Rep. LeBron FitzGerald for Speaker of the Althing - For a Better Midwest!

[LeBron]

With Arturo Belano set to be the elected the official Governor of the Midwest in just a few days, I'm declaring my candidacy for the soon-to-be vacant office of Midwest Archduke in the special election!

Not only have I been endorsed by several great Midwesterners, but I have learned a lot from the position under the former Archduke tenures of Arturo and Windjammer. They've both done great as Archduke, but now under the order of succession, I'm stepping forth to be the next leader of the Althing.

Now I've only been with the Midwest government since February, but since then, I've built a lot of friendships, bipartisan accomplishments, and have the credentials to be Archduke. During my time in the Althing, the Labor-controlled region has worked willingly alongside a Federalist in the Althing at all times and passed wonderful pieces of legislation like abolishing life imprisonment and solitary confinement, providing much-needed government financial help to low-income and middle-income families, reaffirming the right of people to join a union and taxing companies who try otherwise, and ensuring and regulating the rights of immigrants, prostitutes and LGBT.

And since the main priority of the Archduke is to preside as Speaker over the Althing, here will be the way I would enforce the rules should I be elected Archduke:

1) There shall be a 3 max limit on the number of bills proposed at a time.

2) There are 3 Representatives of the Althing, so a tie is unlikely, but in the case there is one such as 1 Aye, 1 Nay and 1 Abstain or 1 Aye and 1 Nay or 1 Aye and 1 Abstain or some combination of that, I will break the tie which will determine if the amendment or the bill passes.

3) Should a bill get a majority of votes (2/3) needed, I will send the bill to the Governor via his office. If the Governor vetoes the bill and if I disagree with his decision and I think it would be possible for it to be overriden, I will attempt to override his veto in the Althing where a 3/3 vote is needed to override the veto.

4) On amendments to a bill, to avoid an occasion where a simple majority is not obtained, a 48 hour limit will be set on how long the amendment can be voted on.

5) On a final version of the bill, a 72 hour limit will be set on how long the bill can be voted on, should the Speaker choose to bring it to the floor for a final vote.

6) Bills are often sat on for very long, extended periods of time with nothing getting done as of late (though that's mainly b/c currently Spamage resigned unexpectedly and Sol's busy IRL), but anyways, to avoid instances like that, I will implement either a one or two week rule on how long a bill can stay on the floor.

And I think I covered everything.

I also have one, final plan in order to boost activity in the Althing and be even more representative to the Midwest. I plan on introducing an amendment to Section II of the Fourth Constitution of the Midwest that establishes another seat in the Althing and extends a few powers to the Archduke.

[Maxwell]

The issue we are having is with filling the positions we already have. How would those problems be solved by adding another seat to the Althing?

[LeBron]

The issue we are having is with filling the positions we already have. How would those problems be solved by adding another seat to the Althing?

Because if you look at the Althing currently, it's only Arturo and I which means we can't get much of anything done or passed with a Rep on a LOA and another who left for the Pacific. Arturo only has voting power in the case of tie, so that's the other problem. This isn't just one instance either because I've noticed a lack of pace just in general over the past few months which can be fixed. With 4 Reps, this would allow for a more transparent government, establish more, much needed activity in the Althing, and also assure the voters that the government won't be a single-party region where every official is a Laborite. 4 Reps would be more prone to ties, but I'm still finding a way to solve that small issue.

There are people interested in running to. We already have 2 declared candidates (though Snowstalker is considering dropping out), a Federalist (likely Cris or RR1997) will likely end up running, and Gass said he'll probably run. That's not counting other potential candidates down the road again like Brewer, Sol, Rooney, and others waiting in the shadows.

[Maxwell]

There's a difference between who could run and who will actually go for it. The answer for a better Atlasia is more competitive elections, not more offices. Keeping the number of offices we have or, as I think may be better for the region, reducing the number of offices (possibly Archduke, and instead having a Speaker).

[Adam Griffin]

It was my impression that the Midwest was more active than it was some months ago. Has it went into another lull?

[Maxwell]

It was my impression that the Midwest was more active than it was some months ago. Has it went into another lull?

The Midwest, like most regions, seems to have activity curves. I hope that new leadership will be able to stem the current funk the region is in.

I really should stop pretending to be a Midwest expert anymore

[LeBron]

There's a difference between who could run and who will actually go for it. The answer for a better Atlasia is more competitive elections, not more offices. Keeping the number of offices we have or, as I think may be better for the region, reducing the number of offices (possibly Archduke, and instead having a Speaker).

That is true, you are sacrificing more competitive elections by adding an extra Althing seat, but you're offering more opportunities to voters and up and rising office seekers. Besides the Pacific, we're the only region with a 3-person legislature (+ the Archduke) and low population and lower activity in the regional government has led to questions if we should merge or not. I'm personally opposed to the merge because there's better ways to get around it and there are Midwesterners out there who want to be in the Althing. PMs I sent out asking out to several Midwesterners are confidential, but I do have a list of those interested and 4 Althing seats we would be able to easily fill. There's still time before the July elections because Midwest laws are very open and flexible when it comes to elections and you can legally declare the day before if you want to run or you can run as a write-in within 48 hours of when the election started.

Also, the Archduke corresponds to the Speaker who's aka the Lt. Governor of the region. You can't get rid of the Archdukeship without also getting rid of the Speakership, so that's not an option.

It was my impression that the Midwest was more active than it was some months ago. Has it went into another lull?

It's had some major setbacks as of recently with no official Governor for the past few weeks, there's no active legislature right now because of a few setbacks, and it's starting to face a lot of the same problems the Pacific is facing. I'm optimistic about the near future though and have an effective plan to fix the activity problem as Archduke should the new session of the Althing and the people of the Most Serene Republic of the Midwest agree. Former Rep. Cris sponsored a bill that better promotes our region through initiatives, so we've done the best we can from the aspect of gaining more migrants into the region.