Northeast Assembly Thread

[tpfkaw]

Aye
Aye
Aye

[homelycooking]

On the first question the ayes are two and the nays are four. The amendment is not agreed to.

On the second question the ayes are two and the nays are four. The amendment is not agreed to.

On the third question the ayes are six and the nays are zero. The amendment is agreed to.

The Assembly will now vote on the bill as a whole:

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[homelycooking]

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This will be a 24 hour vote.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Nay.

[tpfkaw]

Nay

[homelycooking]

Aye

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Aye.

[homelycooking]

On the previous question the ayes are two and the nays are two. The new constitution is not agreed to, as it has failed to attain a supermajority of affirmative votes.

The Assembly will now consider the following bill, sponsored by the honorable member from Pennsylvania.

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Debate will last 48 hours and begins now.

[homelycooking]

The Speaker would like to announce that he will be absent from the Assembly starting this evening and continuing until this Sunday afternoon. Anyone willing to serve as Speaker in his absence is welcome to; all that would presumably be asked of him would be to close debate and open a vote on the above bill on Saturday morning, hold the vote on the bill which would close Sunday morning, and open debate on the "Partners in Civic Engagement Act" Sunday morning.

I have a few problems with the Prison Self-Sustainment Act: production of 75% of food from gardens would probably entail growing plants in Northeast gardens that are not endemic to the region and would not thrive due to climate or precipitation restrictions. If you change the percentage or specify that all local produce which could be grown in prisons is required to be, that problem could be solved.

Also, section 3 might not be feasible, especially if the extra land is not adjacent to the prison.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

To propose 2 amendments:

Section 1 shall read:

1. All Northeast Prisons shall be required to produce at least 50% of their food from gardens, which shall be created and maintained by inmates.

Section 3 shall be stricken from the bill.

[Cincinnatus]

Those amendments will make this bill more supportable.  I commend you on your efforts

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Would it be possible to define what constitutes a balanced diet in section 2, or is the sense of the Assembly that that should be left up to the wardens and staff of the prisons?

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

I would leave it to nutritionists.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

How and by whom would the nutritionists be selected? Would they be employed by the prisons directly and if so would there be oversight of their choices?

[Napoleon]

You could simply require it to be consistent with federal standards or current regional prison diets.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Then, I propose to amend section 2 to read:

All inmates shall be given the right to decide amongst themselves which crops shall be maintained within the garden; however, prisons must require enough variety as so to allow for a balanced diet for the inmates as consistent with present prison dietary standards.

[Free Palestine]

I'm not sure if I support this.  However, I think that allowing -- rather than forcing -- inmates to tend their own garden of some sort may help encourage rehabilitation and decrease violence.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Not all of them are gonna have to work in it. However, it could easily be something of a rehabilitation program, and certainly better than hard labor.

[Cincinnatus]

The Speaker would like to announce that he will be absent from the Assembly starting this evening and continuing until this Sunday afternoon. Anyone willing to serve as Speaker in his absence is welcome to; all that would presumably be asked of him would be to close debate and open a vote on the above bill on Saturday morning, hold the vote on the bill which would close Sunday morning, and open debate on the "Partners in Civic Engagement Act" Sunday morning.

While I would like to get moving, the running of the Assembly is the job of the Lt. Gov first.  I wasn't elected as Speaker, nor appointed as Lt. Gov, so I don't think it would be right to overstep the duties afforded to me by election.  If someone else wishes to act as Speaker in your absence, I will participate in debate and vote.  I will not however take it upon myself to over-extend the authority granted to me.

[Lincoln Republican]

I have no authority to appoint a Speaker.

There is a clear division of powers between the executive and the legislative branches.

In the absence of the Speaker, the Lieutenant Governor is to ensure that the Assembly keeps running smoothly.

The Chief Judicial Officer should make a ruling.

However, the Speaker returns tomorrow evening.

[Cincinnatus]

In the absence of the Speaker, the Lieutenant Governor is to ensure that the Assembly keeps running smoothly.

In the absence of the Lt. Gov, the Speaker is supposed to run the Assembly.  The last two (perhaps more, but since I've been here), haven't run the Assembly, so the Speaker has assumed the role.  The law of Northeast is for the Lt. Gov to run the Assembly and vote when needed (tie).  homely just happens to be far more knowledgeable about Assembly procedure, so the fact that he's been running the Assembly is advantageous.   

I'd have no problem moving the Assembly forward if I felt I had the authority to do so.  If Simfan needs help/instruction in what to do, he can message me or someone with past experience like Napoleon.  Otherwise, I guess this short wait won't be a big deal

[homelycooking]

The Speaker has returned from his weekend excursion to the great state of New York.

Time for debate on the bill has expired. The following amendment to section 2 of the bill, proposed by the honorable member from Massachusetts, will come to a vote:

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Members will vote aye or nay: this will be a 24-hour vote. Unless the honorable member from Pennsylvania informs me otherwise, I will consider the two amendments he proposed to his own bill to be friendly.

[Cincinnatus]

Aye on the amendment

[Lincoln Republican]

During my short time as Lieutenant Governor, I was directing the affairs of the Assembly.  We had no Speaker at the time.

[Cincinnatus]

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Or...

https://uselectionatlas.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/Legislative_work_of_the_Northeast_Assembly#Standing_Order_on_Assembly_Procedure