OLD: Comprehensive Social Security Reform Act (See new thread: Reference Only)

[Ban my account ffs!]

This is my first bill, so it must be an important one. Hopefully this will fuel some debate in the Senate.


Comprehensive Social Security Reform Act

Comprehensive Social Security Reform Act
1. Any statutory act (law, section or article) relative to Social Security in Atlasia, i.e. to the intervention of the Federal Government aimed to protect its citizens from social risks, prior to this Act is hereby repealed.
2. The National Social Security Agency (NSSA) is hereby established.
3. Any responsibility and authority in the domain of Social Security shall be vested in the NSSA. Said domains may be further specified by appropriate legislation.
4. The NSSA shall be under the responsibility of the Department of Internal Affairs.

Section 1: Administration

1. The NSSA shall be administered by a deliberative body called Superior Council.
2. The Superior Council of the NSSA shall be composed as follows:    
    a) One third of its members shall be delegates of workers. They shall be democratically elected by every working or actively unemployed (see below) person. Labor Unions shall be responsible of organizing fair elections regularly.
    b) One third of its members shall be delegates of employers, designed by the organizations representing them.
    c) One third of representatives of the Federal Government, designed by the Department of Internal Affairs.
3. The Superior Council of the NSSA shall elect a presiding officer, adopt an internal ruling, and decide the frequency and the duration of their sessions.
4. The NSSA shall be divided into five separate Administrations, called:    
    a) The Health Insurance Administration
    b) The Unemployment Insurance Administration
    c) The Parenthood Insurance Administration
    d) The Old Age Insurance Administration
    e) The Minor Insurances Administration
5. The institutions administering each of previously cited Administration shall be designed by the Superior Council of the NSSA through procedures specified by it.

Section 2: Budget

1. The NSSA shall have its proper budget, independent from the Federal budget.
2. The budget of the NSSA shall serve to ensure the proper functioning of the Agency and the fulfillment of the tasks devolved to it through proper legislation.
3. The budget of the NSSA shall be managed by the Superior Council provided that its administration respects subsection 2. The Department of Internal Affairs is in charge of ensuring the respect of subsection 2.
4. Each of the five Administrations of the NSSA shall have its proper budget, which shall be a part of the global NSSA budget.
5. The budget of an Administration of the NSSA shall serve exclusively to fulfill the Administration's social task, by ensuring the compensation of persons as specified by legislation. The budget of an Administration of the NSSA shall be financed through the contributions of people eligible to the insurance program each Administration is responsible of.
6. The budget of the NSSA shall also comprise its Functioning funds. Said funds shall serve to ensure the proper functioning of the NSSA, by paying for the necessary infrastructures and remunerating its employees. Said funds shall be managed by the Superior Council of the NSSA.
7. The Federal Government shall be responsible for providing the Functioning funds to the NSSA. The Department of Internal Affairs shall be able to decide the amount of those funds. The Functioning funds devolved to the NSSA shall be subject to a vote in the Senate.
8. If the budget of one or more of the five administrations of the NSSA present a surplus, such surplus shall be attributed to a Balanced Budget Fund managed by the Superior Council of the NSSA.
9. If the budget of one or more of the five administrations of the NSSA presents a deficit, the Balanced Budget Fund shall be used to fill such deficit.
10. If the Balanced Budget Fund isn't sufficient to ensure a balanced budget in every administration, the Federal Government shall lend to the NSSA the money necessary for that. In such case, the Balanced Budget Funds shall be used to reimburse such loan as soon as possible.

Section 3: Tasks

1. The role of the NSSA is to compensate the victims of the social risks specified by legislation, through mechanisms and for an amount specified by legislation.
2. The social risks recognized by Atlasia are: illness, unemployment, parenthood, old age, handicap, working incidents, death of the spouse or the parent, catastrophe and excessive debt.
3. Each of the five Administrations of the NSSA shall be responsible to cover one or more of previously specified social risks.

Section 4: Health Insurance

1. The Health Insurance Administration shall be responsible to compensate the victims of illness and make their cure as easy as possible.
2. Any household shall be mandatorily registered to the Health Insurance Administration.
3. Any household registered to the Health Insurance Administration shall pay a contribution amounting to 2% of its salary and 5% of its other incomes.
4. Contributions shall be received by the Health Insurance Administration, monthly for salaries and annually for other incomes.
5. Households whose income is subject to the first two brackets of the Income tax as defined by the Fiscal Responsibility Act shall be exonerated from paying said contribution.
6. The Health Insurance Administration shall reimburse any purchase of a duly prescribed necessary medicine and any medically necessary services realized by a member of a registered household.
7. The administration of the Health Insurance Administration shall be responsible to establish a list of necessary medicines, as well as a list of medically necessary services. The list of medically necessary services shall include all those mentioned on section 1, subsection (b) of the Atlasian National Healthcare Act.

