Legislation Introduction Thread

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I thank Governor FezzyFestoon for giving me the opportunity to start my term immediately, albeit in a different Senate Seat.  (Should it be an issue, I intend to pick up sponsorship of my own bill again following my resignation from the Northeast Senate Seat and re-swearing in to my District 2 Senate Seat.)
Carbon Tax Residential Relief Act

§1. Findings
   (a) The Carbon Tax Act shall cost the average Atlasian family an extra $36 in tax year 2008 on electricity bills, climbing to $360 annually by tax year 2017;
   (b) The Carbon Tax Act shall cost the average heating-oil-consuming Atlasian family an extra $37 in tax year 2008 on heating bills, climbing to $370 annually by tax year 2017;
   (c) The Carbon Tax, while a strong, powerful mechanism for lowering Atlasian carbon dioxide emissions, is a regressive tax that could potentially cripple lower-income taxpayers while having virtually no effect on the richest of taxpayers;
   (d) The Carbon Tax is an incentive only to those with the means to change their fuel consumption habits.  Those whose incomes place them in the lower-to-middle income tax brackets have little ability to switch to a more fuel efficient manner of home heating, install solar panels, purchase better insulating windows, and pursue similar fuel-saving ideas;
   (e) Similarly, it is a finding that those least able to pay for electricity bills and home heating fuel are also the least likely to waste fossil fuels out of an inability to afford such waste.

CHAPTER 1 - ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION RESIDENTIAL CREDIT

§11. Industry Requirements
   Beginning in the year 2008, and continuing indefinitely (or until repeal of the Carbon Tax Act), electricity providers operating within Atlasia shall send each customer currently purchasing electricity under a residential rate tier at their primary residence an end-of-year statement showing the total amount of carbon tax paid by said consumer for the year prior.

§12. Eligibility for the Carbon Tax Electricity Credit
   For the tax year 2008, all single-filing Atlasian taxpayers whose taxable income is $60,000 or less and all joint-filing tax payers whose taxable income is $120,000 or less shall be eligible for a "Carbon Tax Electricity Credit."  For the tax year 2009 and beyond, these income requirements shall be indexed to the CPI and adjusted annually for the life of the Carbon Tax Residential Relief Act.

§13. Value of the Carbon Tax Electricity Credit
   For the tax year 2008, residential consumers found eligible in paragraph (§12) shall be able to claim an income tax credit in the amount of their yearly electricity-based Carbon Tax payments, up to $35.  This amount shall increase by $35 annually to a total of $350 by tax year 2017, at which time the credit shall make no further annual adjustments.  This credit shall expire upon the repeal of either the Carbon Tax Act or the Carbon Tax Residential Relief Act.

CHAPTER 2 - HEATING FUEL CONSUMPTION RESIDENTIAL CREDIT

§21. Industry Requirements
   Beginning in the year 2008, and continuing indefinitely (or until repeal of the Carbon Tax Act), natural gas and diesel home heating oil providers operating within Atlasia shall send each residential customer currently purchasing natural gas or diesel home heating oil at their site of primary residence an end-of-year statement showing the total amount of carbon tax paid by said consumer for the year prior.

§22. Eligibility for the Carbon Tax Heating Fuel Credit
   For the tax year 2008, all single-filing Atlasian taxpayers whose taxable income is $60,000 or less and all joint-filing tax payers whose taxable income is $120,000 or less shall be eligible for a "Carbon Tax Heating Fuel Credit."  For the tax year 2009 and beyond, these income requirements shall be indexed to the CPI and adjusted annually for the life of the Carbon Tax Residential Relief Act.

§23. Value of the Carbon Tax Electricity Credit
   For the tax year 2008, residential consumers found eligible in paragraph (§22) shall be able to claim an income tax credit in the amount of their yearly heating-fuel-based Carbon Tax payments, up to $35.  This amount shall increase by $35 annually to a total of $350 by tax year 2017, at which time the credit shall make no further annual adjustments.  This credit shall expire upon the repeal of either the Carbon Tax Act or the Carbon Tax Residential Relief Act.

CHAPTER 3 - SPECIAL LIMITATIONS

§31. Diesel Fuel Limitation
   The Carbon Tax exemptions shall apply only to diesel fuel used for the purposes of home heating, and shall not apply to diesel fuel purchased for any other use, including, but not limited to, on-road use.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

National Defense Reprioritization Act

F.L. 3-5, the Missile Defense Initiative Act, is hereby repealed.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

In the case Sen. Ebowed's Universal Healthcare Bill does not pass, I offer this.

[If and when Ebowed's Universal Healthcare Bill passes, please consider this legislation withdrawn.]

Health Care Access Expansion Act of 2007
§1. Findings
  (a) Fifty percent of Atlasian businesses that are considered "small businesses" do not offer health care plans to their employees.
  (b) Small business owners have virtually no leverage for negotiation and limited access to affordable health care plan offerings, limiting the number of Atlasians who are currently insured through their main workplace.
  (c) By pooling these small business health insurance policies, it is expected that the Atlasian Government can negotiate lower rates not only for these small business owners, but for the insurance policies Atlasia currently offers to governmental employees.

