The Imperial Dominion of the South's Legislature

[Yelnoc]

     FTR, the proposed cuts would necessitate $11 billion in spending cuts.

Leaving the gas tax as is would only necessitate around $3.6 billion.

Clarence, I'm thinking that we should merge and cut the "defense" and "protection" categories.  What say you? Link for reference

PiT, is the $6.6 billion in interest counted in the balance?  Because, barring clarification from the GM, it should not be (and that would let us keep our surplus too).

Yelnoc or PiT- what is the difference between Protection and Defense spending? I would oppose cutting defense

One of them is the militia.  The other is protection, whatever that means.  Regardless, I don't know what we need a large para military force for unless we want to try and secede for a third (or would it be fourth?) time.

[Yelnoc]

     The interest is counted. If we decide that it shouldn't be counted, then we could eliminate the Social Security Tax without incident.

     I assume "Protection" refers to the police. Given that we have taken authority over the affairs of the state governments, we would also have authority over the various state police forces.

There is a note besides the interest category within the bill itself which hints that paying our interest is the response of the federal government.  Hey, down the line sometime, we should pass a bill outlining the process of obtaining a loan.  I have some ideas, but I will leave them for later.  Anyway, let's bring Tmth or Shua (or both) in on this.

And if protection refers to police, which makes sense, I don't think we should cut it.

[Yelnoc]

In that case I would oppose cuts to defense or protection and propose instead the following cuts-

General government- 2 billion
Welfare- 2 billion
Pensions- 2 billion
Transportation- 5 billion

We only need $3.6 in cuts to balance getting rid of the (false) social security tax.  Allowing the federal government to assume our interest would leave us with a surplus of roughly $3 billion, making other cuts unnecessary.

[Yelnoc]

In that case I propose General government 2 billion dollar cut and Transportation 5 billion dollar....better to cut too much then too little

But what is the transportation cutting?  And the General Government?  Are we going to have to bring back gas lights?  Shut down MARTA?  Let's think before swinging around our hatchets.

[Yelnoc]

In that case I propose General government 2 billion dollar cut and Transportation 5 billion dollar....better to cut too much then too little

But what is the transportation cutting?  And the General Government?  Are we going to have to bring back gas lights?  Shut down MARTA?  Let's think before swinging around our hatchets.

I propose leaving it to the regional Secretary of Transporation...I don't think any specific allocations in the budget, so I say we give them less and see what they think it invaluable enough to cut

'cept we don't have a Secretary of Transportation.  If we ever get a hyper-active moderator staff, this is the kind of thing that could come back to bite us in the ass.  Last I checked, the IDs still has the (inexplicably) highest unemployment rating.  More cuts, especially in sectors that employ a large number of government workers like the DOT, will have hurt the economy, not help it.

[Yelnoc]

According to Shua, the state debts are none of our business.  So I present the following for debate.  Under this plan, we will retain roughly a $3 billion surplus.

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[Yelnoc]

Actually, I suggest changing that last phrase to "and considered to have been assumed by the federal government."    The federal government would have assumed this debt at the start of Atlasia, and so be in the national debt figure already.  I think that understanding of the issue makes the most sense since that since I can't find evidence of any other region discussing the issue of debt from its states before.

Regarding the unemployment rates, you don't have the highest, but you do have the second highest - even though it's been falling.  I imagine taking in so much more taxes than you spent wasn't helping matters.

Edited.  And I imagine you are right.

I support your amendment Yelnoc and will follow it with mine which gives the surplus back to citizens... I believe shua's last remark supports that

Sure, once we get this passed I will put that bill up to debate.

Taft, would you do me the honor of bringing the 2012 Budget Amendments to a vote?

[Yelnoc]

OH YELNOC YOU'VE MADE THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE SOUTHEAST!

THE BILL IS NOW UP FOR VOTING.

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*cough*

It's this 'un.

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[Yelnoc]

And aye.

[Yelnoc]

Alright, the bill passes unanimously and is on the Emperor's desk. (remember to make the changes to the actual budget )

[Yelnoc]

Here ya go, clarence.

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I think a portion of it should be set aside in the Rainy Day fund, as a cushion against any future budget woes and the rest given back.  What say you guys?

[Yelnoc]

$35 billion.  Surplus from 2011 numbers $216.6 billion.

[Yelnoc]

In that case- I move to amend to bring the rainy day fund up to $50B with the remainder going to rebate

Sounds like a plan.  Something thusly?

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[Yelnoc]

Awesome.  Let's give Ping until tomorrow to weigh in and than taft can bring it to a vote.

[Yelnoc]

Aye.

[Yelnoc]

Let us begin debate on this bill.

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[Yelnoc]

Very well then.  Does anybody else spot any holes in it?

[Yelnoc]

Is the Viceroy second in succession or first?... might need to switch wording there

First.  Fixed that.

     Why not retain the Viceroy as a Legislator who just happens to also be a backup Emperor (as selected by the Emperor)? I think it would be interesting for the Emperor to have complete control over who his second-in-line is.

I would prefer the body be composed entirely of elected officials.  The Emperor already appoints members when there is a vacancy, which is more often than not. 

[Yelnoc]

    I didn't think of making the Viceroy be completely unelected, though that is an interesting prospect.

Well then, what did you mean?  Are you saying that the Emperor would be required to choose one of any of the elected five legislators to be his successor?  I would find that a little more agreeable, though if that is the case we ought to insert a clause indicating that the Speaker should succeed in cases where no clear delegation of succession has been made.

EDIT:  It might be a good idea to put in place a transitional clause, so that the two members are elected in a special election.  What would you guys think about those two members being in official "class B" seats that are elected with the Governor?

[Yelnoc]

How about making the Viceroy picked by the Emperor, but has to be approved by the Legislature?

Seems like unnecessary red tape to me.  And as Clarence points out, making the Emperor strong enough to meddle directly in legislative affairs outside of his veto power could backfire spectacularly under a future Emperor.

[Yelnoc]

How hard would it be to make the Viceroy the person who wins the most votes out of the Class A Legislators?

Not hard.  Class A being the legislators elected separately?

My concern is that by separating the Viceroy and Speaker, we are adding an unnecessary extra layer.  I prefer a stream-lined bureaucracy.

[Yelnoc]

Well wait, hold on now, what do you guys think about having the two extra seats elected in the same month as the Emperor?

[Yelnoc]

Is that our title?

Yes, you are Darth Teddy.  I am Darth Yelnoc.  Our colleague is Darth Clarence.  This is the Imperial Dominion of the South, remember.

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Added it to the bill.  I had thought about including a transitional provision that would have set up a special election to fill the Class B seats for the first time.  However, the date of their election is less than a month away, so they would have to be elected and then reelected.  The other options are to let PiT choose the replacements, or delay this bill from coming into effect until the time the vote Class B votes are scheduled to begin (with the election for Emperor).  Thoughts?

[Yelnoc]

I have some questions for either Yelnoc or PiT before I write my school vouchers bill....

What is the population of the region?
What is the population under 18?
What percentage of the education budget goes to grade schools?

I don't know off hand.  We could find out, like we did with the budget when we drafted it, but now that we have an SoIA we might as well let him crunch the numbers (PM Tmthforu).

So, any other concerns, or are we ready for a vote?

[Yelnoc]

In that case, Taft, would you do us the honors one last time?