Northeast Assembly Legislation Introduction Thread

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A BILL

To provide the Northeast Region with additional tools to develop short-term and long-term economic strategies and to effectively close deals with large and small businesses looking to bring in new jobs.

Be it enacted by the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened.

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the ‘Quick-Action Closing Fund Act.’

SECTION 2. CREATION OF QUICK-ACTION CLOSING FUND

$20 billion will be accumulated from the Economic development fund expended by November-March Northeast Budget FY2013 to the Northeast Department of Commerce for the creation of this program:

(1.)   The Northeast Department of Commerce will establish a non-partisan ten-member board to be assigned with the task of formulating long-term economic-development strategies as well as researching and contacting businesses looking to locate or relocate their facilities in the Northeast Region.

(2.)   The board will have the ability to negotiate for workforce training, capital investments, and other projects to help collaborate with businesses and manufacturers interested in locating or relocating their facilities in the Northeast Region.

(3.)   Grants and incentives that are provided by the fund may be used for onsite (equipment and facilities) and offsite (infrastructure) expenses if approved by the Bank of the Northeast.

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A BILL

To require companies that package meat and grocery stores to label all meat products treated with carbon monoxide.


Be it enacted by the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened.

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as 'The Red Meat Act.'

SECTION 2. FINDINGS

The Assembly finds and declares that;

1.) Carbon monoxide (often referred to as CO) is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas, one measly oxygen molecule away from the carbon dioxide all humans exhale.  However, this chemical can have detrimental effects on the human body at very low concentrations.

2.) The Canadian Meat Packers Council recommends that the internal meat temperatures not go above 4 degrees Celsius or 39 degrees Fahrenheit. That has also been defined by other international meat regulators as the optimum storage temperature of meat.

3.) In a carbon monoxide system, with low oxygen, the carbon monoxide will react with myoglobin and give aged meat a bright red color. The low oxygen mixture artificially limits the growth of spoilage organisms that are commonly caused by increased levels of heat in display cases.

4.) More than 70% of all beef and chicken in the United States, Canada and other countries is being treated with poisonous carbon monoxide gas to look fresh.

Source of this information: http://www.theidealistrevolution.com/decayed-meat-treated-with-carbon-monoxide-to-make-it-look-fresh-at-the-grocery/

SECTION 3. MEAT PACKAGING REQUIREMENT

1.) All meat treated with carbon monoxide must have a label that reads "TREATED WITH CARBON MONOXIDE" on their packages at a font size no smaller than 20 pt.

2.) Markets that sell meat which are encased in packages that do not contain such labels may be fined $35,000,000 per offense.

SECTION 4. EFFECTIVENESS

This law will go into effect on March 1st, 2013.

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A BILL

To insure the viability of agriculture in the Northeast Region, to preserve the Northeast's agricultural base, and to improve farm production.


Be it enacted by the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened.

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the 'Agriculture Reinvestment Act of 2013.'

SECTION 2. DEFINITION

The word "farm" in this act shall be defined as any land used to produce crops, livestock, specialty livestock, or grazing and includes woodland and wasteland not under cultivation or used for pasture or grazing.  

SECTION 3. FARM INVESTMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM

1. The Northeast Department of Agriculture and the Interior shall be authorized to provide money to each state within the region for the purpose of capital investment to farms.

2. Grants will be awarded by state agencies on the basis of the quality of farmers' business plans that is a part of their applications.

3. Farmer applicants must match or exceed the amount of the grant being requested.  These funds must be used for projects that are defined as capital fixed assets and have a life expectancy of 10 years or more.

4. Funds may be used for the expansion of existing agricultural facilities, or diversification-expansion into new production areas and site improvements related to such expansion or diversification.

SECTION 4. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

1. Agricultural producers, singularly or jointly, whether such producers are owners or tenants of existing agricultural production facilities located within the region of the Northeast;

2. Applicant must provide an individual business plan. In the case of a joint venture, two business plans must be filed, one for the individual applicant and the other for the joint venture, demonstrating how the agricultural production facility will remain ongoing for at least ten years and show what impact the improvements will have on his or her business via projected increased sales, additional jobs, local taxes, etc.

