Rules of the Lincoln Council
AN ACT relative to establishing parliamentary procedure of the Council of Lincoln.
Be it resolved that the Council of Lincoln adopts the following:
Section 1: Proposed Legislation Thread
A. Members of the Council, the Governor, and any concerned Lincoln citizen shall post the full text of any proposed legislation in a response to the Council of Lincoln Legislation Introduction Thread. Each response shall contain only one piece of proposed legislation.
B. Nothing shall be posted to the Council of Lincoln proposed legislation thread except proposed legislation or a Lincoln citizen's signature for proposed citizen legislation.
Section 2: Movement of Legislation to the Floor
A. The Speaker shall keep a thread on the Regional Governments board wherein for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Lincoln Council Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Councillors may post in this thread.
B. The number of threads about legislation that may be opened simultaneously shall be determined using the following formula. The number of Government slots shall be twice the number of Councillors being members of the government, with an additional two slots. The number of Opposition slots shall be twice the number of Councillors being members of the opposition.
C. The Speaker shall move government and opposition legislation to these threads in the order in which it was introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread. If a government sponsor has 3 or more pieces of legislation in the floor, or an opposition sponsor has 2 or more pieces of legislation in the floor, legislation from other government or opposition sponsors who do not shall take priority instead.
D. Each piece of legislation on the floor shall receive its own thread. Threads shall be titled as follows:
L 1.1: The BLANK Act, where L acknowledges the legislation is in the Council of Lincoln, 1 indicating that the legislation is in the first meeting of the Council of Lincoln, 1 indicating that the legislation was the first piece of legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread, and BLANK being replaced with the name of the piece of legislation.
E. If a change in government or in a bill's sponsorship implies that there are more bills than there are slots available for the government or the opposition, the speaker may open temporary extra slots for these pieces of legislation. These slots shall be removed once a permanent slot is opened (at which point the bill in the temporary slot shall moved to the opened permanent slot), or the bill is removed from the floor by the means described in Section 2.G.
F. Each thread shall remain open until the bill either (a) becomes law via the Governor's signature, lack of Gubernatorial action, or referendum override, (b) fails to receive majority support from Council, (c) is sent to the public for a referendum, pursuant to Article I, Section 6 of the Comprehensive Constitutional Amendment, or (d) the Chancellor moves to revoke it from the floor, subject to a majority vote.
Section 3: Legislative Debates and Voting
A. All proposed legislation shall be open for debate for no less than 72 hours after the Speaker places it on the floor.
B. During debate, Councillors and sponsors of proposed legislation may suggest amendments to proposed legislation. If the sponsor of the proposed legislation publicly deems the amendment friendly, no vote on the amendment shall be required. If the sponsor of the proposed legislation does not publicly deem the amendment friendly, or any other Councillor objects to the amendment, a vote on the amendment shall be taken 24 hours after being proposed unless there is less than 24 hours of debate remaining on the bill. If there is less than 24 hours of debate remaining on the bill, a vote on the amendment shall be taken before proceeding to a final vote on the bill. Such vote shall be open for 24 hours, or until all Councillors have voted, if earlier. An amendment shall pass if a majority of Councillors vote in favor of it (with abstentions and absences not counted as votes).
C. The sponsor of a proposed amendment may remove it from the Council floor by tabling it at any time before a vote on the amendment is started.
D. After the conclusion of the first 72 hours for debate, any Councillor or the Chancellor may call for a vote on said legislation. The Speaker shall open a vote if neither another Councillor nor the Chancellor objects within 24 hours of the call for a vote. If a Councillor objects to the motion within 24 hours, a vote shall be held on whether or not to proceed to a final vote, with a two thirds majority required for the objection to be overruled if the legislation has been on the floor for less than 240 hours; and a simple majority required if the legislation has been on the floor for more than 240 hours.
E. After the conclusion of the first 72 hours for debate, the Chancellor or the Leader of the Opposition may move for cloture. Upon the concurrence of two-thirds of the membership, the Council shall end debate and the Speaker immediately declare a vote on the affected legislation. A motion for cloture shall overrule any ammendments presented and any ongoing debates, but any votes which are already open shall stay open; with the motion for cloture being opened inmediately after said open vote is closed
F. At the motion of the Chancellor, the Council may waive the 72 hour requirement by unanimous consent. Consent shall be granted should no Member object to the motion of the Chancellor within 24 hours of its introduction.
