FT 13.13 – Local Reorganization Act (Law)

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

AN ACT
to reorganize state legislatures

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this Act shall be, the "Local Reorganization Act."

Section 2 (State legislatures)
i. On the fifteenth day of December 2019, and afterwards on the first day of November in every third year thereafter, each of the constituent states of Frémont shall conduct new legislative elections. The members so elected will take office on the first day of January 2020, and the terms of legislators of the states now in office will then end.
ii. The members elected pursuant to §2(i) of this Act will comprise the Legislature of that state, which shall comprise of a Senate and a House of Commons.
iii. Each House of Commons shall consist of between 60 and 120 members, according to the population of the state, chosen from single-member constituencies, the boundaries of which to be revised according to the terms of the Universal Suffrage Act every tenth year.
iv. Each Senate shall consist of between 30 and 60 members, according to the population of the state, chosen at-large by closed party-list proportional representation.
v. The assent of a majority in both chambers shall be necessary to adopt legislation.

Sponsor: Harry S Truman, Speaker

The member from North Dakota has the floor.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

This bill was inspired by a suggestion of the honorable member from Washington, and would reorganize our state legislatures on the Australian model, with a proportional Senate and locally-elected Commons chosen at regular intervals. Together with recent voting and redistricting reforms, this would continue our initiative to increase responsiveness and transparency in state government by ensuring both local communities and the population at-large have adequate representation.

I look forward to the robust debate I am sure will ensue, and to any amendments that may be offered to further strengthen this proposal! Constitutions should be flexible and responsive to changes in the body politic, and we are in a unique position to embody this principle.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

I look forward to the robust debate I am sure will ensue

You are way too optimistic about the current level of debate in this chamber.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I look forward to the robust debate I am sure will ensue

You are way too optimistic about the current level of debate in this chamber.

Or two months of silence have made me a tad passive-aggressive.

[Pericles]

Interesting, though all-list PR perhaps shouldn't be the sole alternative and perhaps a range of proportional electoral systems like MMP and STV could also be given and states get to choose from them. Also do states currently have the option of being unicameral (Nebraska irl is unicameral so would this force them to abandon their system)?

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Interesting, though all-list PR perhaps shouldn't be the sole alternative and perhaps a range of proportional electoral systems like MMP and STV could also be given and states get to choose from them. Also do states currently have the option of being unicameral (Nebraska irl is unicameral so would this force them to abandon their system)?

I'd certainly prefer STV to the more problematic party-list PR, and I personally oppose unicameral legislatures (just look at Queensland), so I would hope bicameralism is required.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

The bill as written would, in fact, require all states to establish a bicameral legislature. While there are circumstances in which a unicameral body is the best option (this very chamber, for instance), when it comes to the states a bicameral structure balances the needs of local communities with the population at-large, without allowing one to dominate the other. The states would have leeway to determine the size of each chamber (within the bounds set by this act) and to determine their relationship with the executive, i.e. whether to go with a presidential or parliamentary system.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

I personally feel that the cap on the size of the House of Commons is too strict. I'd rather that the number of seats in state legislatures be capped roughly in line of population. Under the current wording Wyoming might have districts of only 10k, while California's districts would have a population over a million.
I'd rather that all states be required to have HoC districts of roughly similar sizes. Perhaps a requirement that all states must have an average district size between 10k and 200k in population?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Fair point. Offering an amendment:

AN ACT
to reorganize state legislatures

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this Act shall be, the "Local Reorganization Act."

Section 2 (State legislatures)
i. On the fifteenth day of December 2019, and afterwards on the first day of November in every third year thereafter, each of the constituent states of Frémont shall conduct new legislative elections. The members so elected will take office on the first day of January 2020, and the terms of legislators of the states now in office will then end.
ii. The members elected pursuant to §2(i) of this Act will comprise the Legislature of that state, which shall comprise of a Senate and a House of Commons.
iii. Each House of Commons shall consist of between 60 and 120 members representing no more than one hundred thousand and no fewer than ten thousand constituents, according to the population of the state, chosen from single-member constituencies, the boundaries of which to be revised according to the terms of the Universal Suffrage Act every tenth year.
iv. Each Senate shall consist of between 30 and 60 members, according to the population of the state, chosen at-large by closed party-list proportional representation.
v. The assent of a majority in both chambers shall be necessary to adopt legislation.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

We should also make sure there's deviation requirements to ensure against malapportionment (I feel a 10% variation in either direction from quota is appropriate) and I would personally prefer that the size of the Senate is more variable and is in some way linked to the size of the House of Commons. And we should probably institute a threshold (maybe 5%?) for the Senates too.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

The amendment is adopted. Proposing another one:

AN ACT
to reorganize state legislatures

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this Act shall be, the "Local Reorganization Act."

Section 2 (State legislatures)
i. On the fifteenth day of December 2019, and afterwards on the first day of November in every third year thereafter, each of the constituent states of Frémont shall conduct new legislative elections. The members so elected will take office on the first day of January 2020, and the terms of legislators of the states now in office will then end.
ii. The members elected pursuant to §2(i) of this Act will comprise the Legislature of that state, which shall comprise of a Senate and a House of Commons.
iii. Each House of Commons shall consist of members representing no more than one hundred thousand and no fewer than ten thousand constituents, according to the population of the state, chosen from single-member constituencies, the boundaries of which to be revised according to the terms of the Universal Suffrage Act every tenth year, and the population of the largest constituency being not more than 110% the population of the smallest.
iv. Each Senate shall consist of between 30 and 60 a number of members equal to half the seats in the House of Commons, according to the population of the state, chosen at-large by closed party-list proportional representation, with a threshold of 5%.
v. The assent of a majority in both chambers shall be necessary to adopt legislation.

Does this work, ASV?


(edit: struck an extraneous passage in §3(iv).)

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Indeed it does.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

The amendment is adopted.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Seeing no further debate, I move for a vote. Members have 24 hours to object.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Seeing no objection, we proceed to a vote. Members will vote Aye, Nay, or abstain. Voting will last 48 hours or until all members have voted.


Aye!

[YE]

Aye

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Aye

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

With three members in favor, none opposed, and one not voting, the resolution carries.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

AN ACT
to reorganize state legislatures

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this Act shall be, the "Local Reorganization Act."

Section 2 (State legislatures)
i. On the fifteenth day of December 2019, and afterwards on the first day of November in every third year thereafter, each of the constituent states of Frémont shall conduct new legislative elections. The members so elected will take office on the first day of January 2020, and the terms of legislators of the states now in office will then end.
ii. The members elected pursuant to §2(i) of this Act will comprise the Legislature of that state, which shall comprise of a Senate and a House of Commons.
iii. Each House of Commons shall consist of members representing no more than one hundred thousand and no fewer than ten thousand constituents, according to the population of the state, chosen from single-member constituencies, the boundaries of which to be revised according to the terms of the Universal Suffrage Act every tenth year, and the population of the largest constituency being not more than 110% the population of the smallest.
iv. Each Senate shall consist of a number of members equal to half the seats in the House of Commons, chosen at-large by closed party-list proportional representation, with a threshold of 5%.
v. The assent of a majority in both chambers shall be necessary to adopt legislation.