3. Applicant must provide conceptual construction drawings with project budget;

4. Applicant must possess a current farmers' tax exempt permit;

5. Applicant must be responsible for securing and complying with all necessary zoning, inland wetland, building and other permits, as well as environmental regulations, as required prior to receiving grant;

6. Upon completion of project, applicant must provide an audit from a Certified Public Accountant, a lending institution or an agricultural advisory institution that includes an itemized statement of expenses of the project.

7. Applicants must agree to a site inspection conducted by an agent from their respective states prior to final approval or rejection of their application. If application approved and project monies awarded, applicant must agree to site inspections during the construction phase of the project.


(Sections 2 & 3 partially taken from http://www.ct.gov/doag/cwp/view.asp?a=3260&q=398988)


SECTION 5. FUNDING

Funds for this grant program will be allocated from the Environment & energy account of the Northeast Budget FY13' Nov-March.

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AN AMENDMENT

To formally and constitutionally establish the new capital of the Northeast Region in the city of Buffalo, New York.


Be it enacted by the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened.

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the ‘Capital Relocation Amendment of 2013.’

SECTION 2. CAPITAL RELOCATION

Article I of the Northeast Constitution is amended to read:

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A BILL

To terminate all parental rights of a person convicted of rape to a child conceived as a result of the rape.


Be it enacted by the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened.

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the 'Termination of Parental Rights for Rape Convicts Act.'

SECTION 2. FINDINGS

It is found and determined by the Assembly of the Northeast Region that pregnancy from rape against women occurs; that women who get pregnant as a result of rape and decide to carry their pregnancy to term should not have a lifetime tethered to their rapists due to custody issues; and that this act is immediately necessary to eliminate the possibility that a rapist convicted in a court of law can have custody rights to any child conceived and born from such a rape.

SECTION 3. TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS FOR PUTATIVE FATHERS CONVICTED OF RAPE

All parental rights of a putative father to a child conceived as a result of a rape shall be terminated immediately upon conviction of the rape in which the child was conceived.


Bill taken from http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2013/2013R/Bills/HB1002.pdf

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Reintroducing:

AN AMENDMENT

To formally and constitutionally establish the new capital of the Northeast Region in the city of Buffalo, New York.


Be it enacted by the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened.

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the ‘Capital Relocation Amendment of 2013.’

SECTION 2. CAPITAL RELOCATION

Article I of the Northeast Constitution is amended to read:

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A RESOLUTION

To formally recognize and commend the victims of the December 14th, 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Be it affirmed by the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened.

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the 'Sandy Hook Elementary School Memorial Resolution.'

SECTION 2. RESOLUTION

The Northeast Assembly formally recognizes and commends those who lost their lives during the
Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting which took place in the village of Newtown, Connecticut on the Friday of December 14th, 2012. 

Their lives shall forever live on in our hearts.

Perpetrator's mother

    Nancy Lanza

School personnel

    Rachel D'Avino, teacher's aide
    Dawn Hochsprung, principal
    Anne Marie Murphy, teacher's aide
    Lauren Rousseau, teacher
    Mary Sherlach, school psychologist
    Victoria Leigh Soto, teacher

First grade students

    Charlotte Bacon
    Daniel Barden
    Olivia Engel
    Josephine Gay
    Dylan Hockley
    Madeleine Hsu
    Catherine Hubbard
    Chase Kowalski
    Jesse Lewis
    Ana Marquez-Greene
    James Mattel
    Grace Mcdonnell
    Emilie Parker
    Jack Pinto
    Noah Pozner
    Caroline Previdi
    Jessica Rekos
    Avielle Richman
    Benjamin Wheeler
    Allison Wyatt

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March-July Northeast Budget FY2013

IN THE NORTHEAST ASSEMBLY

A RESOLUTION

Establishing the budget for the Northeast Government lasting from March until July 2013

