HR 29-16: Fixing Stupid Unnecessary Rules Resolution (Passed)

[Dr. MB]

Fixing Stupid Unnecessary Rules Resolution

Substance

Section 2 of the House of the Representatives Rules and Procedures for Operation is amended to read as follows:

1.) The Speaker shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the House Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Representatives may post in this thread. The Speaker shall also keep a separate thread listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2.) If the Speaker determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, they may, in a public post, remove said legislation from the House queue. The sponsoring Representative or citizen shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Representatives in the affirmative (excluding the Speaker), may override the actions of the Speaker.

3.) Legislation threads:

a) There may be twenty-four threads about legislation open for voting and debate simultaneously.

b) The first ten fourteen slots shall be open to all legislation regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. Each Member shall be allowed one slot, and the Speaker shall advance bills to each member’s slot in the order they were introduced by the member. The Tenth slot shall be filled with a bill to be selected by the speaker. Members may elect to fill their slot by co-sponsoring a bill posted by someone else. The Speaker shall be the president officer for these open threads. The Speaker shall advance bills proposed by members who have filled the slots provided to them by section subsection b in the order in which they were introduced. The Speaker shall be the presiding officer for these open threads.

c) The eleventh through fifteenth slots shall be open to all member-sponsored legislation regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. The Speaker shall advance bills proposed by members who have filled the slots provided to them by section subsection b in the order in which they were introduced. The Speaker shall be the presiding officer for these open threads.

c)  If the sponsor already has three or more pieces of legislation on the House floor, and all other slots are filled or would be filled pending said introduced legislation, legislation from Representatives who do not have any bills on the floor shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The Speaker shall be the presiding officer for these open threads.

d) The fifteenth and sixteenth slots shall be reserved for bills submitted by civilians in the Public Consultation and Legislation Submission thread. The Speaker shall be the presiding officer for this open thread these open threads.

e) The seventeenth through twenty-first slots shall be reserved for legislation that previously passed the Senate. The President of Congress shall be the presiding officer for these open threads.

f) The twenty-second slot shall be reserved for legislation related to national emergencies declared by the President of Atlasia. The Speaker shall introduce legislation to this thread as directed by the President, but only when the President has declared a state of national emergency.

g) the twenty-third slot shall be filled with a bill to be selected by the President. The Speaker shall be the president officer for this open thread.

h) The twenty-fourth slot shall be reserved for budget debates and related resolutions and statutes. This slot shall be administered by the President of Congress.

4.) A piece of legislation is no longer on the House of Representative Floor when it has been withdrawn, tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the House of Representatives.

5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates their office as Representative, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the next session, be declared withdrawn by the Speaker by public post, if no Representative sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the House floor, any office-holding Representative may assume sponsorship.

6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Representative may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 72 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Representatives, Representatives shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Representative objects, the Speaker shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 72 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

7.) All bills appropriating money must either raise taxes or cut other spending to cover the costs of the appropriations contained therein. Exempted from this shall be emergency legislation declared as such by the President in clause 2.D of this section. In addition such bills must have any funding increases and decreases connected to a specific federal department budget. Any bill that includes a funding change that is not connected to a specific federal department budget shall not be able to be brought to a final vote. The House may override this section with a 2/3rds vote.

8.) All resolutions seeking to amend the constitution must be introduced along with a passage detailing what is being changed in the Constitution and why, called the Amendment Explanation. All amendments to the resolution, must change the explanation if they change the resolution so as to be inconsistent with it. This shall not infringe on the presiding officers ability to correct for grammar and formatting issues, nor impede the presiding officer's ability to update and maintain a mission statement in the outer quote box of a given bill or resolution.

9.) House Bills and Resolutions shall be enumerated as "HB" for House bills or "HR" for House resolutions, followed by a blank space, then two numbers separated by a "-", with the first number being the number of the current session and the second increasing sequentially for each bill or resolution placed on the floor per each session.

10.) Bills submitted by civilians in the Public Consultation and Legislation Submission thread shall not require a congressional sponsor to reach the floor.

Sponsor: MB

[Dr. MB]

The original "glorious Labor rules package", as you might remember, was passed all the way back in July 2019 as a reaction to the conservative members of the House flooding the queue with maybe 40 or 50 bills to attempt to stop the newly elected president Adam Griffin from passing anything. And yeah, for the time I could see the purpose and I even voted for it as a member of the house, but it quickly became obvious it was a hindrance to the house operations and serves no real purpose. It also was never meant to be permanent. It has been amended to allow more general slots, which is a good thing, but the truth is some members always introduce more bills. Just this session Ishan has introduced four bills while a couple members have introduced none. I'm shocked it's lasted as long as it has.

