Northeast Assembly Thread

[homelycooking]

Would a felon to which either 1a or 1b apply ever receive restoration of his rights? And what "rights" do the amendments (either of them) refer to?

What counts as "instrument in a crime"? Does the gun have to be fired for this to apply?

[homelycooking]

Would a felon to which either 1a or 1b apply ever receive restoration of his rights? And what "rights" do the amendments (either of them) refer to?

What counts as "instrument in a crime"? Does the gun have to be fired for this to apply?

It seems pretty clear to me, this is largely the existing text. The rights referred to are obviously gun rights as provided by the Constitution. A gun does not have to be fired to be a criminal instrument.

The bill/amendment should specify which "rights" are restored. As far as I'm concerned, "obvious" is not good enough - it should be explicit. Part one also could be improved by saying "Any person...will automatically have his right to bear arms restored at age 35 or at the end of his criminal sentence, whichever comes later."

2a seems like it infringes upon the independence of the judiciary. I don't think it's right for the legislature to mandate that in all cases in which a gun is used in a crime, regardless of whether it is used to intimidate but never fired or fired dozens of times, exactly five years must be added to a criminal's sentence.

I'd like to request an additional 24 hours for debate.

[homelycooking]

Your issue seems to be with the law as currently in place, perhaps that should be done separately from these minor changes?

Either way, 24 more hours. It is rather disappointing this hadn't already been taken care of.

Well, you're right. I suppose I can support these amendments, but I do want to revise the language of the original amendment upon which this bill was based.

[homelycooking]

Nay. The amendments have the right ideas in mind, but the bill that they seek to amend is critically flawed.

[homelycooking]

Oh! Sorry. Well, let's proceed to a vote, then.

[homelycooking]

I prefer accomplishing what needs to be done even if I don't like the sponsor of the law.

That was unnecessary. Our personal relationship has nothing to do with this.

Cincinnatus has the right idea as to specifying which rights Section 1 refers to. I would support those changes, and I believe that section 2 of the amendments needs to be repealed outright.

Also, the original NE Gun Safety Act contains this section:

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Unless you'd like to address this in your bill, Napoleon, I am willing to introduce legislation that would make "check customer identity" more clear - presumably by writing in references to driver's licenses, identification cards and the like. As it stands, salespersons are not explicitly required to use any documents at all to verify a customer's identity.

[homelycooking]

I never intended to propose an amendment to Napoleon's bill when I requested the extension of the debate - I only wanted to make sure that the discussion we were having was not abruptly terminated. I do, however, want to propose an amendment to the original NE Gun Safety Act, but since the bill being considered amends the amendments to the original bill and not the bill itself, it wouldn't be fitting to bring it up here.

[homelycooking]

Nay

[homelycooking]

I designed that bill to have no real enforcement mechanism so that speakers aren't held responsible for looking after the duties of elected assemblymen. I just thought that since participation in Assembly affairs this past term was often sporadic, an informal measure like this might help.

[homelycooking]

I wouldn't support stringent enforcement upon the Speaker to tell Assembly members to do their job.  This bill doesn't seem to do so, and because it does not, I'm sorry to say that I see little purpose in it except formalities.  I don't think it's the duty of the Speaker to encourage the Assembly to follow through on their duties.  Perhaps if the size of the Assembly is reduced, those that fail to participate will no longer plague this Assembly. 

In the coming session of this legislature, we will most likely have four assemblymen - a majority of this body - who did not run for their office and merely wrote themselves in on the ballot. I, too, would prefer that this amendment to SOAP be made unnecessary by a reduction in the size of the Assembly, but that is not the case. In such a situation, I believe that it is preferable to encourage absentee legislators to participate via a PM call to vote than to wait until they have missed three votes before throwing them out. To my mind, it is better to attempt to do something constructive with our execrable situation than to fall back on the punishments intended for a less dysfunctional legislature.

If it is agreeable to anyone, I would be willing to change the text of my amendment from "ongoing vote" to "ongoing debate", since Napoleon's comment about reliance on calls to vote as an excuse to avoid debate is a relevant and important one. I realize that this won't solve the "babysitter" role that he has inveighed against, but perhaps it will nonetheless achieve the result that I'm trying to bring about.

[homelycooking]

We can't even expect our legislators to check a thread?

