5th Council of Lincoln Legislative Introduction Thread

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AN ACT
to make higher education an even playing field

Section 1 (Title & definitions)
i. The title of this Act shall be, the "Higher Education Dehelmintization Act." It may be cited as "HEDA."
ii. As it appears in this legislation, "third party assessment" refers to any standardized test developed other than by the Lincoln Department of Education or the state or district where the student is enrolled.
iii. As it appears in this legislation, "third party program" refers to any course, program, or curriculum developed other than by the Lincoln Department of Education or the state, district, or public college or university where the student is or was enrolled, not including volunteer, professional, or military service, for which the student is assessed a fee.

Section 2 (Purgation)
i. No public college or university shall accept or consider the results of a third party assessment as supplementary material to an application for admission.
ii. No public college or university shall accept for credit the results of a third party assessment or other proof of completion of a third party program.
iii. No high school funded in whole or in part by the Region of Lincoln shall administer any third party assessment, nor offer any third party program.

Section 3 (Implementation)
i. §2(i, iii) of this Act shall take effect with the 2021-2022 academic year.
ii. §2(ii) of this Act shall take effect with the 2024-2025 academic year.

Introducing this on behalf of Representative-elect Tack.

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AN ACT
to grant the Governor veto powers

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this Act shall be, the "Gubernatorial Veto Powers Act."

Section 2 (Amendment to the Council Standing Orders)
i. Section 2 of the Standing Orders of the Council of Lincoln shall be amended as follows

Section 2. Movement of Legislation to the Floor
G. Each thread shall remain open until the bill either (a) becomes law via the Governor's signature, lack of Gubernatorial action, or referendumveto override, (b) fails to receive majority support from Council, (c) is sent to the public for a referendum, pursuant to Article I, Section 6 of the Comprehensive Constitutional Amendment, or (c) the Chancellor moves to revoke it from the floor, subject to a majority vote

Section 3. Legislative Debates and Voting
I. In the event that passed legislation is recommended to a referendumvetoed by the Governor, either the Chancellor or any Councillor may introduce a motion to override the move to a referendumveto within 72 hours for the Governor's move to a referendumveto being announced. A veto override vote shall last 48 hours, or until all Councillors have voted, if earlier with a two-thirds majority required for the veto to be overriden. This text shall not be interpreted as to deny Councillors the right to change their vote before the Speaker has officially closed voting via a post in the appropriate legislation thread.

Section 3 (Gubernatorial Veto Powers Amendment)
i. To allow for greater powers to be granted to the Governor, the Constitution of the Region of Lincoln is amended as follows:

Article I. The Legislative Power
6. Every bill passed by the Council, before it becomes law, shall first be sent to the governor. If he approves of it, he should sign it and it will become law; but if he disapproves he may referveto the bill to a general referendum. The Council may override the referenceveto of the governor by a two-thirds majority vote of all elected MCs. If the governor fails to take any action on a bill within 120 hours of its passage, it shall become law.

Article II. The Executive Power
3. The governor shall have the power to carry out all acts in association with his role as the head of state of the Region; to command the militia in times of war; to issue pardons and reprieves for crimes committed under the laws of this Region, which shall be permanent upon their issuance, though he shall have no power to pardon himself; to appoint, in accordance with Article V of the Constitution of the Republic of Atlasia, the Associate Justice for this Region; and to approve, or send to referendumveto, all acts passed by the Council.

Section 4 (Implementation)
i. §3 shall take effect upon its ratification by the people, according to the procedure prescribed by the constitution of the Region by Article VI thereof.
ii. §2 shall take effect upon the ratification of section §3 in accordance with the constitution of the Region by Article VI thereof.

Amendment drafted jointly with Governor Jimmy, it replaces the complex referendum override system with a simple Governor's Veto. It would be appreciated by me and the Governor if a Councillor could sponsor.

Can a member of Council sponsor this?

AN ACT
to abolish the office of Chancellor

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this Act shall be, the "Chancellorship Abolition Act."

