Senate Legislation Introduction Thread

[Former President tack50]

SENATE BILL

To encourage the recycling and discourage the single use of plastics and glass materials

Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress Assembled,

Section 1: Name
1. This bill may be referred to as the "Single use glass and plastic discouraging act"

Section 2: Refundable Deposits
1. A deposit of 10 cents shall be paid by consumers on all sales of glass bottles
2. A deposit of 5 cents shall be paid by consumers on all sales of aluminium cans
3. A deposit of 30 cents shall be paid by consumers on all sales of plastic bottles
4. These deposits shall be paid on top of any additional regional, state or local deposits.
5. These deposits shall be refunded to the consumer after delivering the empty container intact at any recycling point.
6. All supermarkets and other convenience stores with a surface area larger than 2000 square feet shall be considered recycling points for the purposes of this act. These establishments shall be responsible for tdelivering the received containers to a processing plant where they can be adequately recycled

Section 3: Non-refundable taxes
1. A tax of 5 cents shall be imposed on all sales of plastic bags
2. These taxes shall be imposed on top of any regional, state or local taxes

Section 4: Single use plastics bans
1. Starting on July 1st, 2021; the sale of the following products across the Republic of Atlasia shall be banned if they are made of single-use plastics or oxo-degradable plastic:
a) Cotton bud sticks
b) Plastic plates and cutlery
c) Straws
d) Sticks to be attached to and support balloons
e) Food containers intended for meals ready for immediate consumption and made out of expanded polystirene
f) Beberage containers made up of expanded polystyrene
g) Cups made up of expanded polystyrene

Section 5: Future goals
1. The Republic of Atlasia and its government shall pass the necessary measures to ensure that 90% of plastics are collected and explicitly separated for recycling by the year 2029
2. The Republic of Atlasia and its government shall pass the necessary measures to ensure that 25% of plastics are made of recycled materials by the year 2025; and 30% by the year 2030.

Section 6: Enactment
1. Except for the parts that specify otherwise, this bill shall be enacted 1 month after passage

^{Note: Sections 4 and 5 are loosely based on EU directive 2019/904. The rest of the bill is 100% original}

[Former President tack50]

SENATE BILL

To reform the immigration system into Atlasia

Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress Assembled,

Section 1: Name
1. This bill may be referred to as the "Immigration Reform Act of 2020"

Section 2: Categories of legal immigration to Atlasia
1. The following categories of legal permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby established:
a) Family Reunification
b) Job based immigration
c) Other immigration
2. This act shall not alter the composition or requirements for non-immigrant visas or for visas intended for temporary workers or students

Section 3: Family Reunification immigration
1. Family reunification visas may only be issued to the unmarried children or to the spouse of an Atlasian citizen or permanent resident who has been living in the Republic of Atlasia for no less than 5 years.
2. Family reunification visas shall be capped at no more than 300 000 per year.
3. During the application process for family reunification, priority shall be given to the foreign relatives of Atlasian citizens that have had no criminal records in the Republic of Atlasia for the past 10 years

Section 4: Job immigration
1. Job immigration into the Republic of Atlasia shall be based on a points based system. All applicants who score 67 or more points shall be awarded a job immigration visa.

2. People awarded a Job immigration visa may also award another job immigration visa to their spouse, regardless of whether their spouse fulfills the necessary requirements or not

3a. Up to 24 points may be awarded for proficiency in the English language; 6 each for Reading comprehension, Writing, Listening and Speaking.
3b. Immigrants scoring below an IELTS level of 5.5 (or equivalent) many not apply for a job immigration visa.
3c. Points shall be awarded for scoring 5.5 or above in each of the 4 categories described in section 2.3a; with 2 points for scoring between 5.5 and 5.99; 4 points for scoring between 6 and 6.99, 5 points for scoring between 7 and 7.99 and 6 points for scoring 8 or more points
3d. Prospective immigrants with a job offer in the state of Puerto Rico may be waived from this requirement if they so desire, but if so it shall be replaced with equivalent requirements of proficiency in the Spanish language

4. Up to 25 points may be awarded for education proficiency, according to the following equivalency list:
a) High School diploma: 5 points
b) 2 year apprenticeship after high school: 10 points
c) 3 year college degree after high school: 15 points
d) 4 year Bachelor's degree: 20 points
e) Double Bachelor: 22 points
f) Master's degree: 23 points
g) PHD: 25 points

5a. Up to 15 points may be awarded for prior job experience on an skilled job:
a) Less than 1 year of job experience: 0 points
b) Between 1 and 2 years of job experience: 9 points
c) Between 2 and 3 years of job experience: 11 points
d) Between 3 and 6 years of job experience: 13 points
e) 6 or more years of job experience: 15 points
5b. Skilled job shall be defined as a management job; a professional job that usually calls for a college degree (for example doctors or architects) or a technical job that usually calls for a college diploma or apprenticeship (for example plumbers or electricians)
5c. Part time jobs, defined as jobs comprising less than 30 hours per week of work; shall count as half for the purposes of counting the years from section 3.5a

6a. Up to 12 points may be awarded for an applicant's age. Applicants between the ages of 18 and 35 shall be awarded the full 12 points. For each year after that, the number of points awarded shall be reduced by 1 per year, until reaching 0 at age 47.
6b. No persons under the age of 18 may apply for a job immigration visa to the Republic of Atlasia

7. Up to 15 extra points shall be awarded to any workers who attempt to immigrate to the Republic of Atlasia with a job offer for a job that is full time and skilled. These immigrants shall receive the full 15 points, everyone else shall receive 0 points

8. Up to 10 points may be awarded for extra requirements. Each of these requirements shall give the applicant an extra 5 points unless specified otherwise:
-Their spouse having a 5.5 level of competence in an IELTS English test. This requirement may be swapped by an equivalent Spanish requirement for applicants intending to immigrate to the state of Puerto Rico
-The applicant or their spouse having completed high school or a college degree in Atlasia
-Having any sort of legal job experience in Atlasia for at least one year shall award 10 points in this section
-Having a relative living legally in the Republic of Atlasia. Relative shall be defined as the applicant's sibling, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild.