To be honest, no. Those that write themselves in on their ballot and immediately get elected to the Assembly because there are so many open seats often have no real sense of responsibility - it means nothing to them if they're elected to or removed from office. The only vote which mattered in their election was their own, so why would they feel accountable for their actions to their constituents, much less participate constructively in the legislature? I think that we need to address this reality, which will become even more difficult to avoid in the next session, with a measure that reminds such legislators of their duty.

[homelycooking]

If the Governor wants to take such responsibility on, it is completely within their right to do so.  I however, do not agree with such a bill that would relieves our officials in the Assembly from individual responsibility.  An Assembly members actions, or lack thereof rather, is reflective of his/her commitment to this region.  If I know someone requires the Governor or Speaker to hold their hand and tell them when to vote, I'm not inclined to elect them again.

But my point is that this sentiment, as reasonable as it is, just doesn't apply to the reality that we are forced to deal with. I'm not concerned with the Assembly's active membership - this bill is meant to address the problem of "casual candidates becoming absent legislators". You or I have no say in the election of someone who writes himself in. That person may not even realize that they've won a seat in the Assembly, if they don't check the right threads. If they recieve notifications, they might come to realize that they are expected to conform to certain standards of conduct befitting the office that they hold. The people of the Northeast have the right to be represented by the legislators that they chose, and I think that it is the Assembly's responsibility to ensure that that representation comes about, even if it requires a bit of "hand-holding". If the member still does not respond to notifications, then by all means he should be thrown out - but I believe that we should at least try to contact the absentee member before he is removed from office.

Will a reminder help debate? Not likely. But I do not think that it can harm debate - and if it manages to turn one member into an active participant in debate, then the amendment will have been worthwhile.

If the Governor or Lieutenant Governor or Speaker   

[homelycooking]

Obviously we don't have time to vote on this, so the debate will have to carry over into the next session once a speaker is elected.

I suppose this session of the Assembly concludes at midnight tonight, since newly elected assemblymen are constitutionally required to officially assume office today.

[homelycooking]

A sincere thank-you to Marokai, Napoleon, sbane and Jake for their work these two months. It's been a pleasure to work with all of you, and I'm quite proud of our collaboration.

[homelycooking]

Should the Assembly so decide, I would be honored to serve as speaker.

However, we're still waiting for Assemblymen to swear in. We currently have only three who have done so - myself, Cincinnatus and wormyguy.

[homelycooking]

The Constitution sez:

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While the NE Assembly Speaker act reads:

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I wonder if the word "may" in the Constitution means "has the option to"? If the Governor does not exercise this option, I imagine that the Speaker takes on those responsibilities.

[homelycooking]

Let us do what we can in these next few months to make the Northeast the fairest region of Atlasia. I look forward to a productive, constructive and respectful session.

Warm regards to all.

[homelycooking]

Anyone home?

[homelycooking]

I, for one, can and will not support an Assembly composed of more than four members.

[homelycooking]

Four members seems small, I'm not sure if that would pass the citizen vote.

Be that as it may, I won't support a five member assembly.

[homelycooking]

Four members seems small, I'm not sure if that would pass the citizen vote.

Be that as it may, I won't support a five member assembly.

So you want to reduce the amount of Assemblymen, but would vote against reducing it to 5? Hm.

Touché. Of course I want to see the size of the assembly reduced - by any amount. My point, however, is that I want it to be reduced to a size that is as small as possible. I will insist upon a three- or four-member assembly, and support a larger assembly size only begrudgingly.

[homelycooking]

Five days into the start of the Assembly session and still nothing.
Cincinnatus is on leave. FallenMorgan and elyski are nowhere to be found. I have no clue what wormyguy's up to. I'm here...

[homelycooking]

To be fair, it has been a hectic weekend. I did introduce a bill that I hope is passed.

Agreed. And by the way, that bill looks like something I can support.

[homelycooking]

Pretty certain he's talking about this one.

Natural Beauty Preservation Act

No billboard advertisements may be placed along roads, highways, freeways, or interstates in areas classified as rural.
Municipalities shall have the power to ban billboards within their jurisdiction.

X Napoleon

[homelycooking]

Let me take this opportunity to congratulate Homelycooking, Fallen Morgan, Wormyguy, Cincinnatus, and Elyski for their election to the Assembly.  The Northeast is fortunate to have these fine Representatives dealing with the affairs of the Northeast. 

Thanks. And don't forget Redcommander, who was elected but hasn't sworn in yet.

I'm afraid we might not have a quorum in the near future...