LC 2.8 Improving the efficiency of the Lincoln Government Act (Statute)

[Former President tack50]

Improving the efficiency of the Lincoln Government

Part I:
This bill shall expand the total slots of legislation that the Lincoln Council can consider to 25, of these 18 slots shall be held by the government and 7 slots shall be held by the opposition

Part II:
This bill shall take effect immediately upon signing by the governor

Sponsors: tack50 and S019

Debate time for this bill shall start now and shall last for no less than 72 hours.

Also to clarify as this is a bill with 2 sponsors, we will need both of them to agree to deem ammendments friendly. Since a member of the government is co-sponsoring this, this will go on a government slot

[Former President tack50]

Yeah, that's way too much. While I've decided to co-sponsor to bring this inmediately to the floor, 25 slots is indeed way, way too much.

I am personally in form of some variable system where the number of slots is somehow related to the number of councillors (in government, in opposition or total). But I am also fine with a fixed system

Also, we should probably clarify that this is an ammendment to the SOAP.

Worth noting that Fremont currently has 8 slots and seems to be running fine (though they only have 7 legislators). The South currently has 10.

[Former President tack50]

S019's ammendment is also friendly for me

Ammendment L 2:08 by S019

Amendment to the Standing Orders:

B. 7 25 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously. Of these 7 25 threads, 5 18 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the government, and 2 7 threads shall be reserved for legislation introduced or sponsored by members of the opposition. The Speaker shall move government and opposition legislation to these threads in the order in which it was introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

Sponsor feedback: Friendly
Status: Added to the bill

[Former President tack50]

I'll also add my own ammendment. I've co-sponsored this to be able to bring the discussion into the floor, but I will say that as currently worded I would not support this. Here is my substitute ammendment (which replaces the bill in its entirety).

This ammendment shall replace the bill in its entirety

Ammendment L 2:09 by tack50

Improving the efficiency of the Lincoln Government Act

An act to improve the efficiency of the Lincoln Council by making the number of slots variable

1. Section 2.B of the Standing Orders of the Lincoln Council shall be ammended as follows

B. 7 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously. Of these 7 threads, 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.  The number of threads about legislation that may be opened simultaneously shall be as follows:
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.

The Speaker shall move government and opposition legislation to these threads in the order in which it was introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2. This ammendment shall become enacted inmediately after passage

Sponsor feedback: Hostile
Status: 24 h for debate, then a vote shall be opened

Fremont currently has 8 slots. This bill would allow up to 11 slots under a council as large as this one, while enabling smaller councils to have less slots and thus a larger buffer in case billmaking dries up.

It would also ensure that each member of the opposition would get an slot for themselves under most circumstances; and same with the government.

[Former President tack50]

Councillors, a vote is now open on the following:

Ammendment L 2:09 by tack50

Improving the efficiency of the Lincoln Government Act

An act to improve the efficiency of the Lincoln Council by making the number of slots variable

1. Section 2.B of the Standing Orders of the Lincoln Council shall be ammended as follows

B. 7 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously. Of these 7 threads, 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.  The number of threads about legislation that may be opened simultaneously shall be as follows:
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.

The Speaker shall move government and opposition legislation to these threads in the order in which it was introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2. This ammendment shall become enacted inmediately after passage

Please vote AYE, NAY or Abstain.
This vote shall last for 24 hours or until all councillors have voted. This particular ammendment replaces the bill in its entirety.

[Former President tack50]

Aye!

[Former President tack50]

The vote is now closed on Ammendment L 2:09 by tack50

Aye: 4 (tack50, Ninja, Zaybay, lfromnj)
Abstain: 0
Nay: 4 (S019, thr33, Pyro, Griffin)

So this vote is tied. The governor shall break the tie

[Former President tack50]

With the Chancellor breaking the tie in favour of the Ayes, Amendment L 2:09 is agreed to.

We now get to the ammendment introduced by S019 and co-sponsored by Zaybay. As co-sponsor of the bill, I'm declaring the ammendment hostile. Also, as Ammendment L 2:09 was agreed to, this ammendment would replace the bill in its entirety again.