9. If the number of applicants surpasses the maximum amount of people who may apply for an immigrant visa, priority shall be given to the highest scoring applicants. In the case of a score tie; the applicants with job offers shall be admitted first.

Section 5. Other immigration
1. The following extra categories of permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby retained, with their current requirements:
a) Outstandingly skilled people, as currently immigrating through the EB1 visa program
b) Certain special categories of immigrants, as currently immigrating through the EB4 visa program
c) Investors, as currently immigrating through the EB5 visa program
2. A new immigration visa shall be created, targeted at retirees who desire to move to the Republic of Atlasia. People immigrating through this visa shall prove that they are financially independent, able to afford their retirement in Atlasia and may not be allowed to take any job offers in Atlasia. The details of this visa shall be devised by the department in charge of internal policy in Atlasia

Section 6: Miscellaneous repeals and adjustments
1. Section 5 of the Come Out of the Shadows Act is hereby repealed
2. The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is hereby repealed
3. The total number of immigrant visas issued per year by the Atlasian government may not be more than 1/500th of the Atlasian population, as established in the last census available
4. At the discretion of the department responsible for internal policy, the total number of visas available may be reduced by 10% for every year the unemployment rate stays above 5%. Any reduction in the total number of visas shall be accompanied by a proportional reduction in the number of family reunification visas.

Section 7: Enactment
1. This bill shall become enacted on July 1st, 2020

^{Notes: Based on reforming the Immigration Act of 1990. Points system based on the Canadian model}

[Former President tack50]

SENATE BILL

To put more effort into fighting the COVID-19 pandemic

Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress Assembled,

Section 1: Name
1. This bill may be referred to as the "Further efforts in pandemic fighting Act"

Section 2: Findings
Congress finds the following:
1. That hospitals in states like Washington, New York and New Jersey have reached or are close to reaching their maximum capacity
2. That the curve of contagions is gradually flattening
3. That testing must be increased and become more widespread before the economy can reopen

Section 3: Actions to take

1. Congress hereby authorizes and encourages the opening of temporary field hospitals in non-healthcare related venues in order to treat the excess amount of cases. States begin building open these when hospitals in a certain county are at 80% of their capacity and open them when hospitals are at 90% of their capacity.
2. Nothing in this bill shall be construed as to reduce or ignore safety or hygenic standards as they may be prescribed by law
3. The government of Atlasia hereby encourages and promotes states and regions to ramp up testing in order to better trace contagions.
4. 300$ million shall be appropiated as grants to the states and regions for the regional and state governments to pursue the objectives established in this bill

Section 4: Enactment
1. This bill shall become enacted immediately after passage

^{Note: introduced as a response to the latest GM report as well as of course, real life}

[Former President tack50]

SENATE BILL

To mandate companies to settle on a common charger for mobile phones and radio equipment

Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress Assembled,

Section 1: Name
1. This bill may be referred to as the "Common Chargers Act"

Section 2: Findings
Congress finds the following:
1. The Atlasian market is not exploiting its full potential and market fragmentation for chargers for phones and other small and medium-sized electronics translates into an increase in e-waste and consumer frustration
2. Consumers are still having to acquire different chargers when buying new devices from different sellers and a new charger when purchasing a new device
3. Voluntary agreements, although significantly decreasing the number of charger types available on the market, have proved unsuccessful in terms of achieving a common charging solution
4. 50 million metric tons of e-waste is generated globally per year, an unnecessary environmental footprint that can be reduced

Section 3: The position of Congress
1. Congress strongly stresses the need for Atlasian regulatory action to reduce electronic waste and empower consumers to make sustainable choices
2. Congress emphasises the need for a standard for a common charger for mobile radio equipment to be adopted as a matter of urgency in order to avoid further internal market fragmentation

Section 4: Actions to take by the Atlasian government
1. Within 2 years from the passage of this act, the Atlasian government shall introduce a common charger standard for mobile phones and other small and medium sized radio equipment through a government directive
2. Without hampering innovation, the Atlasian government should ensure that the directives for a common charger will be scrutinised regularly in order to take into account technical progress
3. Whereas wireless charging technology entails additional potential benefits such as mitigating e-waste many mobile telephones already use wireless charging methods. Therefore the Atlasian government shall make sure that fragmentation in this area is avoided and measures to ensure interoperability of wireless chargers with different equipment are taken.
4. These government directives and regulations shall be drafted in cooperation from relevant stakeholders
5. These government directives and regulations shall ensure that consumers are no longer obliged to buy new chargers with each new device, thereby reducing the volume of chargers produced per year; as well as encouraging decoupling strategies, though higher prices for consumers should be avoided.