Section 5: Unemployment Insurance

1. The Unemployment Insurance Administration shall be responsible to compensate the victims of unemployment, to help them recovering a job and to ensure that recovering a job is economically beneficial to them.
2. Any employee or actively unemployed person shall be mandatorily registered to the Unemployment Insurance Administration.
3. To be deemed as "actively unemployed", a person shall meet the following requirements:    
    a) Not exercising any remunerated job.
    b) Actively researching a job, as defined under subsection 9.
    c) Being enrolled in or scheduled to be enrolled in a vocational education course or program as laid out in subsection 11.
4. The Unemployment Insurance Administration shall receive contributions, amounting to 6% of a registered employee's salary. Such contributions shall be paid monthly, by half by concerned employee, and by half by the business employing it.
5. Any registered employee losing its job shall receive from the Unemployment Insurance Administration a monthly revenue amounting to :
    a) 90% of the individual's previous salary during the first year following the loss of its job
    b) 80% of the individual's previous salary during the second year following the loss of its job
    c) 70% of the individual's previous salary during the third year following the loss of its job
    d) 60% of the individual's previous salary during the fourth year following the loss of its job
    e) 50% of the individual's previous salary after four years of unemployment
6. Notwithstanding subsection 5, no registered unemployed individual shall receive less than $600 per month, neither more than $4000 per month.
7. Any actively unemployed individual registered to the Unemployment Insurance Administration who had never been previously employed shall receive from the Unemployment Insurance Administration monthly revenue of $600 per month.
8. The Unemployment Insurance Administration shall provide registered unemployed individual with reasonable employment proposals. To be considered as reasonable, those proposals shall meet following requirements:    
    a) A salary equivalent to at least 90% of the individual's current revenue provided by the Unemployment Insurance Administration.
    b) A time necessary to reach workplace from the individual's home inferior to two hours.
    c) A domain corresponding to the individual's qualifications.
9. Any registered unemployed individual refusing three successive reasonable employment proposals shall be considered as inactive and deregistered from the Unemployment Insurance Administration.
10. Any registered individual previously unemployed recovering a job with net income inferior to 110% of the total benefits he received as an "actively unemployed" worker, as defined in Section 5, Clause 3, shall receive an allowance for the difference between his new employment's net income and 110% of total benefits last received as an "actively unemployed" worker.
11. For the purposes of this act, a vocational education course shall be defined as any course college or career training that seeks to improve one skills in their current occupation or train them for a new occupation entirely. Courses must be taught either online in connection with, or onsite of, an accredited university, community college, junior college, technical institute or other accredited institution offering continuing education courses.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Section 6: Parenthood Insurance

1. The Parenthood Insurance Administration shall be responsible to compensate the parents for the expenses necessary to raise one or more children.
2. Any household shall be mandatorily registered to the Parenthood Insurance Administration.
3. Any household registered to the Parenthood Insurance Administration shall pay a contribution equivalent to one twentieth of the amount of its income tax. Said contributions shall be paid concurrently with the income tax.
4. Any household composed by two or more adults shall receive from the Parenthood Insurance Administration a monthly allowance amounting to:    
    a) $200 per child aged between 0 and 3 years
    b) $250 per child aged between 3 and 8 years
    c) $300 per child aged between 8 and 18 years
5. Any household composed by one adult shall receive from the Parenthood Insurance Administration a monthly allowance amounting to:    
    a) $300 per child aged between 0 and 3 years
    b) $400 per child aged between 3 and 8 years
    c) $500 per child aged between 8 and 18 years
6. Notwithstanding subsections 4 and 5, no household whose income is subject to the sixth, seventh or eighth brackets of the Income tax as defined by the Fiscal Responsibility Act shall receive any allowance from the Parenthood Insurance Administration.
7. Any household whose income is subject to the third, fourth or fifth brackets of the Income tax as defined by the Fiscal Responsibility Act shall receive only half of the allowances established on subsections 4 and 5.