Section 2 (Amendment to the Council Standing Orders)
i. Section 2 of the Standing Orders of the Council of Lincoln shall be amended as follows

Section 2. Movement of Legislation to the Floor
B. The number of threads about legislation that may be opened simultaneously shall be as follows. In Councils with 3 Councillors there may be up to 5 threads about legislation, in Councils with 5 Councillors there may be up to 7 threads about legislation, and in Councils with 7 Councillors there may be up to 9 threads about legislation
i. In Councils with 5 Councillors or less; there may be up to 7 threads about legislation. 5 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government and 2 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition.

ii. In Councils with 6 or 7 Councillors; there may be up to 9 threads about legislation. 6 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government and 3 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition.

iii. In Councils with 8 or more Councillors; there may be up to 11 threads about legislation. 7 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government and 4 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition.

C. The Speaker shall move government and opposition legislation to these threads in the order in which it was introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread. If a government sponsor has 3 or more pieces of legislation in the floor, or an opposition sponsor has 2 or more pieces of legislation in the floor, legislation from other government or opposition sponsors who do not shall take priority instead.

D. Each piece of legislation on the floor shall receive its own thread. Threads shall be titled as follows:

L 1.1: The BLANK Act, where L acknowledges the legislation is in the Council of Lincoln, 1 indicating that the legislation is in the first meeting of the Council of Lincoln, 1 indicating that the legislation was the first piece of legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread, and BLANK being replaced with the name of the piece of legislation.

E. If a change in government or in a bill's sponsorship implies that there are more bills than there are slots available for the government or the opposition, the speaker may open temporary extra slots for these pieces of legislation. These slots shall be removed once a permanent slot is opened (at which point the bill in the temporary slot shall moved to the opened permanent slot), or the bill is removed from the floor by the means described in Section 2.F.

F. Each thread shall remain open until the bill either (a) becomes law via the Governor's signature, lack of Gubernatorial action, or referendum override, (b) fails to receive majority support from Council, (c) is sent to the public for a referendum, pursuant to Article I, Section 6 of the Comprehensive Constitutional Amendment, or (d) the Chancellorany Councillor moves to revoke it from the floor, subject to a majority vote.

Section 3. Legislative Debates and Voting
D. After the conclusion of the first 72 hours for debate, any Councillor or the Chancellor may call for a vote on said legislation. The Speaker shall open a vote if neither anotherno other Councillor nor the Chancellor objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. If a Councillor objects to the motion within 24 hours, a vote shall be held on whether or not to proceed to a final vote, with a two-thirds majority required for the objection to be overruled if the legislation has been on the floor for less than 240 hours; and a simple majority required if the legislation has been on the floor for more than 240 hours.

E. After the conclusion of the first 72 hours for debate, the Chancellor or the Leader of the Oppositionany Councillor may move for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the membership, the Council shall end debate and the Speaker immediately declare a vote on the affected legislation. A motion for cloture shall overrule any ammendments presented and any ongoing debates, but any votes which are already open shall stay open; with the motion for cloture being opened inmediately after said open vote is closed.

F. At the motion of the Chancellorany Councillor, the Council may waive the 72 hour requirement by unanimous consent. Consent shall be granted should no Member object to the motion of the Chancellor within 24 hours of its introduction.

H. Budget bills shall be considered a meaningful vote of confidence in the Government.

I. In the event that passed legislation is recommended to a referendum by the Governor, either the Chancellor or any Councillor may introduce a motion to override the move to a referendum within 72 hours for the Governor's move to a referendum being announced. An override vote shall last 48 hours, or until all Councillors have voted, if earlier. This text shall not be interpreted as to deny Councillors the right to change their vote before the Speaker has officially closed voting via a post in the appropriate legislation thread.

Section 5 is to be repealed in its entirety.

Section 6. Role of Speaker
B. At the beginning of each term of the Council, and at any time when the office is vacant, the secondfirst order of business of the Council shall be to elect the Speaker. after the election of the Chancellor. Prior to the election of a Speaker, the Chancellor may serve as Acting Speaker for the purposes of electing a Speaker only. If there is not a Speaker, The Governor mayshall preside over the election of the ChancellorSpeaker. If the Governor is unavailable for any reason, the most senior Councillor shall preside.