Section 5: Enactment
1. This bill shall become enacted 7 days after passage

^{Note: Based on EU resolution 2019/2983(RSP)}

[Former President tack50]

SENATE BILL

To extend the legal quarantine requirements

Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress Assembled,

1. This bill may be referred to as the "Extending quarantines for new arrivals Act"

2. All new international arrivals to the Republic of Atlasia shall submit upon arrival a quarantine plan for a length no shorter than 14 days. If this plan is judged to be non-viable by immigration and healthcare authorities, the new arrivals shall be forced to stay 14 days in quarantine in government controlled facilities. If the plan is judged as viable, the new arrivals shall stay for 14 days in their designed quarantine spot.

3. Congress shall, before January 1st, 2021, open a vote on whether to extend this legal quarantine requirement. The vote shall be a simple 'Aye' or 'Nay' on the extension. If Aye receives a majority in both houses of Congress then Congress shall be able to decide on the length of the extension. If no extension is specified before the end of the current length, it shall be assumed to be a 3 month extension lasting until June 30th, 2021. If the extension fails to get Congressonal approval, or if no congressional vote takes place, the legal requirement shall end on March 31st, 2021; unless Congress specifies another date.

4. The Atlasian federal government shall have the power to rent hotel space for these quarantines for new arrivals, in cases where the arrivals have no alternative venue to stay in or where the quarantine plan as specified in point 2 is judged as non viable

5. This bill shall become enacted immediately after passage

[/quote]

Introducing this partly on behalf of the president

[Former President tack50]

SENATE BILL

To make elections non-partisan in an attempt to revive competitive elections

Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress Assembled,

1. This bill may be referred to as the "George Washington was Right/Non-Partisan elections Act". It may also be referred to by the shorter title of "Non-partisan elections Act"

2. After this bill is passed, the Registrar General shall manually change the federal and regional party registration of all registered voters to Independent and stop tracking party registrations

3. Section 5.3 of the Federal Electoral Act is amended as follows:

3. The federal election authority shall be free to design the ballot as they see fit, provided that they adhere to the requirements set out in Section 3 of this Act as well as the following:

a. All candidates must be listed by their permanent Atlas Forum username, unless they have requested otherwise. Such a request shall be granted, unless it would confuse them with another user.

b. All candidates must be listed with their state of registration.

c. No party registrations of any kind may be listed in federal election ballots

c. All candidates must be listed with their registered political party, with the following exceptions:

  i. A party may, at its discretion as determined by individual bylaws, prohibit any candidate from appearing on the ballot with it's official party name. This decision must be made and reported to the relevant election administrators at least 48 hours in advance of the start of the election. (Continuation of F.L. 15-05§2.3)
  ii. If a candidate who is a member of a political party has been barred from appearing on the ballot with that party’s name in accordance with the above clause, but has been endorsed by another party in accordance with their bylaws, then the candidate may choose, with the assent of the chair of the endorsing party, to appear on the ballot under that party’s name with “(endorsed)” appended to the end of the name. Otherwise, their party shall be listed as “Unaffiliated”
  iii. If an independent has been endorsed by a political party in accordance with their bylaws, then the candidate may choose, with the assent of the chair of the endorsing party, to appear on the ballot with their party listed as “Independent ([endorsing party name])

d. During Presidential elections, the candidate listing for Presidential tickets and House of Representatives should be clearly separated, with a clear indication of which is which.

e. The ballot must contain a link to the most recent version of this act.

f. All elements of the ballot must be clearly visible and accessible.

4. The following sections of the Census Act of 2019 are hereby amended as follows

a) Section 2.1:

1. The Cabinet member assigned the portfolio of Census Administrator shall maintain a census document listing all registered voters in Atlasia. For each voter, the census shall list:

a. Their permanent Atlas Forum username
b. The federal and regional political parties they are registered with
c. The state they are registered in
d. The region they reside in
e. Whether or not the voter voted or attempted to vote in each of the last three federal elections.
f. If, according to the provisions of this act, a voter is presently ineligible to move regions, the date by which they shall become eligible to move regions

b) Section 3.2:

2. To register, a poster must post in this thread indicating the state in which they wish to register and their party affiliation of choice.

c) Section 6: Party organization is struck down in its entirety

I know this is not going to pass and tbh it might even be counterproductive but I guess it is still a worthwhile idea to discuss given the current environment (and was pretty much the first and best that came to my mind)

[Former President tack50]

SENATE BILL

To codify into law the right of all people to roam and walk the Atalsian countryside, as well as to establish some reasonable limitations on this right

Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress Assembled,

Section 1: Name
1. This bill may be referred to as the "Freedom to Roam Act"

Section 2: The Right to Roam
1. Every person in the Republic of Atlasia shall have a recognized right to roam and travel across the country, including through means of transport such as by foot, by bicycle, on horseback or with the use of canoes
2. The Atlasian federal government may not impede entrance to federally owned lands other than active military bases, unless there is a compelling national security reason or public interest reason
3. Land owners may impede entrance to areas used actively used for housing, farming or livestock, but they may not impede entrance to any undeveloped or unimproved pieces of land nor to any rivers or lakes in the property, unless said lakes are completely surrounded by areas used actively for the purposes described before.
4. Land Owners shall clearly mark the perimeter of the areas used actively for housing, farming or livestock, as well as provide a path around the areas of their property used for said purposes.
5. People roaming on private property or federal land may not perform any sort of commercial activity while roaming
6. People roaming on private property shall not be allowed to hunt, fish or pick any wild fruits, without the consent of the owner. This right may also be restricted on federal lands (including but not limited to national parks) by the department responsible of internal policy.
7. People roaming shall have the right to set up a camp and sleep for 1 night, but may not sleep in the same spot, nor any spot in a 1 mile radius from their last camping spot, for consecutive nights
8. Nothing in this bill shall be construed as to legalize or otherwise enable destructive activities towards nature, including but not limited to damaging trees or bushes, damaging the habitats and nests of wildlife or polluting nature

Section 3: Enactment
1. This bill shall become enacted immediately after passage

^{Inspired by: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam}

[Former President tack50]

AN AMENDMENT
to the Constitution of the Republic of Atlasia

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives, in Congress assembled:

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this Amendment shall be, the “Federal Initiative System Amendment.” It may be cited by its ordinal number in order of ratification.

