HR 25-09: Federal Initiative System Amendment (Final Vote)

[Mike Thick]

AN AMENDMENT
to the Constitution of the Republic of Atlasia

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives, in Congress assembled:

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this Amendment shall be, the “Federal Initiative System Amendment.” It may be cited by its ordinal number in order of ratification.

Section 2 (Federal Initiative System Amendment)
i. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Atlasia shall be amended as follows:

1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be derived from the people, who ordinarily vest this power vested in the Congress of the Republic of Atlasia, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.
2. The Vice President shall be the President of the Congress, but shall have no vote in the House of Representatives, nor in the Senate save when they be equally divided.

ii. Article II, Section 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of Atlasia shall be amended as follows:

1. Legislation may ordinarily originate in either house, and both houses shall reserve the right to propose and concur with amendments; but all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.

2. Whenever either house shall vote to pass a bill, order, or resolution that shall have originated in the other, having previously made amendment to the same, the President of the Congress shall immediately call the amended bill to a vote in the house in which it originated. If the original house should then vote to pass the amended bill, it shall proceed to the President; otherwise, the President of the Congress shall instruct the other house either to pass the bill as it stood prior to its amendment by that house, or else reject it entirely.

3. Every bill, order, or resolution which shall have passed the Senate and the House of Representatives shall, before it becomes law, be submitted to the judgment of the President. If they approve of it they should sign it; but if they disapproves they should return the bill to the house in which it originated with their objections. If, after considering the objections of the President, both houses should by a 2/3 vote agree to pass the same bill, it shall become law regardless of the President's objections.If any bill, order, or resolution shall not be returned by the President within ten days after it has been presented to him, the bill shall become law.

4. If so specified in the text of the bill, order or resolution in question, the bill may be required to pass a national referendum before its enactment. In that case, the person responsible for the management of federal elections shall be duly notified and organize a national referendum at a date specified by the Congress in the text of the bill, order or resolution; or during the next federal election, whichever happens sooner. If no date for the referendum is specified in the text of the bill, order or resolution; it shall be assumed that the referendum is to take place alongside the next federal election.

5. The People of the Republic of Atlasia shall reserve themselves the power to directly introduce legislation. Any citizen of the Republic of Atlasia shall have the right to post a bill in the Atlas Fantasy Elections board, clearly specifying that the post in question is a bill to be submitted as a National Legislative Initiative. If this Legislative Initiative gets signatures representing 10% of the voters at the last federal election and accounting for 5% of the last Federal Census within 10 days from its introduction; the Legislative Initiative shall be considered to be accepted. Otherwise it shall be considered to be rejected.

6. Legislative Initiatives considered to be accepted shall be duly taken note of by the person responsible for Federal Elections. The person responsible for Federal Elections shall take a public note of this in their office thread, and open a vote on the initiative in question alongside the next federal election.

7. Any Initiatives introduced by the people of the Republic of Atlasia shall not exceed the ordinary powers of the Congress.

8. Initiatives introduced by the people of the Republic of Atlasia may not deal with the following subjects:
a) Constitutional Amendments of any kind
b) The Federal Budget


9. Any national referendums shall be considered to have passed if a simple majority of voters votes in favour of the bill, order, resolution or initiative in question.

10. Any national referendums shall be operated under the same rules as federal elections for the Presidency of the Republic of Atlasia

Section 3: Explanation
1. This amendment allows the people of the Republic of Atlasia to directly introduce legislation and submit it to a national referendum. This amendment also allows the Congress of the Republic of Atlasia to divert pieces of legislation to a national referendum if it finds it is in the national interest.

People's Regional Senate
Passed 4-2 in the Atlasian Senate Assembled,

Sponsor: Muad’dib
House Designation: HR 25-09

72 hours to debate.

[Mike Thick]

Looking for a sponsor. Preferably on the sooner side.

[Mike Thick]

Muad’dib is recognized as sponsor. 24 hours for his advocacy, as well as to object to tack’s amendment (which I can sponsor).

[Mike Thick]

Oh, the amendment is adopted. Sorry.

I’d like to see some more debate on this, but if there isn’t anything by like tonight we’ll start a vote on the cloture motion.

[Mike Thick]

It's way too early to call for a final vote? Shouldn't at the very least the amendment be processed first?

I don't believe any Representative has proposed your amendment.

Unless something has changed since I was Speaker two years ago, only sitting members may offer amendments meaning I am at a loss for what Ted is declaring to be adopted at this juncture.

Well, I agreed to sponsor the amendment and nobody objected

as well as to object to tack’s amendment (which I can sponsor).

[Mike Thick]

Alright. A vote is now open on whether to end debate on this legislation. Members will have 72 hours to vote, or 24 hours from whenever the measure attains majority support or opposition. Please vote aye, nay, or abstain.

In the future (meaning for the rest of the week lol) I'll split procedural actions onto separate lines so this doesn't happen again.

[Mike Thick]

Clear where this is going, so I’ll vote Aye to speed the process up.

Motion has reached majority support. 24 hours to change or vote.

[Mike Thick]

Hopefully the next Presiding Officer nullifies the cloture vote and lets the new Congress debate. I’m not going to open a final vote under these circumstances.