C. The Chancellor shall introduce a piece of legislation to nominate a candidate for Speaker, who will then face a vote before the Council, requiring a majority support to assume office.
C. The Governor shall announce a twenty-four hour period for nominations to the Speakership. Any Councillor may then nominate themselves for the office of Speaker. At the conclusion of the period for nominations, the Governor shall declare a vote of the Council. Voting shall continue until a majority has been reached, or forty-eight hours has elapsed, whichever comes first.

D. The ChancellorGovernor shall certify the results following the election, and the Speaker shall immediately assume office.

E. The Council may, at any time, remove the Speaker by making introducing repeal legislation to the introductory legislation of Section V, Part C a Councillor introducing a Motion of No Confidence in the Speaker. The motion shall take precedence over all other motions and bills before the Council, and shall be conducted in the manner outlined in the section entitled Legislative Debates and Voting. The ChancellorGovernor will designate a Councillor to preside in the place of the Speaker. If the Motion of No Confidence passes then a new Speaker must be elected in accordance with Section 6 of the Standing Orders.

Section 3 (Chancellorship Abolition Amendment)
i. To allow for greater powers to be granted to the Governor, the Constitution of the Region of Lincoln is amended as follows:

Article I. The Legislative Power
4. The Council shall have the power to determine its own methods of proceedings, to elect its Speaker and other officers, and to judge the qualifications of its members. No councilor shall serve simultaneously as Speaker and as Chancellor.

8. Whenever a vacancy should occur in the composition of the Council, a new councilor shall be chosen by means of a by-election to fill the vacated seat. A seat on the council shall be considered vacated upon the resignation, recall, impeachment of the previous occupant; failure of the elected councilor to swear in within one week of the opening of the legislative session; failure of the councilor to vote on six consecutive pieces of legislation without publicly declaring absence.

9. In the event of a tie in a vote of the Council, the governor shall have the power to break the tie.

10. The Council, on the first day after the governor’s appointment of a chancellor, the Speaker or any member of the Council shall introduce a motion, “that this Council has confidence in His (or Her) Excellency’s government”. A simple majority of councilors voting Aye or Nay shall be sufficient to establish confidence. If the new government should fail to gain the confidence of the Council, the appointed chancellor shall be dismissed and the governor shall advance the appointment of a new chancellor whom he shall submit to the judgement of the Council. This vote of confidence in the Chancellor may also take the form of a vote in a thread opened by the Governor about the State Opening of the Council of Lincoln

11. While no chancellor holds office who shall have earned the confidence of the Council, the Council may not conduct any business beyond conducting votes on confidence or on emergency resolutions, as described in Section 13 of this Article.

12. The Council shall have the power to declare no confidence in the chancellor’s government. A motion of no confidence shall require a sufficient second to be voted on by the Council, and if this is achieved, a majority of the membership of the Council voting Aye or Nay is sufficient to declare non-confidence in the government. If a loss of confidence occurs in the government, the governor must call a snap election or appoint a new candidate for chancellor.

13. Legislation shall fall into three categories in the Council once proposed in the Legislation Proposal Thread: government legislation, opposition legislation, and emergency legislation. Government legislation, which is proposed by councilors in the Chancellor’s government, shall have no less than three more slots than opposition legislation, which is proposed by any councilor not in government. The ratio of government to opposition slots shall be determined by the Standing Orders of Council Procedure. Emergency legislation, which must receive a sufficient second and third in the Proposal Thread by councilors other than the proposer, and must be sanctioned as necessary of emergency action by either the Chancellor or the Governor, shall not be confined by any slot as described above. An emergency designation may be denied by three-fifths of the Council voting to deny the designation.

14. Early elections for the Council may be called by the governor as long as the snap election does not occur less than a month before a regular election if he determines that no government can be formed, following the failure of a confidence vote at the beginning of a new parliamentary term or the failure of any councilor to produce a government as described in Section 6 of Article II or following a successful vote of non-confidence in the government and failure of the successive confidence vote to produce a government. In addition, the Governor may call a snap election at the request of the Chancellor, be it that the snap election does not occur less than a month before or after a regularly scheduled election.