Section 2 (Federal Initiative System Amendment)
i. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Atlasia shall be amended as follows:

1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be derived from the people, who ordinarily vest this power vested in the Congress of the Republic of Atlasia, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.
2. The Vice President shall be the President of the Congress, but shall have no vote in the House of Representatives, nor in the Senate save when they be equally divided.

ii. Article II, Section 5 shall be amended as follows:

1. Legislation may ordinarily originate in either house, and both houses shall reserve the right to propose and concur with amendments; but all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.

2. Whenever either house shall vote to pass a bill, order, or resolution that shall have originated in the other, having previously made amendment to the same, the President of the Congress shall immediately call the amended bill to a vote in the house in which it originated. If the original house should then vote to pass the amended bill, it shall proceed to the President; otherwise, the President of the Congress shall instruct the other house either to pass the bill as it stood prior to its amendment by that house, or else reject it entirely.

3. Every bill, order, or resolution which shall have passed the Senate and the House of Representatives shall, before it becomes law, be submitted to the judgment of the President. If they approve of it they should sign it; but if they disapproves they should return the bill to the house in which it originated with their objections. If, after considering the objections of the President, both houses should by a 2/3 vote agree to pass the same bill, it shall become law regardless of the President's objections.If any bill, order, or resolution shall not be returned by the President within ten days after it has been presented to him, the bill shall become law.

4. If so specified in the text of the bill, order or resolution in question, the bill may be required to pass a national referendum before its enactment. In that case, the person responsible for the management of federal elections shall be duly notified and organize a national referendum at a date specified by the Congress in the text of the bill, order or resolution; but this referendum may not start until at least 14 days have passed since the bill has received support from the President, except if this date coincides with a federal election. If no date for the referendum is specified in the text of the bill, order or resolution; it shall be assumed that the referendum is to take place alongside the next federal election.

5. The People of the Republic of Atlasia shall reserve themselves the power to directly introduce legislation. Any citizen of the Republic of Atlasia shall have the right to post a bill in the Atlas Fantasy Elections board, clearly specifying that the post in question is a bill to be submitted as a National Legislative Initiative. If this Legislative Initiative gets signatures representing 10% of the voters at the last federal election and accounting for 5% of the last Federal Census within 10 days from its introduction; the Legislative Initiative shall be considered to be accepted. Otherwise it shall be considered to be rejected, and no Legislative Initiative on the same subject may be introduced for a period of 30 days.

6. Legislative Initiatives considered to be accepted shall be duly taken note of by the person responsible for Federal Elections. The person responsible for Federal Elections shall take a public note of this in their office thread, and open a vote on the initiative in question alongside the next federal election.

7. Any Initiatives introduced by the people of the Republic of Atlasia shall not exceed the ordinary powers of the Congress.

8. Initiatives introduced by the people of the Republic of Atlasia may not deal with the following subjects:
a) Constitutional Amendments of any kind
b) The Federal Budget
c) The raising and lowering of taxes; or any other bills for the purposes of appropiating money for the federal government

9. Any national referendums shall be considered to have passed if a simple majority of voters votes in favour of the bill, order, resolution or initiative in question.

10. Any national referendums shall be operated under the same rules as federal elections for the Presidency of the Republic of Atlasia

Section 3: Explanation
1. This amendment allows the people of the Republic of Atlasia to directly introduce legislation and submit it to a national referendum. This amendment also allows the Congress of the Republic of Atlasia to divert pieces of legislation to a national referendum if it finds it is in the national interest.

[Former President tack50]

Introducing this on behalf of the president

Mask Mandate Act

To mandate the usage of masks nationwide in response to the COVID 19 pandemic

1. Starting 3 days after the passage of this bill, Atlasian citizens shall wear masks on the following situations:
   a. In any means of public transport
   b. In any shops, commerces or other public enclosed spaces; except those dedicated to the consumption of food and drinks
   c. Inside cars, if the people in the car do not live in the same household
2. People who do not follow this rule shall be fined $200
3. This bill shall not apply to people under the age of 6, nor to anyone with health issues where a doctor has prescribed that the usage of a mask would be negative for the patient's health
4. This bill shall automatically sunset on December 31st, 2021; or when the WHO declares the COVID-19 pandemic officially over
5. States may be exempted from having the mask mandate apply within them if they provide a formal request for an exemption to the President and the President accepts this request within 7 days.

