, organizing the functions of the Chamber, including opening and closing votes, allowing for debate and amendments, and other functions as deemed necessary by the Speaker, all solely given the parameters and requirements provided in Section IV, V, VI, and VII.
4.) All sitting members of the Chamber of Delegates shall be eligible to vote in elections for the Speakership. There shall be no rule mandating the discounting of ballots cast before the end of the voting period on account of post-facto edits to those ballots, invalid preferences, or other trivial irregularities; but no ballot cast in a script other than the Latin alphabet shall be counted as valid.
5.) The Speaker’s term shall end upon the Friday after the election. Until the next Speaker shall swear in, the Dean of the Chamber shall act as Speaker.

Section II: The Southern Legislation Introduction Thread and Chamber Noticeboard
1. The "Southern Chamber Introduction” thread shall be used for the following purposes:
a. The introduction of bills, resolutions, and constitutional amendments.
b. The posting of any updates to the schedule, calendar, recesses, or other procedural details of the Legislature.
c. Any motions involving the procedure or hierarchy of the Legislature, including a motion for Speaker of the Legislature as well as votes on such a motion.
d. General discussion among members that is pertinent to the Southern Legislature but not related to debate on a bill, resolution, or constitutional amendment.
E. The Speaker of the Chamber, or a person of his or her choosing shall be the manager of this thread
2. The Chamber Noticeboard will be a thread managed by the Governor, or a person of his or her choosing, to update this board with recent events on the Southern Chamber’s legislation, and amendments, along with Rejected and Passed Legislation.

Section III: Legislative Threads
1. The Speaker of the Legislature shall create a new thread for each piece of legislation introduced; however, such a thread shall only be created when the Legislature is debating said legislation, "legislation" means any bill, resolution, or constitutional amendment introduced in the Southern Legislature Thread, with the exception of resolutions on the procedure or hierarchy of the Legislature.
2. The following shall be performed in the legislation thread:
a. All debate on the piece of legislation.
b. The introduction of any amendments to the piece legislation.
c. Any votes on the piece of legislation, including amendments to it.
3. Included in the thread title should be the current state of the piece of legislation followed by the title in parenthesis:
a. "Debating" - the piece of legislation is actively being debated by the Legislature.
b. "Voting on Amendment" - the Legislature is in the process of voting on an amendment to the proposed legislation.
c. "Final vote" - the Legislature is in the process of taking a final vote.
d. "Passed" - the Legislature voted in favor of the piece of legislation; however, the Governor has not yet signed it.
e. "Failed" - the Legislature voted against the the piece of legislation.
f. "Statute" - the Legislature voted in favor of the piece of legislation, and the Governor signed it into law.
g. "Vetoed" - the Legislature voted in favor of the piece of legislation; however, the Governor vetoed the legislation.
h. "Vote to Override" - the Legislature voted in favor of the piece of legislation; however, the Governor vetoed the legislation, and the Legislature is in a vote to override the veto.
i. "Tabled" - the Legislature voted to table the piece of legislation until a further time.

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Quote
Section IV: Introducing and Managing Legislation
1.) If the Speaker determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, they may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Chamber queue. The sponsoring Delegates of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of a majority (3/5) of office-holding Delegates in the affirmative (excluding the Speaker), may override the actions of the Speaker.
2.) 6 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously.
a) The first 4 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 Chamber floor, legislation from Delegates who do not shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The Speaker shall be the president officer for these open threads.
b) The fifth open thread shall be reserved for bills submitted by civilians in the Public Consultation and Legislation Submission thread. The Speaker shall be the president officer for this open thread.
c) The sixth open thread shall be reserved for legislation related to regional emergencies declared by the Governor of the South. The Speaker shall introduce legislation to this thread as directed by the Governor, but only when the Governor has declared a state of regional emergency.
3.) A piece of legislation is no longer on the Chamber Floor when it has been withdrawn, tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the Chamber of Delegates.
4.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates their office as Delegate, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the next session, be declared withdrawn by the Speaker by public post, if no Delegate sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the Chamber floor, any office-holding Delegate may assume sponsorship.
5.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Delegates may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 72 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Delegates, Delegates shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Delegate objects, the Speaker shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 72 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.