CHAPTER 1 - EXPANSION OF THE FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFIT PROGRAM
§11. New Name.
     The Federal Employees Health Benefit Program will hence be renamed to the Federal Employees/SBA Health Benefit Program.  (Herein refered to as "the Program.")
§12. Bulk Coverage Negotiation.
     The Program is directed to immediately begin negotiations with private insurers who currently offer coverage to governmental employees.  These negotiations shall be based on the expectation of enrolling one million new Atlasians under the Program.
§13. Competitive Bidding.
     The provisions in §12 shall not be construed as a requirement for the Atlasian Government to renew contracts with existing insurers, or to restrict access to government contracts for health care companies not currently offering plans through the Program.
§14. Expansion of Coverage.
     Any Atlasian business defined as a "small business" by the Small Business Administration (SBA) shall be eligible to seek coverage for their employees through the Program, beginning at the start of FY 2008.  No minimum or maximum employer contribution shall be required to do so.
§15. Employee Choice.
     Employees of "small businesses" participating in the Program shall have the option to purchase any health care plan currently available to Atlasian governmental employees in their state.

CHAPTER 2 - EXPIRATION
§21. Circuit Breaker—Fiscal Savings Requirement.
     This bill will only take effect if the rates negotiated under §12 for fiscal year 2008 are at least 0.5% lower than current rates for each individual health care plan option offered to the Atlasian Government's employees in FY 2007.
§22. Expiration upon Universal Healthcare Passage.
     This bill will be considered repealed any time the Atlasian Government is found to pass a law offering a "universal health care" plan in which a supermajority (two-thirds plus one) of Atlasian citizens are to be enrolled.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Third Amendment to Article III, Section 2, Clause 2 of the OSPR

Article 3 Section 2 Clause 2 of the Official Senate Procedural Resolution is hereby amended to read as follows: “2. There shall be eight slots available for debating legislation on the Senate floor. Of these slots, three shall be available for any purpose; two shall be available for any purpose except the debating of Amendments to the Constitution; one shall be available only for legislation that the PPT considers to be related to forum affairs or emergency legislation which can be introduced pursuant to Article 7, Section 1 of this resolution; one shall be available for any piece of legislation, regardless of its location in the queue, at the PPT's discretion; and one shall be available for debating veto overrides pursuant to Article 5, Section 3.”


For reference, the current text:

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[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Constitutional Amendment to Reduce Deregistrations of Active Atlasians (The Tik|Eraserhead Amendment)

Article V, Section 2, Part 6 of the Atlasian Constitution is hereby amended to read:

Any registered voter who fails to vote in elections for four months, and any first-time registrant who fails to vote in the first scheduled Senate elections for which he is qualified to vote shall have his registration no longer considered valid. This clause shall not be construed to deny a forum user the right to register anew.

This legislation has been withdrawn.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Constitutional Amendment to Reduce Deregistrations of Active Atlasians (The Tik|Eraserhead Amendment)

Article V, Section 2, Part 6 of the Atlasian Constitution is hereby amended to read:

Any registered voter who fails to vote in elections for four months, and any first-time registrant who fails to vote in the first scheduled Senate elections for which he is qualified to vote shall have his registration no longer considered valid. This clause shall not be construed to deny a forum user the right to register anew.

May I draw both your, my own, and my predecessors' attention to the XVIth Amendment. This already extended the period from four to eight months. It also (something I never noticed before) legalized some long-established courtesy DoFA practices (ie: when people who had previously missed a vote in a general election voted in a by-election, their counter was reset to 0. Failure to vote in a by-election, OTOH, had no negative consequences.) ... and ... something I'd also not noticed before... it seems to be doing away with the deletion of first-time voters who don't vote!

Also, the links on the wiki page for the XVI amendment are all wrong. I'll rectify that.

Yikes.  When I was looking at the Wiki, it did not appear that the section of the constitution in question had been amended; indeed, it would seem that the constitution is treated differently than other bills for the purposes of the wiki.

Since the existing amendment takes care of the issue, I gladly withdraw it, but lord, what a can of worms this thing opened.  (I suppose Eraserhead could bring a court case asking his vote to be reinstated, thus altering the result of the NE Gubernatorial race?)

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

While I understand the moral reasons why people choose to be registered independents and members of very small parties... this ultimately is a game first and a functioning democracy second. If we want the game to work better, we need a better party system.

While I agree that the resurgence of parties is good for Atlasia, I'm not sure requiring parties is the best mechanism for this.  IMHO, the Senate just killed the best motivating reason for party membership when they moved from party appointment of PR-STV vacancies to special elections, but I digress.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

STOP.  This is not the proper forum for debate.

Take it elsewhere.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Introduced on behalf of El Presidente:

Amended Mass Transit Infrastructure Investment Act of 2008

Whereas the revenue expected from the FY 2009 component ($5 per metric tonne of a total $10 per metric tonne tax) of the domestic Carbon Tax is expected to be an estimated $30 billion, and;

Whereas the Atlasian Senate finds that this environmental-based impact fee is best spent through investment in new mass transit options and research into alternative energy,

Therefore be it resolved that:

1. Funding Allocation. Atlasia shall dedicate 50% of the FY2009 carbon tax component ($2.5 per metric tonne or $15 billion in total), as a one time grant towards the new construction, upgrade, and maintenance of mass transit options.

2. Funding Distribution. Said funds shall be apportioned across the regions according to logistics, population, need, cost effectiveness, and potential to reduce carbon emissions.  Funds shall be distributed in accordance with recommendations from the Department of Transportation.

Thank you.