[Former President tack50]

Ecologic Transition Act

To encourage the transition of the Atlasian economy towards a decarbonized future by discouraging the use of fossil fuels

1. After the passage of this bill, the government of the Republic of Atlasia may not issue any new authorizations for the exploration to find any new deposits of fossil fuels (including oil, natural gas and coal), nor for the explotation of any new deposits that are not being currently exploited. This includes those extractions that would be performed through hydraulic fracture (fracking). This shall also apply in the territorial waters and exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Atlasia.
2. After the passage of this bill, the federal government of the Republic of Atlasia may not subsidize the extraction, usage or sale of any hydrocarbon based fuels, nor of coal. All currently existing federal subsidies on hydrocarbon fuels and coal shall be phased out.
3. After the year 2035, all federally owned vehicles used for the transportation of government officials shall be electric vehicles, or otherwise vehicles not based off fossil fuels.
4. 2 years after the passage of this bill, all suppliers of fossil fuels that, combining all their gas stations, have a supplied volume of at least 5 million litres of petrol and diesel combined; shall have an electric charging station able to supply at least 50 kW of power DC
5. 1 year after the passage of this bill, all newly built gas stations in the Republic of Atlasia shall have an electric charging station able to supply at least 50 kW of power DC

_{Extremely loosely based off a couple articles from the RL Spanish Government "Climate change and ecologic transition bill"}

[Former President tack50]

A BILL
To regulate how companies can make their employees work remotely

Be it enacted by the House of Representatives and Senate assembled:

Section 1. Title

This legislation may be cited as the Remote Working Regulations Act.

Section 2. Definitions
1. Remote working shall be defined as a situation where a worker is working for at least 25% of their workweek remotely; for a period of 3 months or more; primarily through the use of computers and telecommunications devices

Section 3. Equality Regulations
1. Workers working remotely shall have the same rights and privileges as if they developed their activities in the workplace. This shall include working hours and salary regulations.
2. Remote workers shall enjoy all the benefits regarding remote working regulations that are provided by other bills, as well as by collective bargaining

Section 4. Remote Working Agreements
1. The possibility of working remotely shall be voluntary on the part of both the employer and the employee; and not imposed by either of the parts.
2. Remote working shall require the signature of an agreement between employer and employee
3. The refusal on part of the employee to work remotely shall not be a cause to extinguish or significantly revise the workplace conditions on part of the employer
4. The decision to work remotely shall be reversible for both the employer and the employee, and may be exercised in the terms agreed in the remote working agreement.
5. The following parts shall be the mandatory minimum for a Remote Working agreement to be valid; in addition to any regoznized by collective bargaining:

a) Inventory of the means and tools needed to work remotely
b) Enumeration of the expenses that the remote worker could have because of his need to work remotely; as well as how the employer will compensate the employee for said needs
c) Schedule of the remote worker as well as availability rules
d) Distribution between in person working and remote working, if applicable
e) Workplace where the remote worker will be adscribed to and perform his in person working duties
f) Remote workplace selected by the remote worker
g) Length of the prior notification for the reverseability of the remote work
h) Control and following means of the activity
i) Procedure to follow in case of technical difficulties that make it impossible to proceed with normal remote working
j) Relevant personal data protection for the employer and the employee
k) Length of the remote working agreement

6. Any modifications to a remote working agreement must be agreed upon by both the employer and the employee.

Section 5. Rights of the Remote worker
1. Employers must adopt the necessary measures to ensure that remote workers take place in equivalent terms to in person employees; in any education programs in the workplace
2. Remote workers shall have the right to promotions under the same or equivalent conditions to in person workers
3. Remote workers shall have the right to be compensated for the maintenance and provision of the means required to perform their activities remotely; in the terms referred to in the agreement detailed in Section 3.5; as well as any other terms agreed upon by collective bargaining
4. Employers shall have the right to a time tracking system that accurately describes when the remote work is performed, but this shall be equal to in person employees and shall include relevant rest periods. Remote workers shall also have the right to better schedule flexibility.
5. Remote workers shall have the right to an adequate protection regarding safety and healthcare
6. Remote workers shall have the right to privacy and data protection. Employers may not require the installation of any software or applications in the devices of a remote worker.
7. Remote workers shall have the right to a digital disconnection outside their working hours, in the terms established by the law, collective bargaining agreements and job contracts.
8. Remote workers shall have the same right to collective bargaining and legal representation as in person employees.

Section 6. Enactment
1. This bill shall become enacted 1 month after passage

[Former President tack50]

Joint Resolution

To provide for a one-time, temporary extension of budget levels to allow the budget to be posted and fully debated without a shutdown.

[/i]

Be it Resolved in Both Houses of Congress Assembled,

Continuing Resolution to Avoid Shutdown

1. Funding for Atlasia's government will be maintained at current levels through November 30th, 2020 or until a Budget Resolution is adopted.

Hello darkness, my old friend

[Former President tack50]

Joint Resolution

To provide for a one-time, temporary extension of budget levels to allow the budget to be posted and fully debated without a shutdown.

[/i]

Be it Resolved in Both Houses of Congress Assembled,

Second Continuing Resolution to Avoid Shutdown

1. Funding for Atlasia's government will be maintained at current levels through January 31st, 2021 or until a Budget Resolution is adopted.