This new package (with the provision that no more than three bills may be on the floor from the same member at the same time so long as there are more bills waiting in the queue) should fix all issues of 1) obstructionism and 2) the utter pointlessness of the July 2019 rules package as it stands today. I hope all my fellow members can join with me in making this a thing of the past.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

This is a bad idea. In a 5-4 Chamber, the Opposition will simply use up 12 of the 14 slots provided here. Even before GLRP, there was a clause saying no more than 2 slots per member if there is legislation from others pending in queue - but we rightly realized this provided little protection against Federalist obstructionism - in fact allowing them to control 80% of the floor. Hence GLRP was passed.

True, it wasn't intended to be permanent necessarily - which is why the Chamber wisely weakened it a few congresses later. But to repeal it entirely is to just give fodder and undue, unchecked power to the opposition. Further, this provides even more power to the opposition than they had prior to GLRP - under this, instead of being able to consume 80% of the slots (8/10), they can now consume 86% of the slots (12/14), an even worse situation for any majority. Just as existed before GLRP, the majority could be routinely limited to just 2 slots.

I understand that passing this would benefit my party and others like it in the short term - but in the long term, a future Labor Minority could simply halt a DA or Federalist President by occupying 86% of the slots on the floor.

GLRP was passed to ensure that future majorities of both parties could have a majority of the legislation on the floor. Out of respect for members developing more restraint, it was weakened. We should keep its current, weakened version in place. The current, weakened version is already very generous to the Minority, allowing them to occupy up to 60% of the 15 general slots (9/15).

Complete repeal will simply thwart future majorities of any and all parties, who will be forced to operate on a floor where potentially 86% of the legislation is things they vehemently oppose but yet have to waste time repeatedly voting down, while almost never getting to their own bills. I urge a No on this proposal.

[YE]

Good luck getting 12 opposition members to clog the queue especially with no Mr. R’s and TNF’s around. June 2019 was an anomaly not the rule.

[Dr. MB]

Motion for a final vote. 24 hours to object.

[Dr. MB]

A final vote has started on this resolution. Representatives have 72 hours to vote aye, nay, or abstain.

[Dr. MB]

aye

[Sirius_]

Aye

[Pericles]

Not a Representative, but what's going to stop the same situation that necessitated the rule change arising again?

[Dr. MB]

Not a Representative, but what's going to stop the same situation that necessitated the rule change arising again?

The rule change wasn't necessary looking back. In effect, nothing. But should that situation come up then we just gotta deal with it then.

[Joseph Cao]

Aye.

[Continential]

Aye

[lfromnj]

Aye

[Dr. MB]

With a majority of Representatives voting to pass this vote will close in 24 hours.

[Talleyrand]

AYE

[Saint Milei]

aye

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Aye

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Not a Representative, but what's going to stop the same situation that necessitated the rule change arising again?

The rule change wasn't necessary looking back. In effect, nothing. But should that situation come up then we just gotta deal with it then.

Definitely was necessary at the time lol. The Floor would have been 80% Federalist for Griffin's entire presidency otherwise. No Minority should be allowed that much floor time.

I understand the reasons why the trust to do this may exist, just don't say I didn't warn you when the issue resurfaces in a congress or three.

[Harvey Updyke Jr🌹]

AYE

[Dr. MB]

This resolution passes, 9-0. The House rules shall be amended accordingly.

[Dr. MB]

Fixing Stupid Unnecessary Rules Resolution

Substance

Section 2 of the House of the Representatives Rules and Procedures for Operation is amended to read as follows:

1.) The Speaker shall keep a thread on the Fantasy Government board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the House Legislation Introduction Thread. Sitting Representatives may post in this thread. The Speaker shall also keep a separate thread listing all sponsored legislation in the Legislation Introduction Thread.

2.) If the Speaker determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, they may, in a public post, remove said legislation from the House queue. The sponsoring Representative or citizen shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Representatives in the affirmative (excluding the Speaker), may override the actions of the Speaker.