Section 7: Old Age Insurance

1. The Old Age Insurance Administration shall be responsible to guarantee elderly people decent standards of living.
2. Any adult shall be mandatorily registered to the Old Age Insurance Administration.
3. The Old Age Insurance Administration shall receive contributions, amounting to 10% of a registered employee's salary. Such contributions shall be paid monthly, by half by concerned employee, and by half by the business employing it.
4. Actively unemployed individuals registered to the Old Age Insurance Administration shall not pay any contribution.
5. Any household in which no individual is concerned by subsections 3 and 4 shall pay a contribution equivalent to one twentieth of its income tax. Said contributions shall be paid concurrently with the income tax.
6. Any person retiring shall receive a monthly old age pension from the Old Age Insurance Administration.
7. The full old age pension shall amount to 80% of the average salary during the 10 years in which an individual has earned the most as an employee, if this amount is superior to $1000. Otherwise, the full old age pension shall amount to $1000.
8. For the purpose of determining eligibility to retire and receive old age pensions from the Old Age Insurance Administration, a system based on points shall be used.
    a) One full month of work shall earn an individual three points.
    b) One full month of active unemployment shall earn an individual two points.
    c) One full month of studies or other training shall earn an individual one point.
9. Any individual having earned 1600 points shall have the right to retire and be entitled to a full old age pension.
10. Any individual having earned more than 1200 points shall have the right to retire and be entitled to an old age pension corresponding to a full old age pension multiplied by the number of points it has earned divided by 1600.
11. Notwithstanding sections 9 and 10, any person aged of more than 65 years shall be entitled to retire and receive an old age pension amounting to 75% of its full old age pension. Any person aged of more than 70 years shall be entitled to retire and receive a full old age pension.
12. Age limits mentioned on section 11 shall be lower for individuals having exercised particularly hard jobs. The administration of the Old Age Insurance Administration shall be responsible to establish a list of particularly hard jobs and the retirement ages corresponding to each. Those limits shall not be lower than 55 years old for a 75% pension and 60 years for a full pension.

Section 8: Minor Insurances

1. The Minor Insurances Administration shall be responsible to compensate the victims of social risks not covered by previously cited administrations. That is handicap, working incidents, death of the spouse or the parent, catastrophe and excessive debt.
2. Any household shall be mandatorily registered to the Minor Insurances Administration.
3.  Any household registered to the Minor Insurances Administration shall pay a contribution amounting to 2% of its salary and 5% of its other incomes.
4. Contributions shall be received by the Minor Insurances Administration, monthly for salaries an annually for other incomes.
5. Any adult officially deemed as handicapped by legitimate medical authorities who is not actively unemployed shall receive from the Minor Insurances Administration a monthly allowance amounting to $600.
6. Any adult officially deemed as handicapped by legitimate medical authorities who is actively unemployed shall receive from the Minor Insurances Administration a monthly allowance amounting to $300, which can be drawn concurrently with the allowance from the Unemployment Insurance Administration established in section 5.
7. Any household with one or more child officially deemed as handicapped by legitimate medical authorities shall receive from the Minor Insurances Administration a monthly allowance amounting to $100 per child, which can be drawn concurrently with the allowance from the Parenthood Insurance Administration established in section 6.
8. Any individual suffering from invalidity, illness or any injury caused by his work shall receive from the Minor Insurances Administration an indemnity proportional to the gravity of said injury. Said indemnity shall be comprised between $500 and $50,000. The Minor Insurances Administration shall be responsible to establish the appropriate levels of compensation relative to a specific injury.
9. Any household suffering from the death of an employed or actively unemployed member shall receive from the Minor Insurances Administration an indemnity equivalent to the expected financial loss caused by said death. Said indemnity shall be comprised between $5000 and $1,000,000. The Minor Insurances Administration shall be responsible to estimate the amount of the financial loss caused by the death of the member of a household, based on their potential income and life expectancy.
10. Any household suffering from the consequence of a natural or man-caused catastrophe shall receive from the Minor Insurances Administration an indemnity equivalent to the expected financial loss caused by said catastrophe. Said indemnity shall be comprised between $1000 and $1,000,000. The Minor Insurances Administration shall be responsible to estimate the amount of the financial loss caused by the catastrophe based on the direct and indirect damages caused by the catastrophe on the household's property.
11. Any household in a situation of excessive debt may ask for an exemption from the Minor Insurances Administration. The Minor Insurances Administration shall examine said household's financial situation and determine whether the amount of the debt might represent a threat for the household's economic security. In such case, the Minor Insurances Administration shall provide such household a loan without interest permitting them to reimburse their debt.