[Former President tack50]

FEDERAL BUDGET: FY2021

Section 1: Revenues

Income Taxes:  $ 1,735,038,900,000.00  ($ 1735.04 billion)                          
 by tax bracket
 0-13K      10%  $ 132,602,630,929.00
 13K-50k    15%    $ 447,780,682,763.00                    
 50K-130K   25%        $ 535,512,271,234.00              
 130K-210K  29%       $ 188,700,479,643.00                    
 210K-413K  34%       $ 220,320,135,498.00                        
 413K-441K  36%        $ 75,481,993,752.00                    
 441K+      40.6%      $ 134,640,706,551.00                      
                                            
Corporate Taxes:  $ 347,763,510,122.19  ($ 347.76 billion)
 by tax bracket                                            
 0-100K     0%        $ 0.00                
 100K-1M    15%        $ 2,678,940,033.99                
 1M-10M     21.5%    $ 5,172,280,041.70                    
 10M+       28%         $ 339,912,290,046.51                    
                                                                                          
Payroll Taxes -  $ 1,325,575,422,184.86 ($ 1,325.58 billion)
 breakdown
 OASDI: 12.4% (6.2% on employees, 6.2% on employers) - $ 912,456,391,044.15    
 RRPH: 5.0% (2.5% on employees, 2.5% on employers) - $ 367,925,964,130.71      
 FUTA: 6.0% on first $7,000 - $ 45,193,067,010.00  

Estate Tax: 45% of amount above $ 3.5 million, 50% above $ 10 million, 55% above $ 50 million
 $ 34,500,000,000.00
$16.00 Billion.... Amendment by the Responsible Estate Tax Act
Total: $50.5 Billion
                    
Wealth Tax:
 $ 62,566,000,000.00

New 2020 Wealth Tax
$288.00 Billion

Healthcare Taxes:
 40% Cadillac Tax -  $ 0.00 Billion  
 3.8% on Net Investment Income -  $ 12.80 Billion                              
                        
Excise Taxes/customs duties:
 Carbon Tax (2018) -  $ 16.35    Billion                            
 Gasoline Tax (2018) -  $ 50.00 Billion                              
 Tobacco and Alcohol Taxes (2018) -  $ 24.20 Billion    
 Excise taxes on health insurance providers,
 pharmaceuticals, and medical devices (2018) - $ 9.90 Billion
 Revenue Enhancement Act - $ 63,185,494,000.00
 LIFO Repeal Offset… $ 13,000,000,000.00        

Buffett Rule Act of 2019: $46.7 Billion          
                        
Other Revenue:  $ 30.209 Billion                    
                        
Additional tax credits:  $ -39.40 Billion
                        
TOTAL Revenue: $ 4036.390 Billion

Section 2: Spending

Military Spending ($504.358 Billion)              
$123.58 Billion... Military personnel              
$184.51 Billion... Operation and maintenance              
$106.01 Billion... Procurement              
$61.52 Billion ... Research, development, test and evaluation              
$8.47 Billion..... Military Construction, Family Housing and Other              
$12.148 Billion.... Atomic Energy Defense Activities              
$8.11 Billion..... Defense Related activities            
$0.00 Billion..... Fiscal Responsibility in our Military Act
$-15.25 Billion… F-35 Procurement Halt

                            
Military Retirement ($144.0811 Billion)                            
$75.48 Billion.... Income security for veterans              
$14.15 Billion.... Veterans education, training, and rehabilitation                            
$54.22 Billion.... Hospital and medical care for veterans and retired military (added in under Healthcare below)                
$0.38 Billion..... Housing and other veterans benefits and services              
$-0.1489 Billion…. VA Privatisation
                            
International affairs ($31.94 Billion)              
$18.88 Billion ... International development and humanitarian assistance              
$8.55 Billion..... International military aid              
$11.99 Billion.... Conduct of foreign affairs              
$1.30 Billion..... Foreign information and exchange activities  
$-8.79 Billion.... International Financial Programs            
              
General science, space, and technology ($339.18 Billion)              
$11.26 Billion.... National Science Foundation programs              
$4.55 Billion..... Department of Energy general science programs              
$169.37 Billion.... Space flight, research, and supporting activities
$154.00 Billion.... Space Exploration, Development, and Settlement Act             
              
Non-Defense Energy Spending ($47.393 Billion)              
$3.15 Billion..... Energy supply              
$1.11 Billion..... Energy conservation and preparedness              
$0.64 Billion..... Energy information, preparedness, & regulation  
$10.00 Billion.... Energy Rebate and Subsidy Act    
$32.50 Billion.... Gas Tax Act    
$-0.007 Billion…. Eliminated Ethanol Blending Rules
            
Natural resources and environment ($34.58 Billion)              
$4.89 Billion..... Water resources              
$11.54 Billion.... Conservation and land management          
$4.42 Billion..... Recreational & Park resources              
$7.18 Billion..... Pollution control and abatement                                
$6.55 Billion..... Other natural resources  
              
Agriculture ($19.532 Billion)              
$16.01 Billion.... Farm income stabilization & crop insurance              
$4.30 Billion..... Agricultural research and services
$0.03 Billion..... No More Going Hungry in Atlasia Act
$-0.8 Billion…. Eliminated marketing programs
$-0.008 Billion…. Eliminated Catfish Inspection Office
              
Commerce and Housing Loan Programs ($0.79 Billion)              
$-22.33 Billion... Federal Housing Loan Programs              
$2.69 Billion..... Postal service              
$2.50 Billion..... Deposit insurance              
$10.20 Billion.... Universal service fund              
$7.70 Billion..... Other advancement of commerce
$-0.17 Billion…. Eliminated Capital Construction Grants    
$0.20 Billion… Supporting Atlasian Entrepreneurs Act          
              
Transportation ($92.3914 Billion)                
$67.40 Billion.... Ground Transportation            
$16.20 Billion.... Air Transportation              
$8.4015 Billion..... Water transportation              
$0.38 Billion..... Other transportation      
        
