Legislation Introduction Thread

[Verily]

Would the "Illegal is Still Illegal Act" also revoke the citizenship of anyone who has applied for citizenship in the time since going so became legal on May 19? Because the Senate has no rights to revoke citizenship.

[Verily]

Would the "Illegal is Still Illegal Act" also revoke the citizenship of anyone who has applied for citizenship in the time since going so became legal on May 19? Because the Senate has no rights to revoke citizenship.

I don't think so, as that would be a violation of ex post facto law.

Then I question what, in fact, the Illegal is Still Illegal Act is meant to do -- punish those who were not sufficiently rapid in submitting paperwork or those who the federal government dallied in issuing citizenship to?

[Verily]

Abstentions on Amendments Amendment

That Article VII, Section I of the Constitution of Atlasia be amended to read:

"The Senate, whenever two-thirds of its number shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution when ratified by a majority of the People voting in public polls, not including abstentions or declarations of presence, in three-quarters of the Regions. Such votes shall last for exactly one week and shall be administered by the Governor of the Region or other officer as the Law of the Region may provide. Citizens will cast their vote by public post."

[Verily]

As requested by some of my constituents in the Northeast:

Metric Conversion Act

1. The government of Atlasia shall convert to a dual usage of metric and imperial units in all relevant affairs, effective three months after passage.
2. The use of imperial units shall thereafter be phased out of use by the government of Atlasia as seen fit by its constituent parts but on a plan ending no later than January 1, 2015.
3. The government of Atlasia shall invest in the establishment of a metric system education program to inform citizens and residents of Atlasia on the workings of the metric system.

[Verily]

Equality of Representation Amendment
That Article IV, Section 4, Clause 3 of the Constitution be amended to read:

"The difference between the number of those registered voters who voted in the last scheduled federal election in any two Districts shall be no more than one."

Withdrawn due to the passage of the End to Districts Amendment, which nullifies this amendment.

[Verily]

Judicial Clarification Amendment
That the Constitution of Atlasia be amended to state:

1. All state trial courts existing at the time of the passage of this Amendment are the trial level courts of of the region in Atlasia they are physically located unless qualified in some other section of this amendment.

2. All state appellate level courts, including state Supreme Courts, existing at the time of the passage of this Amendment shall be appellate level courts in the region unless qualified in some other section of this amendment, and the highest regional level judicial officer or court of that Atlasian region shall be the highest judicial authority in that region.

3. All federal trial courts and appellate existing at the time of the passage of this Amendment are now the trial and appellate level courts, respectively, of Atlasia they are physically located unless qualified in some other section of this amendment.  The Atlasian Supreme Court shall be the highest authority and court of final appeal of Atlasia.

4. Qualifications, provisions of this amendment shall apply unless a named party in the action at bar is a member of Atlasia.

[Verily]

Atlasia-Peru Free Trade Act
1. No tariffs, customs, or restrictions on the movement of goods, except those that have been outlawed by the destination or interim nation, shall exist between the Republic of Atlasia and Peru.
2. The President and other officers of the Atlasian Government shall take such actions as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this act.

Edit: Withdrawn

[Verily]

To clarify, the Atlasia-Peru Free Trade Act has been withdrawn, though I did cross it out and withdraw it above.

[Verily]

I'm withdrawing the Equality of Representation Amendment (didn't mean to reintroduce it after the End to Districts Amendment passed).

[Verily]

Abolition of the Penny Act

Section 1: Findings
1. That the penny currently costs the government of Atlasia more money to produce than each penny is worth.
2. That transactions for which single pennies are necessary do not reflect increased precision in pricing.

Section 2: Minting
1. The Atlasian Mint shall no longer produce the Atlasian penny.
2. All materials used to produce pennies shall be redirected to the production of other denominations of currency or else sold as raw material.
3. This section shall take effect immediately upon the passage of this legislation.

Section 3: Exchange
1. The government of Atlasia shall offer to exchange with any and all banks pennies for higher coin denominations.
2. These pennies shall be melted down and either used to produce new coinage or sold as raw material as appropriate.
3. This section shall take effect immediately upon the passage of this legislation.

Section 4: Abolition
1. The penny shall no longer be legal tender within Atlasia.
2. All transactions currently involving denominations less than $0.05 shall be rounded upwards such that they may be completed using denominations of $0.05 and greater.
3. This section shall take effect on January 1, 2010.

[Verily]

School Standards Reform Bill

Section 1: Findings
1.   That no national standard exists regarding required fields of study for students in public schools.
2.   That education in Atlasia no longer meets the high international standards it once did.

Section 2: Terms
For the purposes of this legislation:
1.   “Elementary school” shall refer to any school offering only grades below 5th, inclusive.
2.   “Middle school” shall refer to any school offering only grades below 8th, inclusive, with at least one grade above 6th, inclusive.
3.   “High school” shall refer to any school offering at least one grade above 9th, inclusive.

Section 3: Elementary School Reforms
1.   All public elementary schools shall be required to offer pre-K and Kindergarten classes to all students within the district whose guardians wish them to be enrolled.
2.   All public elementary schools shall be required to be open for at least seven hours each weekday. All grades from 1st grade through 5th grade shall be required to attend school for the full minimum of seven hours. Kindergarten must be offered for at least six hours a day, and pre-K for at least five hours a day.
3.   All children must be enrolled in school, public or otherwise, within one and a half years of their fourth birthdays.

