Legislation Introduction Thread

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Atlasian National Tax Reduction Act of 2012

1. All businesses are hereby required to pay a tax of 15% on their income, unless they make between $20,000-$50,000 a year, in which case they are required to pay a tax of 8% on their income, if they make less than that, they are exempt from paying Federal taxes.

2. All Atlasian citizens are hereby required to pay a tax of 13% of their income, unless they make less than $23,000, in which case they are exempt from paying Federal taxes.

3. Income taxes are hereby to be collected every April 15th.

4. The Federal Government of Atlasia hereby imposes a 5% tax on substances such as alcohol and cigarettes.

5. All Federal sales taxes are hereby repealed.

6. Income taxes are only to be collected once per year.

7. The Federal Government shall not impose a higher tax on wealthier Atlasians.

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Third Amendment to the Caucus Infrastructure and Formation Act

1. Independents are hereby allowed to register with a caucus.

2. Any Independent that wishes to register with a caucus must do so in the New Register thread.

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The Government Responsibility Act of 2012:

1). Hold total state spending growth at inflation rate.

2). Require 2/3 majority to pass any further tax increases.

3). Require that all members of the Senate return 65% of their leftover campaign funds to the treasury at the beginning of each new session.

(modeled after Jerseyrules' bill in the NE Assembly)

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Atlasian Arts Advocation Act of 2012

1. The Federal Government hereby allocates $150 million to each region to be used specifically for the improvement of arts programs within the region.

2. "Arts" programs shall be defined as any music, drawing, writing, sculpting, painting or any similar program.

3. Any region that does not desire to spend all of their money must ask the Federal Government before they use it elsewhere.

4. The adjourned Senate hereby designates March as National Atlasian Arts Month every year, in which art, as defined in section 2, shall be celebrated publicly.

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The Mind-Altering Substance Accountability Act of 2012

1. Any person who chooses to use mind-altering substances such as marijuana, LSD, alcohol, psilocybin, salvia, MDMA, etc. is responsible for their actions while under the influence of said substances.

2. If a person under the influence of mind-altering substances causes the death of another Atlasian, they are to be charged with Involuntary Manslaughter and sentenced according to standards set by the region in which the offense is committed.

3. If a person under the influence of mind-altering substances causes a vehicular accident that does not take the life of another Atlasian, but instead causes them severe injuries such as paralysis, coma or amputation, they are to be charged with Reckless Endangerment and sentenced according to standards set by the region in which the offense is committed.

4. If a person under the influence of mind-altering drugs is operating a motor vehicle and is pulled over by a law enforcement official, said law enforcement official reserves the right to test the offender for sobriety. If the offender is found to be impaired by any mind-altering substance, as outlined in Section 1, they are to be charged with Driving Under the Influence of a Mind Altering Substance and should be sentenced according to standards set by the region in which the offense is committed.

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Trim Away The Fat Act of 2012

1. The Atlasian National Healthcare Act is hereby repealed.

2. The Atlasian National Budget shall look like this:

TOTAL Direct Spending = $1.14 trillion

Military Spending ($418.72 billion)
$100 billion ... Military personnel
$138.13 billion ... Operation and maintenance
$72.43 billion .... Procurement
$71.73 billion .... Research, development, test and evaluation
$15.25 billion .... Military Construction, Family Housing and Other
$18.29 billion .... Atomic Energy Defense Activities
$2.89 billion ..... Defense Related activities

Afghanistan Operations ($1.15 billion)
$542.7 million ..... Military Operations
$609.31 million .... Reconstruction aid

Military Retirement ($123.13 billion)
$43.97 billion .... Military retirement
$38.54 billion .... Income security for veterans
$3.41 billion ...... Veterans education, training, and rehabilitation
$36.45 billion ..... Hospital and medical care for veterans and retired military
$0.76 billion ...... Housing and other veterans benefits and services

International affairs ($23.84 billion)
$13.64 billion ...... International development and humanitarian assistance
$1.08 billion ...... International military aid
$7.97 billion ...... Conduct of foreign affairs
$1.15 billion ...... Foreign information and exchange activities

General science, space, and technology ($23.97 billion)
$5.62 billion ...... National Science Foundation programs
$3.44 billion ...... Department of Energy general science programs
$14.91 billion ..... Space flight, research, and supporting activities