Section 9: Limitation of the tax burden

1. In order to avoid an excessive raise of government taxes, it is the will of the legislator that the passage of this bill doesn't result in an augmentation of the total amount of money collected by the government and its agencies of more than 10%.
2. This goal shall in priority be pursued through the repeal of any legislation regarding Social Security prior to this bill, thus nullifying the taxes established under this legislation.
3. One year after the passage of this bill, an independent commission shall be nominated by the Department of Internal Affairs, in order to calculate the amount of money collected by the government and its agencies in the previous year and what it would have been without the passage of this bill. The conclusions of said commission shall be published by the Game Moderator.
4. If the commission determines that the raise in the tax burden due to the passage of this bill has exceeded 10%, the Senate shall implement legislation in order to reduce its amount so that the raise in the tax burden doesn't exceed 10%.

[Ban my account ffs!]

The amendment for section 5 has been updated.  Senators, you have 24 hours to object.

[Ban my account ffs!]

FOr the record, I don't think translation error corrections should have to be fixed by amendment.  Only if the intent of the bill changes.

[Ban my account ffs!]

I motion to continue debate on this bill for another 72 hours.

I think there is still plenty that needs to be worked out in it before we move to a vote.

Anyone want to second that motion?

[Ban my account ffs!]

I've updated the original post to include the changes NCY made.

[Ban my account ffs!]

While that is more than a simple correction, I put it in there because you are the sponsor and you did intend that word to be there from the start... so technically, the spirit of the bill has not changed.

If anyone objects, please do so within the next 24 hours.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Wow.. this bill has gone nowhere!

Antonio, I think it might be better if you abandon this bill as it is, rewrite a new bill with the changes that have been discussed in this thread, and propose the legislation in smaller chunks (like 2 or 3 bills instead of 1 giant one).

And introduce them one at a time.. so we can debate them and get them passed like that.  I know passing bills in increments is not all that desirable... but I think it will greatly aid the timeliness in which this bill is passed.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Being that it has been a week, and the president has indicated that a compromise isn't yet on the docket, I'm inclined to motion for a vote on this.  I would urge my fellow senators to vote no on the bill as it is and allow Antonio to introduce a new bill(s) that is easier to digest.

I might suggest splitting it into 2 or 3 bills and putting the most crucial stuff in the 1st bill, followed by less crucial parts.  I know you probably view the whole thing as crucial, Antonio, but it will sit here forever as it is.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Aye

Antonio,  I'm willing to help simplify this and re-introduce it fairly quickly.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Perhaps whoever put in clause 8 was confused about 3, 4, and 5. I put in 7 simply because I thought all this time I had been illegally ending votes prematurely by not going through the cloture process which I figured was required, especially considering what 8 said. Or maybe I just didn't think to consider 3 and 8 in my mind at the same time.


I should have just rewrote the whole damn Section when I had the amendment on the floor, rather than put in two bandaids. Food for thought I guess.


Anyway, a final vote is now open on this bill, please vote Aye, Nay or Abstain.

It all has to do with the 24 hour debate clause.  If debate has ceased for 24+ hours, any senator can call for a vote.  Most of the time it'd be the PPT.

If debate has not ceased for 24 hours, but a senator wants to put it to a vote, he must call for a cloture motion which must pass with 2/3 majority.  Upon passing, the vote will open.

As PPT, I had to do cloture motions a few times on bills that were meant to be passed quickly.  The problem is, even in urgent bills, if someone chimes in to say "I think this is a good idea, I will vote yes"... that is considered debate.. so then you have to call for cloture (which is a giant pain in the ass).

Otherwise I don't think you've been breaking the rules.  If you have, it hasn't been noticed.  But now you know... so SHAPE UP OR SHIP OUT


Edit:  And your'e right... section 8 makes absolutely no sense at all.  If 14 days have passed, any motion to bring the bill to a vote must be approved by 2/3 majority only if 2 senators motioned for a vote prior to the 14 days?  What?  That should be completely stricken from the OSPR or reworded completely.

[Ban my account ffs!]

I'll give it an Aye.

[Ban my account ffs!]

The sponsor offered a deadline of Monday. You opened a vote on Sunday. Either way, I was still trying to clear things up with this bill and you deprived me of that opportunity.

He changed the plan on Sunday, he called the shots, I merely responded:

This Senate fails forever. Since it is clear nobody gives a damn about this bill (and about the amount of work some people, me among others, have put in it), let's call a final vote and kill this finally. My fellow colleagues certainly have better things to do than doing their damn jobs, let's make their life easier.

