Mideast Assembly Thread

[Peter]

It is accepted as friendly that Clause 5 is struck. Debate may resume. I remind colleagues that 24 hours of no substantive debate will be required before a vote is brought (just before they try to lobby me otherwise!)

[Peter]

The Mideast Marijuana Taxation Act

1. Whereas, the consumption of marijuana is legal, in accordance with FL 6-19, the Marijuana Legalization and Taxation Act.
2. There shall be a 10% tax increase on all marijuana substances in the Mideast
3. All money collected by this tax shall fund The Mideast Victim Compensation Act.
4. The 1% sales tax increase on gun purchases set in The Mideast Victim Compensation Act, is hereby repeal.

The vote is on the above bill.
This Assembly shall adjourn at Noon Eastern Time today (5pm BST). It shall then be my responsibility to preside over an election of Speaker for the new Assembly as Dean. There have been no nominations made - please submit nominations.

[Peter]

The 5th Assembly is hereby adjourned sine die. Its business is dismissed and its members mandates have now expired. The New Assembly is directed to swear-in.

[Peter]

As Dean, I assume the Chair to preside over the election of a Speaker. I have been nominated to continue in this role and will accept the nomination. A vote will be held in 24 hours unless Persepolis indicates that we need not waste the time.

[Peter]

As Dean, I assume the Chair to preside over the election of a Speaker. I have been nominated to continue in this role and will accept the nomination. A vote will be held in 24 hours unless Persepolis indicates that we need not waste the time.

The vote for Speaker is opened:
[ ] Peter
[ ] Write-in: ..................................

[Peter]

[ x]Peter
With a majority, the vote carries.

The Mideast Marijuana Taxation Act

1. Whereas, the consumption of marijuana is legal, in accordance with FL 6-19, the Marijuana Legalization and Taxation Act.
2. There shall be a 10% tax increase on all marijuana substances in the Mideast
3. All money collected by this tax shall fund The Mideast Victim Compensation Act.
4. The 1% sales tax increase on gun purchases set in The Mideast Victim Compensation Act, is hereby repeal.

The above bill is on the floor - an amendment has been proposed and I would encourage the sponsor to accept as friendly.

[Peter]

The Mideast Marijuana Taxation Act

1. Whereas, the consumption of marijuana is legal, in accordance with FL 6-19, the Marijuana Legalization and Taxation Act.
2. There shall be a 10% tax increase on all marijuana substances in the Mideast
3. All money collected by this tax shall fund The Mideast Victim Compensation Act.
4. The 1% sales tax increase on gun purchases set in The Mideast Victim Compensation Act, is hereby repealed.

The above bill is called to a vote.

[Peter]

Abstain.
The Ayes have it. The Ayes have it. The bill is transmitted to the Governor for his signature or veto.

[Peter]

I would like to bring the following before the Assembly:

Repeal of Mideast Intelligent Design Statute

Init 02 is repealed.

The bill is brought to the floor.
I would like to ask the author what parts of Intelligent Design constitute "Scientific Theory"? It is perfectly legitimate under the act as amended for ID to be discussed in a philosophical context.

[Peter]

In Edwards v. Aguillard,  The Supreme Court said that teaching a variety of scientific theories about the origins of humankind to school children might be validly done with the clear secular intent of enhancing the effectiveness of science instruction.

Agreed

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Here's where I depart from you. There is a consensus amongst the scientific community that ID is not a scientific theory.

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Agreed, but ID isn't science. See above.

[Peter]

I move for a Recall on Persepolis.

Whilst a recall may well be in order, this Assembly has no power to expel its members, only the People may recall him.

[Peter]

I hereby resign from my position as Mideast Assemblymember. I bid you adeiu.

Regardless of any technical formality, as Speaker, I accept your resignation and direct the Governor to fill the vacancy.

[Peter]

I would like to present the following bill to the Assembly:

The Animal Protection Act
1. The Mideast recognizes animal torture as knowingly torturing, tormenting, needlessly mutilating or maiming, cruelly beating, poisoning, needlessly killing, or committing an act of cruelty against a companion animal.
2. To require a child under the age of 18 to undergo psychological evaluation to determine if the child needs individual or family counseling.
3. To require the parent, guardian, or other person taking care of the child to pay the costs of the evaluation, counseling, or both.
4. If a person over the age of 18 commits animal cruelty more than twice, that person would be required to spend a minimum of 30 days in prison and a maximum of 5 years.

The bill is brought to the floor. My first reading of the bill would seem to mean that clause 2 requires that all children under the age of 18 (surely a tautology?) undergo a psych evaluation. I ='d like some clarification of who exactly is meant to be affected by this bill.