              
Community and regional development ($33.425 Billion)              
$3.78 Billion..... Community development              
$2.19 Billion..... Area and regional development              
$4.02 Billion..... Disaster relief and insurance              
$2.23 Billion..... Homeless Shelter Emergency Housing              
$4.32 Billion..... Small Business Association
$0.77 Billion..... Flint Reinvestment Act
$0.08 Billion..... Refugee act          
$-11.025 Billion…. We Should Help Workers Act
$2.00 Billion…. Buy-Atlasian Contracting Rules
$10.00 Billion…. Appalachia Reinvestment Act
$15.00 Billion…. Reservation Reinvestment Act
              
Education ($73.7625 Billion)              
$39.03 Billion.... Elementary, Secondary & Vocational education              
$31.475 Billion.... Higher education              
$3.26 Billion..... Research and general education            
$0.00 Billion..... Orlando Act
$-0.0125 Billion…. Cap on certain student loans
              
Training, labor and unemployment ($19.536 Billion)              
$7.58 Billion..... Training and employment              
$1.77 Billion..... Labor law, statistics, and other administration'
$9.2 Billion...... Public Service Act          
$-0.014 Billion…. Eliminated Employee Drug Tests
$1.00 Billion.... Agency of Cooperative Enterprises (see Act to encourage the growth of worker owned enterprises)
              
Atlasian Healthcare ($1261.14 Billion)              
$423.77 Billion... Senior Healthcare
$44.31 Billion.... Veteran Healthcare
$12.90 Billion.... Federal employees' and retired employees' health benefits  
$425.42 Billion... Medical Services
$338.85 Billion... Sliding Scale Subsidies
$15.89 Billion.... Healthcare Subsidy Office (HSO) and AtlasCare Office (ACO) Administration

Non-ANH Health Spending ($67.67 Billion)              
$24.25 Billion.... Disease control, public health and bioterrorism              
$28.48 Billion.... Health research and training              
$4.24 Billion..... Consumer and occupational health and safety            
$10.00 Billion…. Opioid Epidemic Commission
$0.3 Billion.... Comprehensive Opioid Response Act
$0.40 Billion.... Women's Health Protection Act 
              
Civilian Retirement (Social Security excluded) ($138.16 Billion)              
$8.23 Billion..... Civilian retirement and disability insurance              
$129.93 Billion... Federal employee retirement and disability              
 
Social Security ($903.24 Billion)
$868.63 Billion... Social Security Outlays
$34.60 Billion.... Social Security Administration
            
Aid to Low-Income Families ($366.50 Billion)
$40.53 Billion.... Unemployment              
$39.98 Billion.... Housing assistance              
$99.44 Billion.... Food and Nutrition Assistance (Food Stamps + WIC)        
$169.01 Billion... Other aid to low-income families              
$17.54 Billion.... Social Services            
              
Administration of justice ($51.902 Billion)              
$27.157 Billion.... Federal law enforcement
$13.938 Billion.... Federal litigation and judicial activities              
$6.2687 Billion..... Federal prison system              
$4.24 Billion..... Criminal justice assistance  
$0.74 Billion..... Federal Penitentiary Reform Act Provisions      
$-0.432 Billion…. General Criminal Justice Savings
              
General government administration ($3.87 Billion)              
$3.66 Billion..... Legislative functions              
$0.45 Billion..... Executive office programs              
$12.03 Billion.... IRS & other fiscal operations              
$1.567 Billion..... Other general government              
$-13.20 Billion…. Government Efficiency Act
$-0.62 Billion…. Eliminated Penny
$0.002 Billion…. Mandatory Tampons in Restrooms
-$0.03 Billion.... Coin Composition Revision Act

One Time Coronavirus Stimulus spending ($5295.126 Billion)
$9.226 Billion.... Coronavirus Containment and Emergency Response Act
$4807 Billion.... Economic Stimulus Act of 2020
$478.90 Billion.... JOBS AND PAY DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC ACT
              
Interest on debt ($295.40 Billion)              
$295.40 Billion... Net Interest

Section 3: Balance

BASE REVENUE:     $ 4036.930 Billion
Inflation Accounting: *1.012
TOTAL REVENUE: $ 4085.37 Billion

Fixed Expenditures: $ 36.05 Billion
Variable Expenditures:  $ 4133.45 Billion
One time Expenditures: $ 5295.126 Billion
Interest on Debt: $ 295.40 Billion
BASE EXPENDITURES: $9760.026 Billion
Inflation Accounting: *1.012
TOTAL EXPENDITURES: $ 9877.15 Billion
BALANCE: $ -5791.78 Billion

Section 4: Miscellaneous regulations
1. This budget shall become enacted immediately after passage
2. This budget shall ordinarily remain in efect until the 31st of December, 2021
3. All previous bills that modify the existing tax rates are hereby amended, so that their tax rates match those from this budget

[Former President tack50]

This may end up being a "Wishlist to Santa" kind of bill and/or possibly unconstitutional, but Yankee asked for more bills a while back so...

It's an idea I support, just one I don't think I am implementing well (there's no way a bill to break up big corporations would be that simple; or free for the government for that matter)

A BILL
To break up big corporations and make mergers harder

Be it enacted by the Congress of the Republic of Atlasia assembled

Section 1. Title

This legislation may be cited as the Breaking Big Corporations Act.

