Southern Legislation Introduction Thread - 2019/2020

[Senator-elect Spark]

Regional Sport Act

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this Act shall be, the "Regional Sport Act (RSA)."

Section 2 (Regional sport)
i. The regional sport of the Southern region shall be basketball.

Section 3 (Regional day)
i. In honor of the late Kobe Bryant, a national icon, January 26th shall be designated as Kobe Bryant Day.
ii. During this day, the flag of the South shall be flown at half staff in remembrance.

Would like to introduce this bill for the 17th session.

[Senator-elect Spark]

Restructured Employment For Miners Act (REMA)

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this Act shall be, the "Restructured Employment For Miners Act"

Section 2 (Employment)
i. Miners displaced by structural unemployment are hereby to be transitioned into a new employment program

Section 3 (Job training)
i. The new employment program must include job training for technical skill acquisition
ii. The employment program must meet a specified number of hours (40 hours weekly) in preparation for a new occupation

Section 4 (Placement)
i. Miners who successfully complete the program may utilize a temporary agency in order to secure employment in their new fields

[Senator-elect Spark]

Tenant Protection Act

Section 1: Definitions
i. The title of this act shall be the "Tenant Protection Act"
ii. A tenant shall be defined as an individual who has occupancy of a residential unit through a lease

Section 2: Procedure
i. A tenant who deemed that discrimination has occurred on the basis of income may file documentation to the Attorney General's office

Section 3: Protections
i. A landlord may not use price discrimination as a means of increasing property value or displacing tenants
ii. Any landlord found in violation may be subject to criminal penalties
iii. Sanctions may be appropriately set at the discretion of the Attorney General

Section 4: Authority
i. May be enforced by the Attorney General of the South against those found in violation of this act

[Senator-elect Spark]

Youth Risk Prevention Act (YRPA)

Section 1. Title
i. The title of this act shall be the Alternative Education and Youth Risk Prevention Act

Section 2. Services
a. Background, Necessity for legislation

i. Children living in poverty who have one or more parents incarcerated, are the victims of abuse or neglect, or are homeless often experience a range of trauma and stress. This stress damages the child's physical, social, mental, emotional, and behavioral health and well-being.

The needs of vulnerable populations must be met, as they have a diminished ability to advocate for themselves compared to their peers. This becomes a vicious cycle.

The purpose of this act is to establish a task force to create a system for evaluating the at risk youth and those who have emergent or persistent behaviors, academic challenges and are in need of support.

ii. An at risk youth shall be defined as a minor who is enrolled in a high school within the Southern region with a deceased or incarcerated parent or guardian.

iii. A support network which consists of an older peer shall be assigned at the beginning of the school year, and the at risk youth must be enrolled in counseling services with the high school guidance counselor.

[Senator-elect Spark]

Community Empowerment Act (CEA)

Section 1. Title
i. The title of this act shall be the Community Empowerment Act.

Section 2. Purpose
i. This act shall require those attending a high school in the Southern region to complete additional requirements for graduation.
ii. These additional requirements include up to 5 hours per week of mandatory community service.
iii. The community service component cannot be used to replace credit hours for coursework but may be used in addition to coursework.

[Senator-elect Spark]

Affordable Transit Act (ATA)

Section 1: Background

i. The title shall be the "Affordable Transit Act"
ii. Many Southerners are not able to access services from rural areas
iii. The intended purpose of this act is to address these needs

Section 2: Provisions

i. This act shall establish transportation stations to connect rural and urban areas across the South
ii. These stations are intended to provide for the transportation needs of our citizens
iii. The stations shall provide for urban expansion of travel routes to rural areas
iv. These transportation stations shall provide opportunities for travel, workforce employment, and commercial and industries activities
v. These stations must be maintained as they will become subject to deterioration
vi. The fee to use transit shall be maintained at an affordable price

Section 3: Prohibitions and Guidelines

i. The region may not sell contracts to outside entities where it has sole authority to regulate
ii. The region must uphold the integrity of the transit hubs to ensure integrity, safety and compliance of the stations
ii. A lease to another state agency must not exceed ten years
iii. In the case of any sale of the leasehold interest in the project, the terms of the sale shall provide for the repurchase of the leasehold property by the authority at its option,
iv. In an event that the purchaser, desires to sell the property within ten years; The authority shall establish at the time of original sale a formula setting forth a basis for a repurchase price based on market considerations including but not limited to interest rates, land values, construction costs, and federal tax laws.

[Senator-elect Spark]

Ethanol Incentive and Infrastructure Act

Section 1. Title & Definition
1. The title of this act shall be the Ethanol Incentive and Infrastructure Act
2. The purpose of this act is provide subsidies to farmer and for infrastructure to store and dispense certain types of ethanol blended gasoline, appropriating moneys for deposit to a renewable fuel infrastructure fund.

Section 2. Ethanol Infrastructure & Funding

1. An ethanol infrastructure is to be created and stored for future use.
2. The South shall provide a regional subsidy (to be adjusted each fiscal year) to farmers in order to create ethanol fuel from corn.

