Lincoln General Court Noticeboard

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

16th General Court Noticeboard

MEMBERS (Name, National Party, Regional Party, State)

Fairbol (Independent - Independent - Indiana)
Lawer (Peace - Independent - Massachusetts)
Mechalord (Peace - Independent - Rhode Island)
Weatherboy1102 (Democratic Alliance - Atlasian Future Party - Pennsylvania)


Legislation currently on the floor:

Slot 1 —
Slot 2 —
Slot 3 —
Slot 4 —
Slot 5 —
Slot 6 —
Slot 7 —
Slot 8 —
Slot 9 —
Slot 10 —

Previously Passed Legislation:
LGC 16.1 Continuing the Continuing Resolution for Lincoln, 2023
LGC 16.3 - Lincoln Budget FY 2024
LGC 16.4 - Pen Island Act

Failed Legislation:
LGC 16.2 Prohibiting Abuse of Mail-In Ballots Act

———

SOAP:

Be it resolved that the Lincoln General Court adopts the following to govern its proceedings, except when governed by a special rule for a given bill:

Section 1: Proposed Legislation Thread
A. Deputies of the General Court, the Governor, and any concerned Lincoln citizen shall post the full text of any proposed legislation in a response to the Lincoln General Court Legislation Introduction Thread. Each response shall contain only one piece of proposed legislation.

B. Nothing shall be posted to the Lincoln General Court proposed legislation thread except proposed legislation or a Lincoln citizen's signature for proposed citizen legislation.

C: All action taken by the General Court is considered to be Legislation. Items requiring the signature of the Governor shall be additionally categorized as Bills. All legislation regarding the rules of the General Court shall be called the Standing Orders. The Provisions of Section 2F shall be applicable to bills and acts, with section 2E applying to all other legislation.

Section 2: Movement of Legislation to the Floor
A. The Speaker shall keep a thread on the Regional Governments board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Lincoln General Court Legislation Introduction Thread.

B. The number of threads about legislation that may be opened simultaneously shall be two for each Deputy of the General Court. All Deputies shall be able to use all slots, except as stated in C.

C. The Speaker shall move legislation to these threads in the order in which it was introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread, except that legislation without a Court sponsor shall be skipped until it obtains one, and that if a sponsor has 2 or more pieces of legislation on the floor, legislation from other sponsors shall take priority until all such other legislation is on the floor.

D. Each piece of legislation on the floor shall receive its own thread. Threads shall be titled as follows:

LGC 1.1: The BLANK Act, where LGC acknowledges the legislation is in the General Court of Lincoln, 1 indicating that the legislation is in the first meeting of the General Court, 1 indicating that the legislation was the first piece of legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread, and BLANK being replaced with the name of the piece of legislation.

E. If the thread is for a motion to remove the Speaker or appoint a new one, an amendment to modify the SOAP or the Errata, or a special rule providing for special consideration of a given bill, it shall remain open until it either (a) it becomes passed via simple majority vote of the General Court, (b) fails to receive simple majority support from General Court, (c) the Speaker moves to revoke it from the floor, subject to a simple majority vote, or (d) it is removed pursuant to Section 3.J..

F. Otherwise, each thread shall remain open until the bill either (a) becomes law, (b) fails to receive simple majority support from General Court, (c) it is removed pursuant to Section 3.J., or (d) the Speaker moves to revoke it from the floor, subject to a simple majority vote.

Section 3: Legislative Debates and Voting
A. All proposed legislation shall be open for debate for no less than 72 hours after the Speaker places it on the floor, except that a motion to remove the Speaker or appoint a new one shall only be open for debate pursuant to Section 5.