Resolved by the Northeast Assembly convened,

Expenditures

$50 billion - School aid
$38 billion - Economic development
$35 billion - Transportation
$25 billion - Public safety
$25 billion - Higher education
$22 billion - Health services
$15 billion - Tax expenditures
$7 billion - Environment & energy
$3 billion - Direct aid & incentives to municipalities
$2 billion - Government administration

TOTAL EXPENDITURES - $222 billion


PROJECTED SURPLUS - $60.5 billion
- $15 billion shall be reserved for the redevelopment and refurbishment of Buffalo, New York.
- New city infrastructure shall be designed in accordance with the ideals of New Urbanism as explicated in the New Urbanist Manifesto.

Disaster Relief Fund

20% of all budget surpluses shall automatically be allocated to a Disaster Relief Fund which may be spent during emergencies at the discretion of the Governor via executive order.

PROPOSED TAXES

Income tax
0.0%    $0 - $24,999
1.0%    $25,000 - $49,9999
2.0%    $50,000 - $99,999
4.0%    $100,000 - $249,999
6.5%  $250,000 - $999,999
9.0%   $1,000,000 +

Rates remain the same for married couples filing jointly, but brackets are doubled.

Sales tax
4.5% [excludes groceries, clothing, and footwear]

Property tax
$35 per mil on assessed value of unimproved land

Excise Taxes
Gas: 68 cents per gallon
Diesel: 85 cents per gallon
New automobile purchase tax (by curb weight): $500 per thousand kilograms
Tanning: 33 and 1/3 cents per minute [tax already exists per Northeast Healthy Skin Act]

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A BILL

To increase and annually adjust the Northeast Region's minimum wage

Be it enacted by the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the 'Northeast Minimum Wage Act of 2013.'

SECTION 2. FINDINGS

It is found and determined by the Assembly of the Northeast Region that;

1. In today's society, many items necessary for basic living are becoming more expensive, and thus affordable to those working on minimum wage

2. To keep up with inflation, it is necessary to raise the regional minimum wage for $18 per hour for companies making more than $2 million per year

SECTION 3. MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE AND INDEX TO INFLATION

1. Provisions 2 and 3 of The Northeast Minimum Wage Act of 2012 are hereby repealed.

2. Effective July 10th, the regional minimum wage shall be raised to $18 per hour.

3. The regional minimum wage shall be adjusted yearly to by a percentage equal to monetary inflation during the prior year.

4. Any company making $2 million or more per year shall be fined $10,000 per worker for violating the regulations of this legislation.


[Text of bill from http://northeast.jsa.org/Legislative%20Index%202013.pdf]

EDIT: WITHDRAWN

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A BILL

To close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, quality, and equality, so that all students may enjoy a proper education.

Be it enacted the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened.

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the ‘Northeast Education Improvement and Modernization Act of 2013.’

SECTION 2. FINDINGS

The Northeast Assembly hereby finds and declares that;

1.   The current state of the Northeast education system is poor, and grades are on a long-term decline.

2.   Children of minority and low-income households are being inadequately schooled.

3.   The traditional teachings of mathematics and science courses have been reduced to mere memorization games that do not adequately prepare students for life.

4.   Students have been taught to manufacture formulized paragraphs on writing essays but are not being adequately trained as writers and readers.

5.   These findings demonstrate an urgent call for reform in the structure of education in the Northeast Region.

SECTION 3. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDUCATION

1.   All schools up to university level, public and private will be exclusively funded and administered by municipalities of the Northeast Region.

2.   The founding of a new private comprehensive school will require approval from the Northeast Department of Education.

3.   When founded, private schools will be given a state grant comparable to that given to a municipal school of the same size.

4.   The use of tuition fees by private schools will be strictly prohibited.

5.   Private schools will be required to admit all their pupils on the same basis as the corresponding municipal school.

6.   Private schools will be required to give their students all the social entitlements that are offered to the students of municipal schools.

SECTION 4. TEACHERS

1.   The right of teachers to unionize shall be guaranteed.

2.   All teachers shall be accorded a great deal of autonomy in their respected professions and will be allowed to choose their own textbooks.