Section 3. Fund Appropriation

1. The renewable fuel infrastructure program can be used to cost-share with motor fuel retailers.
2. Moneys shall be appropriated for this fund each fiscal year.

[Senator-elect Spark]

Daylight Savings Time Amendment 2.0

The following changes will be made to the Southern Constitution:

All references in the Southern Constitution to "Eastern Standard Time" or "EST" are amended to "Eastern Daylight Time" or "EDT".

Author: MB

Reintroducing this.

[Senator-elect Spark]

Juvenile Justice Transitory Act

Section 1. Definition and Purpose
a. The title of this act shall be the Juvenile Justice Transitory Act
b. The purpose of this legislation shall be to meet the housing needs of juveniles exiting the correctional facilities across the South

Section 2. Establishment
a. The South shall establish a housing cash fund
b. The housing cash fund will be administered by the Attorney General's office
c. The purpose of the housing fund will be to provide housing assistance for persons with behavioral, mental health, or substance use disorders.

Section 3. Funding
a. The housing fund shall be financed by the use of income taxes, interest, and property taxes
b. The housing fund may provide grants and loan disbursement for housing related expenses
c. All moneys not utilized shall be returned to the cash fund

[Senator-elect Spark]

Autonomous Technology Regulation Act
 
Section 1. Title & Authorization
a. The title of this act shall be the Autonomous Technology Regulation Act
b. The bill authorizes a driverless vehicle to operate on the public highways without a conventional human driver physically present in the vehicle if the vehicle meets certain conditions.
c. While in driverless operation, the vehicle must be capable of operating in compliance with the applicable traffic and motor vehicle safety laws.
d. The vehicle must be certified by the manufacturer to be in compliance with motor vehicle safety standards.

Section 2. Liability

a. Before an autonomous vehicle is allowed to operate on the public highways, that the owner submit proof of financial liability coverage for the vehicle.
b. In the event of an accident, the vehicle must remain on scene. If it fails to do so, the vehicle's owner shall be held liable.
c. In the event of a malfunction in the design or internal modification that contributes toward the causation of an accident, the vehicle manufacturer shall be held liable for such a malfunction.

[Senator-elect Spark]

Access to Early Childhood Education Act

Section 1. Title
i. The title of this act shall be the "Access to Early Childhood Education Act"
ii. The purpose of this legislation is to establish a early childhood education fund

Section 2. Definitions
i. The "early childhood education and care program fund" is created as a fund in the state treasury. The fund consists of distributions, appropriations, gifts, grants, donations.
ii. The early childhood education and care department shall administer the fund. Money in the fund is subject to appropriation by the legislature for early childhood education and care services and programs.

Section 3. Authorization
i. The fund may be utilized when a parent/guardian wishes to send their child to a preschool across the South
ii. The fund shall be utilized for school/daycare related expenses
iii. The fund shall not exceed an amount of $1 million

[Senator-elect Spark]

Healthcare Premium Reduction Act

Section 1. Title
i. The title of this legislation shall be the Healthcare Reduction Act
ii. The purpose of this legislation is to reduce health insurance premiums for low income families and employees

Section 2.
i. The government of the South shall provide reinsurance payments of premiums to insurance providers for individuals below the poverty threshold
ii. The government of the South shall provide reinsurance payments of premiums to employees of businesses
iii. This legislation minimizes out-of-pocket costs

[Senator-elect Spark]

Improved Public Transit Act

Section 1. Title
i. The title of this act shall be the Improved Public Transit Act
ii. The purpose of this legislation is to strengthen our public railways and incentivize Southerners to walk and bike

Section 2.
i. The government of the South shall contract private entities such as non-profit organizations to repair sidewalks, roadways, and railways
ii. The contractors are subject to targets and performance measures reflecting state transportation goals and objectives. Performance measures shall also include conditions of bicycle and pedestrian facilities, accessibility and safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users on the state highway system.

[Senator-elect Spark]

Autonomous Technology Regulation Act
 
Section 1. Title & Authorization
a. The title of this act shall be the Autonomous Technology Regulation Act
b. The bill authorizes a driverless vehicle to operate on the public highways without a conventional human driver physically present in the vehicle if the vehicle meets certain conditions.
c. While in driverless operation, the vehicle must be capable of operating in compliance with the applicable traffic and motor vehicle safety laws.
d. The vehicle must be certified by the manufacturer to be in compliance with motor vehicle safety standards.

Section 2. Liability

a. Before an autonomous vehicle is allowed to operate on the public highways, that the owner submit proof of financial liability coverage for the vehicle.
b. In the event of an accident, the vehicle must remain on scene. If it fails to do so, the vehicle's owner shall be held liable.
c. In the event of a malfunction in the design or internal modification that contributes toward the causation of an accident, the vehicle manufacturer shall be held liable for such a malfunction.

Sponsor: Spark498

Assuming sponsorship of this bill and re-introducing it.