Northeast Assembly Thread

[cinyc]

The reason the default debate period is 48 hours is because not every Representative is on this board every day or every hour of the day.  It used to be 72 hours - but was lowered to 48 when someone proposed 24 hours in the past.  48 hours is fair.

What you'd get under my proposal is the chair's discretion to lessen or lengthen the debate period upon request.  A vote is technically required for that now.

Your 3(h) proposal doesn't work well with the current 3(d) or (e), which you left unchanged.

I move to change 24 to 48 in your new proposal, and if that passes, keep my earlier  proposed changes to 3(h).

This will likely be deemed unfriendly and put to a vote.

[cinyc]

Voting will commence on the amendments to the bill:

Amendment 1:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Separate Amendment 2, to become effective only upon the passage of Amendment 1:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

This vote shall be held open until the earlier of 2:50PM on Monday, January 18, or all Representatives shall have voted.

Please specify your votes on each amendment:
Amendment 1:
Amendment 2:

[cinyc]

Amendment 1: Aye
Amendment 2: Aye

I usually wait to vote, but since it's my own amendment, will vote now.  24 hours is too short of a default debate period.  My amendment provides for the status quo, but allows a shorter or longer period if the chair grants a request of a Representative without a vote of all members.

Amendment 2 is a closer call to me, but I don't think Rep. Antonio V's language works well with the SOAP as written.  Plus, I don't see why we'd need to increase the voting period.

[cinyc]

#1: Aye
#2: Nay

This will probably be deleted, but I will reflect this in the vote count regardless of what the mods do.

[cinyc]

By a vote of 5-2 with one absence, Amendment 1 passes.
By a vote of 6-1 with one absence, Amendment 2 passes.

We will now proceed to voting on the bill as amended for final passage:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

This vote shall be held open until the earlier of 3:00PM on Tuesday, January 19, or all Representatives shall have voted.

[cinyc]

Aye

[cinyc]

Aye

Seems that everybody has voted now. So I guess we can proceed.

Yes - but I'm not going to put another bill on the floor in the wee hours of the morning Eastern time.   

[cinyc]

Aye

Seems that everybody has voted now. So I guess we can proceed.

Yes - but I'm not going to put another bill on the floor in the wee hours of the morning Eastern time.  

Sure, it would make us be too effective and quick...

It would make me have to be up in the wee hours of the morning to open the vote - unlikely.  Either way, there will be a delay.  FYI - I generally only open things up from about 12 Noon to 10 PM Eastern unless there's an emergency.

Edit:  Looks like I screwed up and voted twice on the last bill.  My apologies.

[cinyc]

By a vote of 8-0, the amendment to the SOAP passes.

Rep. Antonio V has now had 2 sponsored pieces of legislation on the Assembly floor this session.  Pursuant to Section 2(a) of the SOAP,  bills from Rep. Antonio V in that are in the queue will be skipped until legislation from members who have not had at least 2 pieces of legislation placed on the floor are considered. 

The next bill on the floor is:

Bill Frist Act
1) All testing on non-human vertebrate animals is hereby banned in the Northeast Region.
2) Violation of this ban shall result in up to five years in prison and up to one million dollars in fines.

Sponsor: Rep. Sewer Socialist

The question is whether the Amendment to the SOAP should be considered?

The ayes have it.

Debate on this bill will continue until at least 12:00 Noon Eastern on Thursday, January 21, 2010, unless the debate period is extended or shortened in accordance with the SOAP.

The Sponsor, Representative Sewer Socialist, has the floor.

[cinyc]

If you aren't there at the precise moment when it's required to open/close a vote, nobody would blame you. But since you are, you're supposed to respect what the SOAP provides.

And BTW, now that Moderate has voted, we can close it.

Actually, section 3(g) of the SOAP says:
"(g) The Lt. Governor shall certify the results of any vote within twenty-four (24) hours of the end of the voting period."

That allows the Lt. Governor or Speaker to begin the debate period at a time that he is sure to be available to promptly open the voting period at the end of the debate period - as required by Section 3(d).

[cinyc]

Fair enough. Anyways, is what stated by section 2a) an authomatic process or is it upon your discretion ?

It should be automatic, except for carryover bills that died on the floor in the last session - which we've traditionally treated as the first item on the floor after election of the Speaker.  I have spoken to the Lt. Governor, who agrees that the rule should be enforced.  Former Rep. Hamilton would have been subject to it had he not been first put on mod review, then banned.