Section V: Debate
1.) After a piece of legislation is introduced to the Chamber of Delegates floor, debate shall begin immediately. Debate on the legislation shall last for no less than 48 hours. The Chamber of Delegates may waive the 48-hour requirement on any legislation by passing cloture by unanimous consent. To waive the 48-hour requirement, the presiding officer must request unanimous consent to waive the minimum debate time requirement and provide 24 hours for a Delegate to object to this request. If the 48-hour requirement is waived, the presiding officer shall immediately open a final vote.
2.) The sponsor of a piece of legislation may at any time withdraw his or her sponsorship. In addition, when the sponsor is no longer a Delegate, his or her sponsorship shall be revoked automatically. If no member of the Chamber of Delegates moves to assume sponsorship of the legislation within 48 hours, the legislation shall be tabled automatically.
3.) At any time during debate on a piece of legislation, a Delegate may propose an amendment to that legislation. The presiding officer may ignore amendments that he or she deems frivolous, functionally impractical, or unconstitutional at his or her discretion, but the Chamber may compel the presiding officer to consider the amendment by majority consent.
4.) The presiding officer shall allow 24 hours for objections to an amendment following its introduction. If no objections are filed, the amendment shall pass. If any objections are filed, a vote shall be held. This vote shall last until a majority of sitting Delegates have voted to either approve or reject the amendment or until 3 days, i.e. 72 hours, have elapsed. No Delegate may change his or her vote once the voting period has concluded.
5.) Any Delegate may file a motion to table a piece of legislation during debate. The presiding officer shall open a vote on the motion to table when at least two other Delegates have seconded the motion. A two thirds majority is required for the approval of the motion to table.
6.) When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours, any Delegates may call for a vote on said legislation. The presiding officer shall open a vote if no other member of the Chamber of Delegates objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. When debate on legislation has halted for longer than 24 hours and the legislation has been on the floor for more than 72 hours but no more than 336 hours, any Delegates may motion for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the Chamber of Delegates, the Chamber of Delegates shall end debate. If the legislation has been on the floor for more than 336 hours, a simple majority is needed in order to end the debates. The presiding officer shall then open a final vote.
7.) If a bill has been vetoed, a Delegate has 24 hours to motion for a veto override. A two-thirds majority of the members of the Chamber of Delegates is needed in order to override a veto.


Section VI: Amendments
1.) During the course of debate on legislation, any sitting Delegate may offer amendments to the legislation. The Speaker may remove amendments from consideration that are functionally impractical, frivolous, directly unconstitutional, or lack clear intent regarding the changes to be made. The amendment sponsor shall have 24 hours to object to the decision and may overturn the action with the concurrence of 1/3rd of his or her fellow Delegates. Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, components of the underlying legislation not referenced in an amendment will remain unchanged.
2.) The legislation's primary sponsor shall judge the amendment(s) in relation to their intent with the legislation. If judged friendly by the sponsor, the Speaker shall give twenty four hours for objections to the amendment, after which, with no objections having been entered the amendment shall be considered as passed.
3.) If judged hostile by the sponsor, or if a Delegate has objected, a vote shall be started by the Speaker once the amendment has been on the floor twenty four hours. The vote shall last for three days or until a majority has voted in favor or against the amendment, at which point Delegates who have voted shall be prohibited from changing their votes and the vote shall be declared final.
4.) The Speaker shall number and track all amendments offered during the course of each Chamber session. These shall be tracked in the “Chamber Noticeboard” thread.

Section VII: Voting
1.) Votes on legislation shall last for a maximum of 3 days (i.e. 72 hours).
2.) When a piece of legislation has enough votes to pass or fail, the office in control of the legislative slot shall announce that he or she will close the vote in 24 hours and that any Delegate who wishes to change his or her vote must do so during that interval.
3.) If a piece of legislation is vetoed by the Governor, the bill's sponsor may request an override of the veto within 3 days, i.e. 72 hours, of the veto taking place. The Speaker may extend this period if the bill's sponsor is on a publicly-declared leave of absence.
4.) For the purposes of overriding vetoes, any Delegate who abstains from voting shall be counted as a vote against overriding the veto.

