Office of Southern Governor MB

[tmthforu94]

Governor, the following bill has passed and awaits your signature:

Coronavirus Budgetary Considerations Act
To allow the Southern budget a degree of flexibility during the ongoing pandemic and recession

Section 1. Title
This law shall be refered to as the Coronavirus Budgetary Considerations Act.

Section 2. Findings
1. The South is currently facing a crisis which presents a significant threat to public health and the economy.
2. The effects of the pandemic and economic recession are expected to result in a significant decrease in the amount of revenue collected by the Southern Government which will likely lead to a budget decifit.
3. Important services and funding provided by the Southern Government may be under threat if no action is taken.

Section 3. Emergency Declaration
1. This chamber hereby formally endorses the state of emergency declared by Former Governor West_Midlander in Executive Order #006.
2. This emergency shall allow for the Southern Government to run budget deficits for FY2020 and FY2021 under the process set out by Article III Section 9 of the Southern Constitution.
3. The governor shall maintain the authority to rescind this state of emergency but must seek approval from the chamber to repeal Subsection 2.

Section 4. Implementation
1. This law shall take effect immediately upon passage.

[tmthforu94]

Governor, the following bill has passed and awaits your signature:

Regional Fuel Tax Act

1. The Southern Region shall tax gasoline at 30 cents per gallon and shall be indexed with inflation.

2. This act shall take effect September 1, 2020.

[tmthforu94]

Governor, the following bill has passed and awaits your signature.

Southern Schools COVID-19 Reopening Act

Per the July 27th Presidential address, the following is enacted:

1. Southern primary and secondary public schools located in Federal Alert Level 3 and 2 areas must operate fully remote.

2. Southern primary and secondary public schools located in Federal Alert Level 2 areas may operate in a physical location, but must practice strict social distancing guidelines, require the use of masks and operate at no more than 50% of total capacity at any given time. Students will rotate between in-person and virtual instruction every other week. Schools must conduct daily temperature checks on students and have staggered schedules such that no more than 10% of students are moving between classes at any given time. Students may opt-out of in-person learning and receive entirely virtual instruction if they so choose at no additional cost. School districts may opt out of this clause and continue to operate under Clause 1 of this Act.

3. Southern primary and secondary public schools located in Federal Alert Level 1 areas may fully operate in a physical location without capacity requirements. Strict social distancing guidelines and the use of masks must still be enforced.
School districts may opt out of this clause and continue to operate under Clause 1 of this act.

4. Failure for school districts to comply with this act may result in the freezing of regional funds, as directed by the Governor’s office.

5. This act shall go into effect immediately and shall expire on October 1, 2020. The Governor may extend this act at their discretion up to an additional 90 days before legislature reauthorization is required.

[tmthforu94]

Governor, the following bill has passed and awaits your signature.

AN ACT
to reduce excessive punishment

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this Act shall be the "Chug It Down Act."

Section 2
a. A maximum fine of $150 per offense may be imposed for the crime of consuming or attempting to purchase alcoholic beverages underage. No other punishment shall be applied.
b. Nothing in this act shall permit establishments to serve alcohol to underage patrons.
c. Nothing in this act shall prohibit punishment being imposed for charges relating to attempting to use or manufacture false identification.
d. Nothing in this act shall prohibit punishment being imposed for charges relating to driving under the influence.

[tmthforu94]

Governor, the following two bills have passed and await your signature.

Order of the Southern Star Act

1. The Order of the Southern Star shall be a recognition of merit awarded by the Governor of the South to recognize the achievements rendered to it by its citizens.

2. The Order shall be granted in one of two degrees, the Silver Star or the Gold Star, which shall be for particularly meritorious achievements.

3. The Chamber of Delegates, by a two-thirds vote, may strip a recipient of this award.

4. The Southern Honors Act is repealed. Any honored awarded under it shall remain in effect and be recognized by the region.

AN ACT
to make crowd control more humane throughout the South

Section 1 (Title & Definitions)
i. The title of this act shall be, the “Safer Crowd Control Act."
ii. As used in this legislation, "rubber bullet" refers to a projectile made of or coated in rubber and shot out of a firearm.
iii. As used in this legislation, "stun grenade" refers to an explosive device that produces a bright flash and a loud noise so as to stun or disorient people without causing serious injury.

Section 2 (Prohibition of rubber bullet use in crowd control)
i. No law enforcement agency within the South may deploy rubber bullets or stun grenades for the purposes of crowd control or dispersal, unless a gathering is declared an unlawful assembly by the governor of the state or territory, or the mayor of the city where the demonstration is taking place.

Section 3 (Implementation)
i. This legislation shall come into effect immediately upon signature by the Governor.

[tmthforu94]

Governor, the following bill has passed and awaits your signature:

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 manufacturers will be able to use regulatory compliance as an absolute defense in civil court

[tmthforu94]

Governor, the following bill has passed and awaits your signature:

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 invests in preschool education across the South
ii. The fund shall be utilized for school/daycare related expenses
iii. A maximum amount of $2,000 may be distributed per child, with the family's total income being a consideration
iv. The fund shall not exceed an amount of $6 billion

[tmthforu94]

Governor, the following bill has passed and awaits your signature:

Financial Education Act
To require schools in the South to teach students basic finance techniques and skills.

Be it enacted by the Chamber assembled:

1. This legislation may be cited as the Financial Education Act.
2. All certified high schools in the South are hereby required to include basic tax law, finance, and mortgage techniques in the curriculum for students who are enrolled in their senior year.
3. All certified high schools will be required to comply with this law by the beginning of the 2021-22 academic year.

[tmthforu94]

Governor, the following bill has passed and awaits your signature:

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 Southern Government will allocate an additional amount of $2 billion to repair sidewalks, roadways, and railways. Funding shall be appropriated from regional reserves.
ii. The entities responsible for carrying out infrastructure improvements under this act 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.

[tmthforu94]

The Southern constitution states:

6. Vacancies in the Southern Legislature shall be filled in a manner specified by law, and until such determination is made, by Gubernatorial appointment. Vacancies occur upon resignation, recall, impeachment, failure to swear in within one week of the legislative session opening or failure to vote on final passage of four consecutive pieces of legislation without publicly declaring absence.

Unfortunately, Delegate Spiral has missed 4 consecutive votes as of tonight (has not posted on this subforum in 2+ weeks). As a result, Spiral has been automatically expelled and a replacement will need to be nominated.