You certainly can have someone else sponsor your bills by reposting them in the thread if you don't think we're going to get back to your legislation this session.

[cinyc]

Well, what if a rep. introduces less than 2 bills ? I guess we can proceed to my next bill as soon as we consider some of the bills that have already been proposed.

We'd take your bills up as soon as those Reps' bills are considered.  If a Representative has only 1 bill in the queue, he has only 1 bill in the queue.

[cinyc]

There is one amendment, proposed by Rep. Antonio V, deemed unfriendly that must be voted upon:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

This vote shall remain open until the earlier of 12:40PM on Friday, January 22, 2010 or when all Representatives shall have voted.

[cinyc]

Nay

Noting also that Libertas voted Nay, just in case it gets deleted:

Nay

[cinyc]

I really can't understand why opponents to this bill are voting nay to my Amenment, since it aims to make the bill less tough...

Likely due to the fact that they oppose the bill in general.

Pretty much - or oppose any ban on animal testing.  Why give the bill a better chance to pass?

[cinyc]

I really can't understand why opponents to this bill are voting nay to my Amenment, since it aims to make the bill less tough...

Likely due to the fact that they oppose the bill in general.

Pretty much - or oppose any ban on animal testing.  Why give the bill a better chance to pass?

Even some regulations?

Not everything in the world needs to be regulated by the government.  Organizations can regulate themselves or whistleblowers can raise their concerns with the pubic, who need not buy products of unethical companies. 

[cinyc]

By a vote of 3-5, the proposed amendment fails.

We will now vote on final passage of the original, unamended bill:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

All those in favor shall vote aye; those opposed nay.  This vote will be held open until the earlier of 12:50AM on Saturday, January 23 or when all Northeast Representatives have cast their vote

[cinyc]

Nay

[cinyc]

Nay

the one million is to much. make it 100,000 and I will say aye.

Are you even a Rep?

heehehe no I like playing one though.

Please don't - it makes it more difficult for me to get a count when non-reps vote.

[cinyc]

By a vote of 2-5 with 1 express abstention, the Bill Frist Act fails.

Next bill:

Northeast Natural Gas Leasing Act
1) The Northeast shall publish an Invitation For Bid (IFB) on leaseholds to drill for natural gas on all Northeast public lands other than public parks, historical sites, highway rights-of-way or any portion of public lands within 660 feet of any inhabited dwelling, school or place of worship.  

2) Bidding Requirements
a) The IFB shall specify the size and location of parcels subject to bidding.
b) The initial term of any leases shall be five years.  The lessor shall have an option to extend the lease for two additional 5-year terms if a well on the parcel produces a commercially marketable quantity of natural gas at any time during the previous 5-year period.
c) The minimum fixed lease bid shall be $2,500 per acre per year.
d) The minimum royalty bid shall be 15% of the market value of the natural gas produced on the leased parcel.  
e) The market value of gas at the mouth of the well is determined by ascertaining the producer's actual marketing costs and subtracting those costs from the producer's gross cash receipts from the sale of the gas. Marketing costs are the costs incurred by the producer to get the gas from the mouth of the well to the market, including:
(i)  costs for compressing the gas sold, (ii)  costs for dehydrating the gas sold, (iii)  costs for sweetening the gas sold, and (iv)  costs for delivering the gas to the purchaser. Marketing costs do not include (i) costs incurred in producing the gas, (ii)  costs incurred in normal lease separation of the oil or condensate, or (iii) insurance premiums on the marketing facility.

3) Environmental Requirements
a) All successful bidders shall be required to secure a $50,000 lease bond for each lease and $100,000 plugging bond for each well drilled.  The Northeast shall be entitled to the proceeds from such bond to remediate any environmental damage caused by drilling or the cost of properly plugging the well.
b) Any successful bidder who drills for natural gas shall provide the Northeast with evidence that it has a Drilling-Well Control Insurance Policy of at least $25,000,000.   The Northeast shall be entitled to the proceeds from such policy to remediate any environmental damage caused by drilling not properly repaired by that bidder.
c) No successful bidder may drill more than one well per square mile on any parcel.
d) All successful bidders shall drill in an environmentally friendly manner without disrupting the water quality of the area drilled, pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Northeast Department of Conservation.  In particular, all wastewater shall be properly treated by the driller in accordance with such regulations and shall not otherwise be disposed of in any lake, stream, river or watershed area.
e) All successful bidders are strictly liable for any environmental damage caused by drilling and drilling-related activity, and shall remediate all environmental damage caused by such activity as soon as possible, and no later than 2 years of the end of the lease term.
f) All successful bidders must submit the location of any proposed drill site, access road, facility or pipeline to the Northeast Department of Conservation.  The Northeast Department of Conservation may require that a successful bidder move any proposed site, road, facility or pipeline to mitigate any potential adverse environmental effects.