3.) Legislation threads:

a) There may be twenty-four threads about legislation open for voting and debate simultaneously.

b) The first ten fourteen slots shall be open to all legislation regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. Each Member shall be allowed one slot, and the Speaker shall advance bills to each member’s slot in the order they were introduced by the member. The Tenth slot shall be filled with a bill to be selected by the speaker. Members may elect to fill their slot by co-sponsoring a bill posted by someone else. The Speaker shall be the president officer for these open threads. The Speaker shall advance bills proposed by members who have filled the slots provided to them by section subsection b in the order in which they were introduced. The Speaker shall be the presiding officer for these open threads.

c) The eleventh through fifteenth slots shall be open to all member-sponsored legislation regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. The Speaker shall advance bills proposed by members who have filled the slots provided to them by section subsection b in the order in which they were introduced. The Speaker shall be the presiding officer for these open threads.

c)  If the sponsor already has three or more pieces of legislation on the House floor, and all other slots are filled or would be filled pending said introduced legislation, legislation from Representatives who do not have any bills on the floor shall take priority until all such other legislation is completed. The Speaker shall be the presiding officer for these open threads.

d) The fifteenth and sixteenth slots shall be reserved for bills submitted by civilians in the Public Consultation and Legislation Submission thread. The Speaker shall be the presiding officer for this open thread these open threads.

e) The seventeenth through twenty-first slots shall be reserved for legislation that previously passed the Senate. The President of Congress shall be the presiding officer for these open threads.

f) The twenty-second slot shall be reserved for legislation related to national emergencies declared by the President of Atlasia. The Speaker shall introduce legislation to this thread as directed by the President, but only when the President has declared a state of national emergency.

g) the twenty-third slot shall be filled with a bill to be selected by the President. The Speaker shall be the president officer for this open thread.

h) The twenty-fourth slot shall be reserved for budget debates and related resolutions and statutes. This slot shall be administered by the President of Congress.

4.) A piece of legislation is no longer on the House of Representative Floor when it has been withdrawn, tabled, rejected, or passed by the members of the House of Representatives.

5.) If at any time the original sponsor vacates their office as Representative, all legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread shall, within a week of the next session, be declared withdrawn by the Speaker by public post, if no Representative sponsors the legislation. If a piece of legislation has been introduced on the House floor, any office-holding Representative may assume sponsorship.

6.) Co-sponsors of legislation under consideration shall have no power to withdraw legislation nor contest withdrawal of legislation by the original sponsor. Any office-holding Representative may assume sponsorship of the legislation within 72 hours after the original sponsor has motioned to withdraw. Once a motion to assume sponsorship has been filed by a Representatives, Representatives shall have 24 hours to object to this motion. If any Representative objects, the Speaker shall open a vote on the motion lasting until a majority has voted for or against the motion, but not more than 72 hours. If the motion is rejected, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

7.) All bills appropriating money must either raise taxes or cut other spending to cover the costs of the appropriations contained therein. Exempted from this shall be emergency legislation declared as such by the President in clause 2.D of this section. In addition such bills must have any funding increases and decreases connected to a specific federal department budget. Any bill that includes a funding change that is not connected to a specific federal department budget shall not be able to be brought to a final vote. The House may override this section with a 2/3rds vote.

8.) All resolutions seeking to amend the constitution must be introduced along with a passage detailing what is being changed in the Constitution and why, called the Amendment Explanation. All amendments to the resolution, must change the explanation if they change the resolution so as to be inconsistent with it. This shall not infringe on the presiding officers ability to correct for grammar and formatting issues, nor impede the presiding officer's ability to update and maintain a mission statement in the outer quote box of a given bill or resolution.

9.) House Bills and Resolutions shall be enumerated as "HB" for House bills or "HR" for House resolutions, followed by a blank space, then two numbers separated by a "-", with the first number being the number of the current session and the second increasing sequentially for each bill or resolution placed on the floor per each session.

10.) Bills submitted by civilians in the Public Consultation and Legislation Submission thread shall not require a congressional sponsor to reach the floor.

Passed 9-0-0-0 in the Atlasian House assembled

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

You are going to need another amendment to fix clause b.

b) The first fourteen slots shall be open to all legislation regarding bills, resolutions or constitutional amendments. The Speaker shall advance bills proposed by members who have filled the slots provided to them by section subsection b in the order in which they were introduced. The Speaker shall be the presiding officer for these open threads.


The bold also needed to be rewritten to reflect the absence of assigned slots as this text originates in clause c of the previous text, with b being the assigned slots one. Right now it is a self-referencing error, referencing a clause b that no longer exists and if you want to be really technical about it, locks all the house members out of slots 1-14.