G. Votes on legislation shall last for 48 hours, or until the whole membership has voted, whichever comes first. Only votes cast within the exact 48 hours after the Speaker has opened the vote shall be valid. Any votes cast after the 48 hours has expired are to be considered invalid, and may not be counted by the Speaker. This text shall not be interpreted as to deny Councillors the right to change their vote before the Speaker has officially closed voting via a post in the appropriate legislation thread. A piece of proposed legislation shall pass if a majority of Councillors vote in favour of it (with abstentions and absences not counted as votes). The Speaker shall certify the results of any vote within 24 hours of the end of the voting period.
H. Budget bills shall be considered a meaningful vote of confidence in the Government.
I. In the event that passed legislation is recommended to a referendum by the Governor, either the Chancellor or any Councilor may introduce a motion to override the move to a referendum within 72 hours for the Governor's move to a referendum being announced. An override vote shall last 48 hours, or until all Councillors have voted, if earlier. This text shall not be interpreted as to deny Councillors the right to change their vote before the Speaker has officially closed voting via a post in the appropriate legislation thread.
Section 4: Final Business
A. Pursuant to Article 1.15 of the Lincoln Constitution, the Council shall be dissolved at the start of the general or snap elections.
B. The "Final Business" period of Council shall commence 36 hours prior to dissolution of the Council session and shall end at dissolution.
i. At the start of Final Business, the Speaker shall declare in all pending legislative threads that Final Business has commenced and the session is nearing its end.
a. At this time, the Speaker must no longer open new legislative threads.
b. At this time, neither the Speaker nor legislative sponsors shall consider new amendment proposals or votes.
ii. All legislation on the floor of the Council shall go to a final vote at the start of the final business period, if more than 72 hours of debate have occurred on the legislation, unless either the sponsor of the legislation or a majority of the Council voices an objection to the vote
Section 5: Non Sitting Days
A. The Chancellor may declare any other day a non-sitting day, subject to a majority vote.
B. A "Non-Sitting Day" shall be defined as a day not counted in the official duration of debates, votes, and other business of the Council. A member shall be entitled but not required to speak in any open business of the Council on a Non-Sitting Day.
Section 6: Role of the Speaker
A. The Speaker is the presiding officer of the Council and is tasked with interpreting and enforcing the Standing Orders as prescribed in this bill.
B. At the beginning of each term of the Council, and at any time when the office is vacant, the second order of business of the Council shall be to elect the Speaker after the election of the Chancellor. Prior to the election of a Speaker, the Chancellor may serve as Acting Speaker for the purposes of electing a Speaker only. If there is not a Speaker, the Governor may preside over the election of the Chancellor. If the Governor is unavailable for any reason, the most senior Councillor shall preside.
C. The Chancellor shall introduce a piece of legislation to nominate a candidate for Speaker, who will then face a vote before the Council, requiring a majority support to assume office.
D. The Chancellor shall certify the results following the election, and the Speaker shall immediately assume office.
E. The Council may, at any time, remove the Speaker by making introducing repeal legislation to the introductory legislation of Section V, Part C. The motion shall take precedence over all other motions and bills before the Council, and shall be conducted in the manner outlined in the section entitled legislative debates and voting. The Chancellor will designate a Councillor to preside in the place of the Speaker.
Section 7: Rules Dispute
1. The Council may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Councilors.
2. The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Councillor objects. If a Councillor objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Councillors.
3. If the Council cannot resolve a rules dispute, Lincoln's chief judicial office may issue a binding decision dictating the proper interpretation.
Section 8. Amending the SOAP
A. In recognizing that the Lincoln Council has the right to determine its own operating procedures without outside approval, future amendments to the SOAP will no longer require the Governor's signature upon passing.
Section 9: Terminology
A. All legislation regarding the rules of the Council shall be called the Standing Orders.
B. All proposed legislation that requires the signature of the Governor shall be called a Bill until signed and thereafter an Act.
Amendment made corresponding to L.C. 7.3
Amendment made corresponding to L.C. 7.2
Amendment made corresponding to L.C. 7.9
Note to Future Speakers: Please update this whenever a SOAP Amendment is passed