B. During debate, General Court Deputies may suggest amendments to proposed legislation. The Speaker may ignore amendments they deem frivolous or unconstitutional, subject to a simple majority vote to consider said amendment. If no Deputy objects to the amendment within 24 hours, it shall be adopted. Otherwise, a vote on the amendment shall be taken 24 hours after being proposed unless there is less than 24 hours of debate remaining on the bill. If there is less than 24 hours of debate remaining on the bill, a vote on the amendment shall be taken before proceeding to a final vote on the bill. Such vote shall be open for 48 hours, or until all General Court Deputies have voted, if earlier. An amendment shall pass if a simple majority of General Court Deputies vote in favor of it (with abstentions and absences not counted as votes).

C. The sponsor of a proposed amendment may remove it from the floor by tabling it at any time before a vote on the amendment has concluded.

D. After the conclusion of the first 72 hours for debate, any General Court Deputy may call for a vote on said legislation. The Speaker shall open a vote if there is no objection from the Court within 24 hours of the call for a vote. If a General Court Deputy objects to the motion within 24 hours, a vote shall be held on whether or not to proceed to a final vote, with a two thirds simple majority required for the objection to be overruled if the legislation has been on the floor for less than 240 hours; and a simple majority required if the legislation has been on the floor for more than 240 hours. The presentation of a call for a vote shall not impact the ability to dispose of existing amendments, in such cases the Court shall take votes on amendments followed by the final vote if such call for a vote is successful. However, new amendments may not be offered when a final vote motion is pending.

E. At the motion of the Speaker, the General Court may waive the 72 hour requirement by unanimous consent. Consent shall be granted should no Deputy object within 24 hours.

F. Votes on legislation shall last for 48 hours, or until the whole membership has voted, whichever comes first. Only votes cast within the exact 48 hours after the Speaker has opened the vote shall be valid. Any votes cast after the 48 hours has expired are to be considered invalid, and may not be counted by the Speaker. This text shall not be interpreted as to deny Deputies the right to change their vote before the Speaker has officially closed voting via a post in the appropriate legislation thread. A piece of proposed legislation shall pass if a simple majority of Deputies vote in favour of it (with abstentions and absences not counted as votes). The Speaker shall certify the results of any vote within 24 hours of the end of the voting period.

G. In the event that passed legislation is vetoed, any Deputy may introduce a motion to override within 72 hours. No debate shall be required. An override vote shall last 48 hours, or until all Deputies have voted, if earlier. This text shall not be interpreted as to deny Deputies the right to change their vote before the Speaker has officially closed voting via a post in the appropriate legislation thread.

H. In the event where all Deputies have missed a vote, the Presiding Officer may exercise one of two options: they may extend the vote for 24 hours (they may do so repeatedly), this shall not require consent to suspend the rules, or they may certify the vote as a failed vote, due to not receiving a single AYE vote. Whichever option the presiding officer chooses may be overridden by objection from a two-thirds absolute majority, in which case the presiding officer must choose the other option. If a sufficient amount of Deputies object to both options, the presiding officer may choose whichever option they desire.

I. In the event that a gubernatorial redraft is sent to the General Court, the Speaker shall open an immediate vote. No debate shall be required. The vote shall last 48 hours, or until all Deputies have voted, if earlier. This text shall not be interpreted as to deny Deputies the right to change their vote before the Speaker has officially closed voting via a post in the appropriate legislation thread.

J. Any Deputy may remove their sponsorship of a bill at any time. If no Deputy sponsors the bill within 24 hours, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

K. Should there be a case where a second is required to take action, it must occur on this forum and in the same thread as the thing being seconded. If a second is required for a vote to begin, the second required to begin the vote must be made before the vote can begin. A second must be explicitly stated as such.

L. There is no right under this document for a deputy to vote on a question for which a vote has not yet been formally opened by the presiding officer. Nor is there a right for a deputy to designate another to act as their proxy, or for any deputy to cast a vote on behalf of another deputy. Such actions shall not be recognized as valid by the presiding officer or be permitted to effect any outcome or decision made by the General Court.