Edit: You should be asking Antonio why he interrupted you. Or better yet why you interrupted him leading to him interrupting you. It was after the unsuccessful completion of your tabling effort and its lackluster turnout results that seem to have provoked Antonio to make that frustrated post about wanting a final vote. There was no reason to turn this into a confrontation. If Antonio didn't want a final vote, then it was a simple misunderstanding and we could have found a way to rectify the situation. However it doesn't appear that is the case.

That's not a motion for a vote.  It's a passing mention in a rant that we should bring it to a vote.

Honestly, this thread is so jumbled up I didn't even know it was up for final vote.. I thought we were voting on a motion to table.. then there were amendments being tossed around.

If I were PPT (which I'm sure you're giddy to remind me that I'm not), I would not have opened a vote without further consultation with Antonio.  And if he wanted a vote, I would make him state clearly a motion to bring this to a vote.

If I say "Yeah, well, the bird is burnt, so we might as well just say screw Christmas right now"... that doesn't mean I'm literally calling for everybody to immediately screw Christmas. 

But if I said
"yeah, well, the bird is burnt, so we might as well just say screw Christmas right now, therefore I am motioning to screw Christmas right now"... then it would be clear and a screwing could commence.

I think in all honesty the vote should be halted, debate should recommence, and then when a senator feels it is time to vote, they should clearly motion to bring this bill to a vote.

This ain't all perfect and pleather... sometimes you need a little shoe polish to hide the scuffs in the leather.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Snowguy, he did not sat "we might as well" he said

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I didn't interpret his statement as an actual call to action, but a fatalistic bit of frustration in a rant about the lack of progress of the bill (and he was right in berating us all.. we failed him).

Perhaps he did mean to call a vote... but it is up to the PPT to decipher those things.  Not just interpret, but get the intent of the senator in order to move business along.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Snowguy, he did not sat "we might as well" he said

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I didn't interpret his statement as an actual call to action, but a fatalistic bit of frustration in a rant about the lack of progress of the bill (and he was right in berating us all.. we failed him).

Perhaps he did mean to call a vote... but it is up to the PPT to decipher those things.  Not just interpret, but get the intent of the senator in order to move business along.

I did get the intent of the Senator, when he called for the final vote. In the end, a call for a final vote is just that. The PPT shouldn't be charged with psychoanalysing a posters words to see if he truly meant it. I know he was frustrated, but that doesn't change what he trully wanted. If it had been an error of interpretation, then fine, I would end the vote and be more cautious then I usually am going forward, if that is even possible. He hasn't said it was a misinterpretation. The OSPR doesn't prohibit motions made out of frustration anymore then those motivated by childness.

As to your previous post, I am not "giddy to point out" anything. I don't know if you see me as arrogant or something, but that is not my style.

I don't think Antonio's intention was clear and I would have shot him a PM to make sure.  I mean.. what if I motioned for a vote in German?  Would you call the vote?  Or would you be asking me what I said for clarification?

It doesn't matter.  I voted aye in the end because I offered to help Antonio re-write this and get it passed before his senate term was up... but he has made it clear that he has given up... so I thought I might as well vote aye and try not to make his tenure in the senate for nothing.

But if we're all going to start complaining about how lazy and uninterested all the other senators are... I think we all have plenty to say... so let's get it out.  If Atlasia is gonna go down, let's make it go down in a spectacular fireworks show!

[Ban my account ffs!]

In real life, counties typically have job search/training centers.  Why shouldn't we make use of these in the SS bill in order to re-train workers.  The centers are good in that they also provide materials and support for the job search.

The SS bill could provide further grants to these job search/training centers that counties can apply for.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Nay

I would like to offer my own amendment for Section 5, clause 5 if this fails.  I shall wait, of course, until voting on this amendment is finished.

[Ban my account ffs!]

SO CONFUSING.  Why can't we just rewrite the bill and reintroduce it?

It's not going to pass before Antonio leaves

[Ban my account ffs!]

Okay, now you can call 24 hours on Amendment 45-3, since it is now a sponsor originated amendment.

Perhaps it would be best if Bgwah were to start a new thread for this bill.  Put the current text of the bill along with any amendments under consideration in there and also a link to this thread.

I could then lock this thread and it would be available only for reference.

That way Bgwah can change the subject line and people won't be so overwhelmed.

Afterall, the bill is being re-re-re-introduced and now with a new sponsor...