Section 4: Middle School Reforms
1.   All public middle schools shall be required to be open for at least seven and a half hours each weekday. All students from 6th grade through 8th grade shall be required to attend school for the full minimum of seven and a half hours.
2.   All public middle schools must offer at least one foreign language. Enrollment may be optional.
3.   All students in grades 6 through 8 shall be required to study science, English, history, and mathematics for all of their three years in said grades. All public middle schools must offer said subjects for all three grades.

Section 5: High School Reforms
1.   All public high schools shall be required to be open for at least eight hours each weekday. All students from 9th grade through 12th grade shall be required to attend school for the full minimum of eight hours.
2.   All public high school students must complete, between 9th and 12th grade, at least four courses in mathematics, four courses in English, three courses in a single foreign language, three courses in world history, one course in Atlasian/American history, one course in chemistry, one course in physics, one course in biology, and one additional course in any one of the sciences (chemistry, physics or biology).
3.   All public high schools must offer classes on mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics, English, American/Atlasian history, world history, and at least two different foreign languages (listed below in 5.3.1) sufficient in number to allow students to complete the above requirements.
   1.   All high schools must offer courses in at least two of the following languages: Spanish,          French, German, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese and Japanese.

Section 6: Interpretation
This legislation shall not be interpreted as to override any stricter standards upheld by law within any Regions or lower-level authorities, nor to discourage school districts or students from exceeding the minimum requirements.

Section 7: Effective Date
This legislation shall come into effect on August 10, 2009, unless that date is less than a year and a half following passage, in which case it shall come into effect on August 10, 2010.


This is a big bill. I am not particularly attached to any one part of it, and I welcome suggestions prior to it reaching the floor of the Senate.

[Verily]

Sec 5, Clause 3 should include Italian.  And/or a suggestion that other languages may be offered and counted towards the required total of two.

Italian is neither a significant international language of commerce nor spoken in multiple countries. Euro-centrism in language teaching should be avoided.

[Verily]

Italian is neither a significant international language of commerce nor spoken in multiple countries.

So what?

So, we're trying to encourage the teaching of languages of international significance. Schools are not barred from teaching Italian, but it doesn't count towards their required offerings.

[Verily]

So, we're trying to encourage the teaching of languages of international significance.

But not everyone will be an international busy-ness-man. How do kid's who'll grow up to become brickies, mechanics or office workers benefit from failing to learn Chinese at school?

How will they benefit from learning Italian? Foreign language teaching is designed to offer the basics to everyone because we cannot be sure at a high school age who will do what, and it would absurdly presumptuous of us to deny certain students that opportunity simply based on the current situation.

[Verily]

Amendment to the Taiwan Relations Act

Section 15(2) of the Taiwan Relations Act (Pub. L. 96-8) is hereby amended to read: "the term "Taiwan" includes, as the context may require, the islands of Taiwan, the Pescadores, and the Kinmen and Matsu islands, the people on those islands, corporations and other entities and associations created or organized under the laws applied on those islands, and the governing authorities on Taiwan recognized by the United States as the Republic of China prior to January 1, 1979, and any successor governing authorities (including political subdivisions, agencies, and instrumentalities thereof)."


A very small change, but one which has been overlooked for decades. This fixes US recognition of the state of Taiwanese control of the Kinmen and Matsu islands, which has been overlooked for decades. It is not in any way provocative to the PRC, but it allows for US diplomatic and economic efforts applied elsewhere in Taiwan to apply there as well.

[Verily]

Something interesting for debate:

Gasoline Price Stabilization Bill
1. In the interests of maintaining current standards of fuel efficiency and market-driven innovation, the federal government of Atlasia shall establish a minimum price of gasoline such that no gasoline shall be sold at a price lower than said price.
2. This price shall be $4.00 per gallon as of January 1, 2009, and shall be adjusted to inflation for all subsequent years.
3. A federal tax on the sale of gasoline shall be enacted that will apply to all gasoline sales at values below $4.00 per gallon and shall raise the price of gasoline to $4.00 per gallon or the equivalent value adjusted for inflation, but not higher.
4. This shall not be construed as to override any Regional or state-level gasoline taxes already in effect.
5. The government of Atlasia shall resolve to consider the subsidization of gasoline prices for individuals determined to be excessively adversely affected by the price of gasoline.
6. This legislation shall come into effect on January 1, 2009.

[Verily]

Registration of Political Parties Act

Section I: Registration
   1.   All individuals or groups wishing to form or maintain an Atlasian political party must submit an application to Secretary of Forum Affairs (SoFA) for certification as a political party.
   2.   No SoFA shall deny any request to form an Atlasian political party unless that party is in violation of any of the below listed terms:
      a.   No party shall be registered that consists of no members who have voted in an election within the past six months,
      b.   No party shall be registered for which the name of the registered party intentionally resembles that of another, already registered political party,
      c.   No party shall be registered that cannot provide an official contact for said party. This contact may be changed at any time.

Section II: Elections
For all elections within Atlasia, no candidate may run under a banner of any political party without an express statement from the official contact of that political party permitting that candidate to run under the banner of that party. No candidate so barred from running under any given banner shall be considered barred from running under a different registered political party, or as an independent.

Section III: Recognition of Existing Parties
All parties with a current membership of five or more, as recognized by the Constitution of Atlasia, shall be automatically recognized as Atlasian political parties effective 1 September 2008. All other existing political parties shall be without recognition effective 1 September 2008, save for those which submit an application to the Secretary of Forum Affairs as described in Section I, Clause 1.

[Verily]

What's the point? Other than stopping me from making joke runs under the AUB banner?

Gives political parties a bit more ideological cohesion. They can kick people out, or at least prevent people from running under their banner.