3.   All teachers, public and private, shall be required to hold a Master’s degree in their field in order to enter the education profession.

3a.  Existing teachers who have a degree below Master’s may retain their jobs, but will be required to attend a nightly college until the standard is met.  Tuition will be covered by the Region.

4.   There shall be no specific curriculum assigned to any teacher.

5.   All school principals will be required to, through any means necessary, assess their teachers for competence and expertise in their field of study and send their reports to the Department of Education.  The Department of Education will be authorized to set its own guidelines on how each individual teacher will be paid and terminate the jobs of those deemed incompetent.

SECTION 5. AMENDMENT TO THE EDUCATION ACT

Section 3 of the Education Act is hereby amended;

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SECTION 6. SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

1.   All schools below college shall be required to be open to students for at least 190 days per year for at least eight hours a day, for no more than nine years.  Two hours each day must be reserved to study hall periods and recess, which shall be required in all schools.

2.   All students will be entitled to health care (including mental health) and daily lunch.  If a student is of an income level below $25,000, their lunches shall be at no cost.

SECTION 7. NORTHEAST MATRICULATION EXAM

The annual standardized test, which shall be the only government-prescribed test in the Northeast Region, shall be named the Northeast Matriculation Exam (or the NME), and will be assigned to all high school students in the middle of their senior years.  Questions in this test (which must pertain to: math, science, English, and social studies) will be determined by the Department of Education.

SECTION 8. FUNDING

All necessary funding for this bill shall come from the School aid fund of each budget.  An additional $20.5 billion from the surplus of the March-July Northeast Budget FY2013 will be used for implementation of these policies.

SECTION 9. IMPLEMENTATION

This law shall go into effect at the start of the 2014 school year.

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A BILL

To modify the format of the tri-annual Northeast Budget


Be it enacted by the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the Northeast Budget Procedure Improvement Act.

SECTION 2. AMENDMENT TO THE NORTHEAST BUDGET PROCEDURE ACT

Section 2 of the Northeast Budget Procedure Act is hereby amended:

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A BILL

To amend the Northeast Education Act to support teacher and school professional training on awareness of student mental health conditions.

Be it enacted by the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the Helping Educators Support All Students Act.

SECTION 2. FINDINGS

The Northeast Assembly finds and declares that;

1) Approximately 1 in 5 children have a diagnosable mental illness.

2) Fifty percent of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14, and 75 percent by age 24.

3) Fifty percent of students with a mental illness, age 14 years and older, drop out of high school.

4) For youth between the ages of 10 and 24, suicide is the third leading cause of death, and an estimated 90 percent have a diagnosable mental health condition.

5) One in 10 children and adolescents suffer from mental illness severe enough to cause some level of impairment, but only 1 in 5 of such children receive specialty mental health services.

SECTION 2. MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION GRANTS

The Northeast Education Improvement and Modernization Act of 2013 is hereby amended;

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cont.

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[Bill text courtesy of http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s648/text]

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A BILL

To officially designate the Northeast Region as a commonwealth

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the Northeast Commonwealth Act.

SECTION 2. DESIGNATION OF THE NORTHEAST REGION TO COMMONWEALTH STATUS

The Northeast Region shall, from enactment of this legislation, be known as the Commonwealth of the Northeast.

SECTION 3. CONSTITUTIONAL REFLECTION OF NAME CHANGE

All references in the Northeast Constitution, upon enactment of this law, shall be changed to reflect Commonwealth status.

SECTION 4. ENACTMENT

This legislation shall go into effect upon 2/3 approval of Northeast voters.

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AN AMENDMENT

To protect the right of The People to ratify amendments to the federal Constitution


Be it enacted by 2/3 of the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the Constitution Ratification Amendment.

SECTION 2. PUBLIC VOTES ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

The Constitution of the Northeast Region is amended;

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A BILL

To promote and expand stem cell research in the Northeast Region

Be it enacted by the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the Stem Cell Research Expansion Act of 2013.