Article VIII: Rules Disputes
1.) The Southern Legislature may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Delegates.
2.) The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Delegate objects. If two Delegates object, suspending the rules shall require the consent of a majority of sitting Delegates.
3.) If the Chamber of Delegates cannot resolve a rules dispute, within 168 hours of the start of the dispute, the Supreme Court of The South may issue a binding decision dictating the proper interpretation of these rules, bound by the Constitution.


sponsor: Governor NeverAgain

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The floor is now open for debate.

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I'd like to note that I'm open to discussion on amending this as well, as I'd like to, at the very least, define what would be considered frivolous. 

Unlike Mr. Cuber, I don't find all of the legislation you introduced "frivolous" (there are quite a few that I looked forward to discussing with you), nor do I only think your actions were politically motivated (I think it's correct to say you are both at fault).

I think it's fair to establish rules we all agree upon so that we can proceed without any further issues.
Like I mentioned in the legislation thread, I'm all for supporting this as long as we aren't trying to change the rules again when another party is in power. Should that happen, and if I am still a delegate, I will not supoort changing the rules again to give less power to an opposing party.

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Since we haven't discussed this in some time, I'm going to go ahead and bring this to a vote.
You have 48 hours.

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Are we voting on

the final bill, with the amendment considered friendly, or
the final bill, without the amendment, or
the amendment?

My bad, I thought we were all in agreement on the amendment.
That's what we are voting on.

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I motion to extend debate on this. I don't think we've discussed this enough.

It clearly wasn't that important to continue discussion since it's been 5 days before I called a vote.

Do you actually have anything valuable to add to the debate that hasn't already been said, or just plan to drag it out longer than necessary?

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Are we voting on

the final bill, with the amendment considered friendly, or
the final bill, without the amendment, or
the amendment?

My bad, I thought we were all in agreement on the amendment.
That's what we are voting on.

So we're voting on the amendment, just to clarify?

AYE

Final bill, with amendment

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We are most definitely NOT in agreement on the amendment, let alone the final bill.

If that is the case, you had plenty of opportunities to discuss that in the 5 days where there was no activity. Time in which I'm sure you have been on here.

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I'm not sure how you arrived at the conclusion that there was agreement on the amendment.

In any case, the bill as worded is unconstitutional. I'd rather amend it so that the bill is constitutional.

And once again, you had plenty of opportunity to speak about this during discussion. If anyone is willing to second your motion before voting ends, we can discuss it further.

But as of right now, we are voting on the final bill, with amendment.

I am not going to let you continue dragging your feet on bills and throw temper tantrums because you don't want to get anything done (something you made clear in another thread when wanting to take time off without resigning).

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Well, then. I'm going to start the court case as this bill is unconstitutional.

Take it up with Justice Brase.

You're starting a court case on a bill that has neither passed nor failed yet.
There's also still time for someone to second your motion to extend debate.

But sure, go ahead and start frivolous court cases over something that hasn't even happened.

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And there we go. Motion to debate extended. Sorry Fhtagn.

Says the one who started a ridiculous case over nothing.

Patience is a virtue.
I suggest you reflect on that.

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The floor remains open for debate.

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No. Just no. This deserves far more discussion.

While I agree that it deserves discussion, if it was really that important to Ben he should have said something in the VERY large gap where there was no discussion going on at all.

It is very clear that he has no intention of getting anything done this session.

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Since there seems to be no other discussion going on, and I'm taking the last response as a second to Mr. Cuber's motion to amend, I'm going to call a 24 hour vote on this bill, with Mr. Cuber's amendments.

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Aye

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With a total of 4 votes in favor, 0 against, and 2 who have not voted:

This proposed bill revising the Rules and Procedure of the Southern Legislature passes, with the following amendment:

 

Calling the question on the motion to amend, here's the final text of the amendment:

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and by similarly amending Subsection 4 of the same as follows:

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With a total of 4 votes in favor, 0 against, and 2 who have not voted:

This proposed bill revising the Rules and Procedure of the Southern Legislature passes, with the following amendment:

 

Calling the question on the motion to amend, here's the final text of the amendment:

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and by similarly amending Subsection 4 of the same as follows:

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2 not voting?

You knew what I meant.