Non-Defense Energy Spending ($12.32 billion)
$0.73 billion ...... Energy supply
$1.03 billion ...... Energy conservation and preparedness
$0.36 billion ...... Energy information, preparedness, & regulation
$10.2 billion ...... Go Green Fund

Natural resources and environment ($35.13 billion)
$5.45 billion ..... Water resources
$8.74 billion ..... Conservation and land management
$3.06 billion ..... Recreational & Park resources
$7.88 billion ..... Pollution control and abatement
$4.9 billion ....... Environmental Fund from plastic bag tax 
$5.1 billion ....... Other natural resources

Agriculture ($17.69 billion)
$13.40 billion ..... Farm income stabilization & crop insurance
$4.29 billion ...... Agricultural research and services

Commerce and Housing Loan Programs ($5.75 billion)
$-4.28 billion ..... Federal Housing Loan Programs
$1.10 billion ...... Postal service
$-0.96 billion ..... Deposit insurance
$7.96 billion ...... Universal service fund
$1.93 billion ...... Other advancement of commerce

Transportation ($84.21 billion)
$22.77 billion ..... Highways and highway safety
$31.16 billion ......... High speed rail (Transportation Infrastructure Investment Act)
$8.51 billion ...... Other Mass transit
$2.31 billion ...... Railroads
$13.64 billion ..... Air Transportation
$5.40 billion ...... Water transportation
$0.42 billion ...... Other transportation

Community and regional development ($55.46 billion)
$3.14 billion ...... Community development
$8.36 billion ...... Area and regional development
$8.76  billion ...... Disaster relief and insurance
$2.5 billion ........ Homeless Shelter Emergency Housing
$32.7 billion ...... Small Business Association

Education ($83.95 billion)
$44.98 billion ..... Elementary, Secondary & Vocational education
$35.74 billion ..... Higher education
$3.23 billion ...... Research and general education

Training, labor and unemployment ($8.48 billion)
$6.88 billion ...... Training and employment
$1.6 billion ....... Labor law, statistics, and other administration

Non-ANH Health Spending ($36.02 billion)
$4.7 billion ....... Disease control, public health and bioterrorism
$28.31 billion ... Health research and training
$3.01 billion ..... Food safety and occupational health and safety

Civilian Retirement (Social Security excluded) ($6.71 billion)
$4.89 billion ...... Civilian retirement and disability insurance
$923.58 million .... Federal employee retirement and disability
$901.13 million ...... Federal employees' and retired employees' health benefits

Aid to Low-Income Families ($149.06 billion)
$59.27 billion ..... Housing assistance
$63.11 billion ..... Food stamps
$19.3 billion ...... Other nutrition programs (WIC, school lunches)
$4.8 billion ....... Child care funds
$2.58 billion ...... Other aid to low-income families

General Family Support ($24.33 billion)
$6.56 billion ...... Foster care and adoption assistance
$2.92 billion ...... Child support and family support programs
$14.85 billion ..... Social and family services

Administration of justice ($31.09 billion)
$7.05 billion ..... Federal law enforcement
$7.46 billion ..... Border security and immigration
$9.32 billion ..... Federal litigation and judicial activities
$3.04 billion ...... Federal prison system
$4.22 billion ...... Criminal justice assistance

General government administration ($3.04 billion)
$988.82 million ...... Legislative functions
$710.97 million ...... Executive office programs
$529.21 million ....... IRS & other fiscal operations
$1.01 billion ...... Other general government

3. If passed, this budget shall be displayed in the GM thread for the public to see.

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The Fair Compliance Amendment

Article I, Section VI of The Atlasian Constitution is amended to read:
The Senate shall make no law that applies to the citizens of Atlasia that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Regional officers; and, the Senate shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Regional officers that does not apply equally to the citizens of Atlasia.

This is perhaps one of the best pieces of legislation ever introduced.

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Bi-partisanship

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Bi-partisanship

Is it as rare as IRL? The votes I've been in so far have been pretty unanimous.

It's gotten pretty nasty on more than a few occasions. Not as bad as IRL, though.

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Is there any law regarding Super PACs?

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On the contrary:

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