Article II. The Executive Power
1. The executive powers and duties shall be divided betweenvested in the Governor of Lincoln. and the Chancellor of Lincoln, with the governor having the powers of the head of state and the chancellor the powers of the head of government.

4. The governor shall appoint a chancellor who he believes will have the confidence of the Council whenever a vacancy opens in the chancellorship by way of resignation, death, or whenever the Council shall pass a motion of no confidence in the government. Additionally, he shall appoint a chancellor who he believes will have the confidence of the Council following a general election.

5. The chancellor, who must be a member of the Council, shall have the power to carry out all acts in association with his role as the head of government of the Region; to lead the government, so long as he commands the confidence of the Council; and to administer the functions of the head of state as acting governor upon the death, impeachment, recall, or resignation of the governor, or whenever he should otherwise become unable to execute the duties of his office. The chancellor shall not forfeit his office upon ascending to the position of acting governor; but should the chancellor be elected governor in an ensuing by-election, he shall forfeit his offices in the Council, including the chancellery.

6. After the Council has been elected, the outgoing chancellor shall have the first right to form a government and seek appointment from the governor to reach a confidence vote. However, if the incumbent chancellor is not a sitting member of the new Council, the Council may suggest an alternative candidate for chancellor to the governor who it believes holds the confidence of the Council. If the governor has determined that a government cannot be formed, writs of election may be issued.

Article III. The People
1. The people of the Region of Lincoln may initiate the recall of any officer of this Region, except the Associate Justice of the Circuit Court or the Minister of Regional Elections or the Chancellor from that office-though they may still be recalled in their capacities as councilors—, by delivering to the Minister of Regional Elections a petition stating the reason for recall and signed by one tenth of the total population of the Region. The Minister of Regional Elections shall then open the voting booth, according to the rules and regulations for elections set forth in this Constitution; but if the officer to be recalled is the Minister of Regional Elections in their capacity as a councilor, then the Speaker of the Council shall open the voting booth. The ballot question shall be, “Shall [A.B.] be recalled from the office of [name of the office held]?” A vote of “YES” shall be considered a vote for recall; a vote of “NO” shall be considered a vote against recall. Abstentions will not affect the results. Recalled officers shall forfeit their offices immediately.

Article V. Elections
3. All elections and referendums of this Region shall be administered by the Minister of Regional Elections. The Minister of Regional Elections shall be appointed by the ChancellorGovernor, shall serve at the pleasure of the chancellorGovernor, and may be impeached and removed from office by a vote of two-thirds of the Council. Whenever the Minister of Regional Elections is unable to execute this duty, the Governor shall administer the election. Whenever the Minister of Regional Elections and Governor are both unable to execute this duty, the Speaker of the Council shall administer the election.

7. Except in December, all elections for governor, Council, and federal Senate shall begin on the penultimate Friday of the given month. In December, all elections shall begin on the second Friday of the month. All special elections for governor and by-elections for Council shall begin on the second Friday following the creation of the vacancy to be filled; but if the vacancy shall occur on a Thursday, the special election shall begin on the third Friday following the creation of the vacancy. All by-elections for Council shall begin on the Friday following the creation of the vacancy to be filled; but if the vacancy shall occur on a Thursday, the special election shall begin on the second Friday following the creation of the vacancy. The appropriate election administrator shall open the voting booth at 12:00:00 AM, Eastern Standard Time (or Eastern Daylight Time from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November.). Voting shall continue for 72 hours, and no vote cast more than 72 hours after the voting booth was opened shall be considered valid. The election administrator must accept any absentee ballots cast no more than 168 hours prior to the commencement of the election.

10. The terms of the elected governor and councilors shall begin at 12:00:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time, on the Tuesday following their election. Prior to assuming office, all officers shall swear the following oath: “I, [A.B.], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of [state office name] and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitutions of the Lincoln Region and the Republic of Atlasia.” Appointment of the chancellor by the governor may not be made before this time.

Section 4 (Implementation)
i. §3 shall take effect upon its ratification by the people, according to the procedure prescribed by the constitution of the Region by Article VI thereof.
ii. §2 shall take effect upon the ratification of section §3 in accordance with the constitution of the Region by Article VI thereof.

I will sponsor both of these bills.