As for why I'm opposing it, it's very simple: 11 slots is already pushing it for a regional legislature. I will remind everyone of the status of other chambers:

Fremont has 8; with no distinction between them

The South has 12; of which 8 are slots for Delegates, 2 are slots for the Governor; 1 is a civilian slot and 1 is a slot for emergencies

Even if we move to the federal House and Senate, we do indeed get a much larger arrangement of 16 slots. However, just like the South, many of them are for specific reasons. Looking in particular at the Senate as that was where I served:

10 slots are for General use (2 handled by the VP and I assume for administration agenda and 8 handled by the PPT)
1 slot is for Civilian sponsored legislation
3 slots are for legislation that has passed the House.
1 slot is for emergencies
1 slot is for the budget

Even with my ammendment, the Lincoln Council would still have the largest amount of general use slots in the nation when it's maxed out. A maximum of 11 slots is perfectly acceptable; with a 7-4 split. 11 slots should be enough while still not being too many (it's only 1 slot more than the South after all). And of course we must also consider the fact that we probably won't always have the maxed Council, so 9 and 7 slot arrangements will happen (even if I hope we can keep 9 member Councils forever, but that is probably not realistic)

In any case, here is the new ammendment

Ammendment L 2:14 by S019 & Zaybay

Improving the efficiency of the Lincoln Government

Part I:
This bill shall expand the total slots of legislation that the Lincoln Council can consider to 25 18, of these 18 12 slots shall be held by the government and 7 6 slots shall be held by the opposition

Part II:
This bill shall take effect immediately upon signing by the governor

Sponsor feedback: Hostile
Status: 24h for debate, after which a vote shall be opened by the speaker

[Former President tack50]

Uh, the vote isn't open yet

[Former President tack50]

Ok, now it is open

Councillors, a vote is now open on the following:

Ammendment L 2:14 by S019 & Zaybay

Improving the efficiency of the Lincoln Government

Part I:
This bill shall expand the total slots of legislation that the Lincoln Council can consider to 25 18, of these 18 12 slots shall be held by the government and 7 6 slots shall be held by the opposition

Part II:
This bill shall take effect immediately upon signing by the governor

Please vote AYE, NAY or Abstain.
This vote shall last for 24 hours or until all Councillors have voted.
This ammendment will replace the bill in its entirety

[Former President tack50]

Nay

[Former President tack50]

The vote on Ammendment L 2:14 by S019 & Zaybay is now closed

Aye: 1 (S019)
Abstain: 1 (Ninja)
Nay: 5 (tack50, lfromnj, thr33, Pyro, Griff)
Not voting: 2 (Dipper Josh, Zaybay)

The ammendment is rejected.

[Former President tack50]

I motion for a final vote, 24h to object

[Former President tack50]

Aye

Uh, does that mean that you are objecting to a final vote, an "aye for the record" on the previous ammendment or did you think there was a final vote already?

[Former President tack50]

With no objections being entered in a 24h period:

Councillors, a FINAL vote is now open on the following legislation:

Improving the efficiency of the Lincoln Government Act

An act to improve the efficiency of the Lincoln Council by making the number of slots variable

1. Section 2.B of the Standing Orders of the Lincoln Council shall be ammended as follows

B. 7 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously. Of these 7 threads, 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.  The number of threads about legislation that may be opened simultaneously shall be as follows:
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.

The Speaker shall move government and opposition legislation to these threads in the order in which it was introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

Please vote AYE, NAY or Abstain
This vote shall last for 48 hours or until all Councillors have voted

[Former President tack50]

Aye

[Former President tack50]

The FINAL vote on LC 2.8 Improving the efficiency of the Lincoln Government Act is now closed

Aye: 5 (SNJC, lfromnj, tack50, Ninja, thr33)
Abstain: 0
Nay: 2 (Pyro, Griff)
Not voting: 2 (Zaybay, Dipper Josh)

So this bill passes. As this is an ammendment to the SOAP, this does not require the governor's signature to be enacted, so I guess I'll sign it myself.

[Former President tack50]

Ammendment to the SOAP, as passed by the Lincoln Council

Improving the efficiency of the Lincoln Government Act

An act to improve the efficiency of the Lincoln Council by making the number of slots variable

1. Section 2.B of the Standing Orders of the Lincoln Council shall be ammended as follows

B. 7 threads about legislation may be open for voting and debate simultaneously. Of these 7 threads, 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.  The number of threads about legislation that may be opened simultaneously shall be as follows:
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.

The Speaker shall move government and opposition legislation to these threads in the order in which it was introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

X tack50