SECTION 2. FUNDING AND LIBERALIZATION OF STEM CELL RESEARCH

1. The Department of Health and Human Services shall conduct and support research that utilizes human embryonic stem cells in accordance with this law (regardless of the date on which the stem cells were derived from a human embryo).

2. The Northeast government will pledge $4 billion for the research of human embryonic stem cells.  The Department of Health and Human Services will be responsible for allocating these funds.

3. Beneficiaries shall annually prepare and submit to the Department a report describing the activities carried out under this law during the preceding year.  The Department will be responsible for compiling these reports, and including a description of to what extent the research has been conducted in accordance with this law, to the Northeast Assembly.

4. Funding for this legislation will derive from the Health research and training expenditures established by the March-July Northeast Budget FY2013.

5. Any and all existing regulations on stem cell research established by the Northeast Region are hereby repealed.

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A BILL

To require newspapers that print public notices to post them on the Internet

Be it enacted by the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the Online Public Notice Act.

SECTION 2. ONLINE POSTING OF PUBLIC NOTICES

1. Under this bill, beginning April 1, 2014, in all cases where a public notice or legal notice is required to be published in a newspaper of general circulation, the complete notice must be posted:

1) On the newspaper's website, where it must be published contemporaneously with the notice's first print publication and will remain on the website for at least as long as the notice appears in the newspaper; and

2) On a statewide website established and maintained as an initiative and service of the Northeast government as a repository for such notices and will remain on the repository website for at least as long as it appears in the newspaper. Any newspaper of general circulation that meets the criteria of this provision must have access to the statewide website.

2. Any such notice must be published online in its entirety, including maps and other exhibits, and must include the date on which it was first printed in the newspaper. An error in a notice placed on the newspaper website or statewide website, or temporary website outages or service interruptions prohibiting the posting or display of such notice, will be considered harmless error and proper legal notice requirements will be considered met if the notice published in the newspaper is correct.

3. Each newspaper of general circulation publishing public notices must include on its website home page a link to its public notice section and include on its public notice home page a link to the statewide public notice website.


Bill inspired by SB #461

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Honoring Some Folks Act

All parks and schools referencing "American" political figures shall be renamed using analogous Atlasian political figures.

The Governor is empowered to create a task force to determine the analogous political figures for these purposes.

X Napoleon

(Inspired in part by one of Kal's old proposals, and name shamelessly stolen)

X Governor Scott

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A BILL

To appropriate funds for the repair and improvement of bridges in the Northeast Region

Be it enacted by the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as A bill to appropriate funds for the repair and improvement of bridges or the Bridge Repair Bill.

SECTION 2. APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS FOR URGENT BRIDGE REPAIRS

The Assembly of the Northeast Region acting under the authority vested in it by Section 4 of the BUILD ACT does hereby direct the sum of $1.134 to be obligated from the Highways and highway safety fund of the March-July Northeast Budget FY2013, and apportioned for the following projects;

$0.217 billion to the Longfellow Bridge in Boston, Massachusetts

$0.823 billion to the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, New York

$0.094 billion to the Mianus Bridge in Greenwich, Connecticut

The Department of Urban Development will be responsible for the oversight, contracting, and communication of involved parties throughout the course of each project.

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A BILL

To prohibit workplace discrimination

Be it enacted by the Assembly of the Northeast Region convened

SECTION 1. TITLE

This legislation may be cited as the Northeast Discrimination in the Workplace Ban Statute of 2013 or the NDWB.

SECTION 2. PROHIBITION OF WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION

1. Employment of persons shall not be denied or abridged on account of race, national origin, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

1a. "Transgender" shall be included as a similarly illegal basis under the definition of gender, of discrimination or denial of legal rights.

2. Any employer found guilty of violation of section two shall be fined no more than $5,000 per employee (or prospective employee) unlawfully denied employment, in addition to whatever damages a Court may award the employee (or prospective employee).


(Legislation originally designed by the Mideast Gay Discrimination in the Workplace Ban Statute)