Section 2. Breaking Up Big Tech Corporations
1a. Alphabet.inc is hereby dissolved into its constituent subsidiaries.
1b. Google LLC shall be further broken up into its constituent services. The Department of Internal Affairs may make exceptions to this on interatctivity purposes, but this shall not apply to Google Search, Google Mail, Google Advertisement, YouTube, Google Maps and Google Drive; all of which must remain separate companies after the enactment of this bill.
2a. Apple Inc. is hereby broken up into its constituent branches. The Department of Internal Affairs may make exceptions to this on interactivity purposes, but the phone and computer divisions must remain separate.
2b. All other subsidiaries of Apple Inc. must be broken up; with no exceptions
3. Facebook Inc. shall be broken up into its various constituent companies. All acquisitions made by Facebook Inc. over the past 10 years shall be broken up.
4. Amazon.com, Inc. shall be broken up into its several constituent services and subsidiaries
5. Microsoft Corporation is hereby broken up into its several products, subsidiaries and services.

Section 3. Breaking up non-Tech big corporations
1. Berkshire Hathaway, Inc is hereby broken up into its different subsidiaries
2. Johnson & Johnson is hereby broken up into its different subsidiaries
3. JPMorgan Chase is hereby broken up into its different subsidiaries
4. ExxonMobil is hereby broken up into its different subsidiaries
5. Wells Fargo is hereby broken up into its different subsidiaries

Section 4. Making mergers harder and protecting the new ecosystem
1. No 2 companies that descend from any of the companies broken up by this bill may merge together or be purchased by one another, under any circumstances
2. No 2 companies with a dollar market capitalization of over 10 billion dollars may be allowed to merge, or to purchase participation shares in each other.
3. Baidu; Alibaba; Tencent, Xiaomi, Huawei, DiDi, JD and ByteDance, as well as any other technological corporation headquartered in the People's Republic of China; is hereby banned from operating in the Republic of Atlasia, or any area under its jurisdiction
4. Any non technological corporation headquartered in the People's Republic of China must get an authorization from the Department of Internal Affairs in order to operate in the Republic of Atlasia beyond December 31st, 2022.
5. The Department of Internal Affairs may stop any foreign corporations from further operations in the Republic of Atlasia, or from investing in any company headquartered in the Republic of Atlasia with a 4 months notice; if said foreign corporations are found out to be harming the competition inside the Republic of Atlasia

Section 5. Enactment
1. This bill shall become enacted on April 1st, 2021

[Former President tack50]

Joint Resolution

To provide for a one-time, temporary extension of budget levels to allow the budget to be posted and fully debated without a shutdown.

Be it Resolved in Both Houses of Congress Assembled,

Second Continuing Resolution to Avoid Shutdown

1. Funding for Atlasia's government will be maintained at current levels through February 28th, 2021 or until a Budget Resolution is adopted.

Since we are on the 27th and I am not sure if the House will manage to get the budget done in 4 days, here is a final extension, this time for only 1 month.

Motioning to suspend the rules and go to a final vote directly while we are at it, as well as posting this on the House thread too

[Former President tack50]

Given Yankee brought up TNF today, I will reintroduce one of his old policies, which I think will make for a good "farewell" bill Not because I 100% agree with it , but because it will be a fun bill for the Senators to debate. (in fact I only really agree with section 2, though I guess we could add some busts to the Capitol; just not Lenin busts)

Anyways, if this bill passes in its original form I guess Lenin busts are back on the menu!

AN ACT
To clean up the Congress and make it actually serve the people

Be it enacted by the Congress of the Republic of Atlasia assembled

Section 1. Title

This legislation may be cited as the Congress Should Serve The People Act.

Section 2. Congressional Proletarianization

1. The salary for members of Congress shall be reduced from its present $174,000 per year to that of the average median income for a skilled worker. Henceforth, the salary for all members of Congress shall be $50,000 per year, adjusted annually and retroactively since 2014 to account for increases in the average median income for skilled labor in the Republic of Atlasia.

2. Henceforth, Congressional leadership shall no longer be paid a salary higher than what is paid to rank-and-file members of Congress

3. Henceforth, no Congressman shall be permitted to claim an income outside that of income earned as a Congressman, until his or her term has expired.

Section 3. The Congressional Cafeteria

1. The Congressional cafeteria shall henceforth only procure materials from worker owned and managed cooperatives. In cases where a worker owned or managed cooperative does not produce materials needed by the Congressional cafeteria, the procurement of materials must be from a company that uses union labor.

2. All renovations to the Congressional cafeteria, or to any part of the chambers of Congress, shall henceforth be made with union labor.

3. The Congressional cafeteria shall henceforth not employ managers except those chosen by the workers of the Congressional cafeteria themselves by secret ballot. The workers shall manage the cafeteria themselves, set working hours, and determine their roles at work by democratic means from this point forward.


Section 4. Honoring Revolutionaries Past

1. Congress shall utilize excess funds gained as a result of the reduction in Congressional salaries to contract union sculptors to create a series of busts for display in the House and Senate foyers. These busts shall honor those revolutionaries and fighters for the working class of the past that have shaped and continue to shape Atlasian political thought and help make sense of a world torn apart by the class struggle.

2. The busts shall be of the following persons:

a) Thomas Paine
b) Thomas Jefferson
c) Maximillien Robespierre
d) Karl Marx
e) Friedrich Engels
f) John Brown
g) Abraham Lincoln
h) Eugene Debs
i) Mary Harris 'Mother' Jones
j) William 'Big Bill' Haywood
k) James Connolly
l) Vladimir Lenin
m) Rosa Luxemburg
n) Leon Trotsky
o) Alexandra Kollontai
p) Malcolm X
q) Martin Luther King, Jr.
r) Adam Griffin
s) Sestak
t) Windjammer
u) Pericles