4) Use of Proceeds from Leases.  
The government of the Northeast region may not borrow, pledge or transfer any proceeds from leases made under this Act except as follows:
a) 5% shall be transferred to the Northeast Department of Conservation to offset the cost of monitoring compliance with this Act and all other related environmental regulation and legislation.
b) 10% shall be transferred to the Northeast Department of Conservation to purchase additional public lands.
c) 35% shall be transferred to the Northeast Rainy Day Fund.  The Northeast Comptroller shall conservatively invest the corpus of the Northeast Rainy Day Fund and shall not transfer any portion of the Northeast Rainy Day Fund to any person or government fund, entity or agency unless the Northeast budget is in deficit and the Northeast unemployment rate is greater than 10% or the Northeast GDP has fallen by an annualized rate of more than 1% in two of the last four quarters.
d) 50% shall be transferred to the Northeast Permanent Dividend Fund.  The Northeast Comptroller shall conservatively invest the corpus of the Northeast Permanent Dividend Fund.  If the corpus of the Northeast Permanent Dividend Fund exceeds $7,000,000,000, every citizen who has been a permanent resident of the Northeast for at least 183 days in the prior year shall be entitled to a dividend from such fund.  Eligible residents shall file a dividend request on January 1 of each year, along with any information required by the Comptroller to establish such residency.  The gross amount of the dividend to be paid to all eligible residents shall be equal to (i) 30% of the gain in the Northeast Permanent Dividend Fund over the past two years or (ii) if there has been no such gain, the lesser of (1) 0.5% of the amount of the Fund that is over $7,000,000,000, adjusted for inflation after 2015, or (2) the maximum payment over the past 5 years.   The Comptroller shall mail or electronically transfer every eligible resident an equal share of the dividend on May 1.

Sponsor: Rep. cinyc

The question is whether the bill should be considered?

The ayes have it.

Debate on this bill will continue until at least 3:05PM Eastern on Sunday, January 24, 2010, unless the debate period is extended or shortened in accordance with the SOAP.

The Sponsor, Representative cinyc, has the floor.

[cinyc]

As my fellow Representatives may know, a large natural gas reserve was recently found in the Marcus Shale formation in New York and Pennsylvania.  This bill opens up public lands in those areas for drilling in an enviornmentally friendly manner.  The proceeds from leases are to go toward monitoring compliance (5%), purchase additional public land (10%), a Northeast Rainy Day Fund, to be drawn upon to stabilize state revenues in times of recession (35%), and a Northeast Permanent Dividend Fund - to be distributed to the people of the northeast when sufficiently large - like the Alaskan Permanent Dividend Fund.

All drilling must be done in an environmentally friendly manner.  Wastewater must be properly treated by the driller before disposal.  Drillers must remediate all environmental damage within 2 years of the end of the lease term.  If they do not, the Northeast will be allowed to draw upon a required insurance bond that all drillers must post, and do the work themselves. 

Much of the language in this bill was taken from Pennsylvania law.

I hope you will support this action to allow drilling for cheap, environmentally friendly natural gas in a way that doesn't harm the great lands of the Northeast - and gives the bulk of the proceeds back to the people of this great region.

[cinyc]

Sewer Socialist's amendment is unfriendly -and not germane.  It will be put to a vote at the end of the debate period.

[cinyc]

Just to keep you guys updated, SewerSocialist has moved to Minnesota, and thus has vacated his Assembly seat. 

I'm sorry to hear that and thank Rep. Sewer Socialist for his work this session.  I have informed the governor.

[cinyc]

I support the proposed bill, but not with Sewer Socialist's amendment.

Since Sewer Socialist is no longer a member of this Assembly, his amendment will not be put to a vote.

[cinyc]

With no unfriendly amendments on the floor, the following bill now be voted upon for final passage:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

This vote shall be held open until the earlier of 3:05PM Eastern on Monday, January 25, 2010 or when all Representatives shall have voted.