[Peter]

As far as I can tell, you are actually proposing that every single person under 18 undergo a psych evaluation at some point. The Mideast probably has somewhere on the order of 10 million children within its boundaries. You seem content to delegate the cost of this on to hard working families by requiring that all families pay for the evaluation of their children. Sorry, but thats unacceptable to me, especially as we will find that the vast majority of children are not animal torturers.

[Peter]

In addition, putting pets down during old age would be criminalized, while abandonment is not, so we would see a lot of sick dogs wandering the streets it seems.

I disagree - that doesn't fit the definition of animal cruelty here as it is not a "malicious killing".

Parliamentary Procedure requires that I first call a vote on Dan's amendment then Bayh '10s amendment, but I think it best if Bayh submits his amendment as friendly and Dan withdraws his amendment. Please do this soon because otherwise pointless votes will be required.

[Peter]

The Animal Protection Act
The Mideast Region recognizes that it is our duty to protect Animals. Therefore, the following shall be enforced:

1. The Mideast recognizes animal cruelty as the following:
a. Neglect
b. Malicious killing
c. Beatings
d. Animal Fighting ie Dog fight, cock fight.

2. The Mideast doesn't recognizes the following as animal cruelty:
a. Hunting for food or sport
b. Killing Animals for food.
c. Killing any rodents or insects.

3. Any person under the age of 18, who is found guilty of animal abuse is required to undergo psychological evaluation to determine if the child needs individual or family counseling. If found sane said person shall serve a maximum of 2 years in juvenile jail and/or 2,500 dollars fine.
a. Parents or Guardians of said person under 18, are liable for all cost for the evaluation/counseling/fine.

4. If a person over the age of 18 commits animal abuse, said person shall serve a minimum of 30 days in jail and a maximum of 5 years in jail and/or 5,000 dollars fine.

The above amendment was accepted as friendly and without objection is now the substance of the bill.

There have been 24 hours without debate, and so this bill is called to a vote.

[Peter]

Aye.
The Ayes have it. The Ayes have it.
The bill is submitted to the Governor for his signature or veto.

[Peter]

I interpret this as Dan's resignation from the Assembly. The Governor is directed to fill the vacancy.

I am in favour of the new bill and will bring it to the floor once we have a 3rd member.

[Peter]

There are now 2 vacancies in the Mideast Assembly.

I urge the Governor to fill these vacancies. I would simply state that I can pass bills, have them vetoed, and then override vetoes on my own at the moment

[Peter]

This Assembly is now properly constituted and gavelled to order.

I request that members submit business for our consideration.

[Peter]

There is no bill on the floor of this Assembly.

(For those not adept with Parliamentary Procedure, because tmthforu94 left the Assembly, his bill died. You are of course welcome to introduce exactly the same bill with whatever amendments you like already made.)

[Peter]

The following bill is placed in the queue.

Xth Constitutional Amendment

Article IV, Section 1, Clause 7 is amended to read:

In order to be a candidate on the ballot, a candidate must declare their candidacy at least two days before the election.

[Peter]

Whilst I appreciate the discussion of my proposed amendment, I ask that debate of the bill be held until it is on the floor - it can often be difficult to keep track of the present business.

On the Public Smorking Ban Bill:

There has been a proposed amendment to change the bill from the sponsor to the following:

1. It shall be illegal in the Mideast, for a person to smoke inside buildings and establishments open to the public, such as bars, restaurants, public transporting, cinemas, and libraries.
2. If a person is found guilty of smoking in public areas, then that person shall be fined no less than a hundred dollars and no more than five hundred dollars.
3. Smoking inside buildings that are not open to the public, shall not be affected by the passage of this Act.

And officepark has indicated his assent above and so I shall input the changes as a friendly amendment. I shall also use Speaker's discretion to amend "transporting" to "transportation.

Public Smoking Ban Bill
1. It shall be illegal in the Mideast, for a person to smoke inside buildings and establishments open to the public, such as bars, restaurants, public transportation, cinemas, and libraries.
2. If a person is found guilty of smoking in public areas, then that person shall be fined no less than a hundred dollars and no more than five hundred dollars.
3. Smoking inside buildings that are not open to the public, shall not be affected by the passage of this Act.

Assemblymen have 24 hours to object to any of the above changes.

[Peter]

Section 1 is amended to read "It shall be illegal in the Mideast for a person to smoke inside any area, building or establishment open to the public, including but not limited to parks, bars, restaurants, public transportation, cinemas, and libraries."

Voting on the above Amendment is open.

[Peter]

I must vote against the amendment.

My principal reason for supporting the bill is the sense that it is damaging to the health of others for a smoker to smoke in an enclosed environment in their presence.  I have seen little evidence in real life, and none presented to this Assembly, that would indicate that smoking in the open air, such as in a park, is damaging to other nearby users of the park, hence I oppose the amendment.