Section 4: Final Business

A. The General Court shall be dissolved at the start of the general elections.

B. The "Final Business" period of the General Court shall commence 36 hours prior to dissolution of the General Court session and shall end at dissolution.

  i. At the start of Final Business, the Speaker shall declare in all pending legislative threads that Final Business has commenced and the session is nearing its end.

    a. At this time, the Speaker must no longer open new legislative threads.

    b. At this time, the General Court shall not consider new amendment proposals or votes.

   ii. All legislation on the floor of the General Court shall go to a final vote at the start of the final business period, unless either the sponsor of the legislation or an absolute majority of the General Court voices an objection to the vote. Such a vote shall close no later than the time of dissolution. Any legislation left incomplete at the end of a session shall be carried over to the next session.

Section 5: Role of the Speaker
A. The Speaker is the presiding officer of the General Court and is tasked with interpreting and enforcing the Standing Orders as prescribed in this act.

B. At the beginning of each term of the General Court, and at any time when the office is vacant, the first order of business shall be to elect the Speaker. Prior to the election of a Speaker, the most senior Deputy may serve as Acting Speaker for the purposes of electing a Speaker only. If such individual is not available, the Governor may act as Speaker. If the Governor is also unavailable, the next most senior deputy shall preside, and so on and so forth until a deputy able to preside is found. Time served in the 10th Lincoln Council may be used to determine seniority in the 1st General Court.

C. The Presiding Officer shall begin with a nomination period, to last 24 hours, followed by a 48 hour vote between the nominated candidates. The vote may be certified early if all Deputies have voted. Votes may be changed until certification. Write in votes will be allowed. Late votes shall not be counted. The Speaker shall immediately assume office.

D. The General Court may, at any time, remove the Speaker by introducing legislation to do such. The motion shall take precedence over all other business before the Court, and shall only be open to debate at the discretion of the presiding officer. A 48 hour vote, according to the provisions of Section 3, may begin immediately. The Governor will designate a Deputy to preside in the place of the Speaker. The Legislation may designate the new Speaker, or a new one may be elected afterward as detailed above.

Section 6: Rules Dispute

A. The Court may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Deputies. Such a vote may begin at any time, shall last for 48 hours, and shall not require any debate period beforehand.

B. The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Deputy objects. If a Deputy objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Deputies.

--- Such objection must be raised within 24 hours. The presiding officer shall have the option to proceed with the effect of the suspension without waiting for an objection, and then turn back if an objection is raised within 24 hours, but if this option is taken, all action taken going back to the moment of the suspension becomes null and void if an objection is raised. The presiding officer may also elect to wait the full 24 hours before proceeding. The suspension must be announced in some form - there does not need to be any specific phrasing, but it must be made clear that some sort of action is being taken that one could stop or alter by the means of objecting within 24 hours.

C. If a Deputy believes that a given action is in violation of the rules, such a Deputy may raise a point of order. This can be done on the thread in which rules are being broken, or on a new thread the Deputy may create. The Presiding Officer shall immediately rule on the point of order. If the point of order is upheld, all action objected to by the point of order shall be null and void. Any Deputy may appeal the ruling within 24 hours by calling for an immediate vote on it. The Question shall be "Shall the Decision of the Officer stand as the judgment of the Court?" Such a vote will last 48 hours and serve as the final disposition of the point of order.

D. Questions or Disputes regarding the General Court Rules shall not be within the purview of the Lincoln Court or the Supreme Court, unless the Presiding Officer is refusing to recognize the existence of a point of order, in which case the judiciary shall be limited to the ability to compel the Presiding Officer to proceed with handling the point of order and any related appeal. However, in this case, the authority of the judiciary to hear the case ends the moment the Presiding Officer complies with their duties relevant to the point of order, even if such compliance comes during legal proceedings.

E. The text known as the "Lincoln Council Errata" is hereby repealed in its entirety.

——————————


WALL OF SHAME

- Deputies who miss two consecutive final votes or six final votes within the session as a whole shall be placed on this list.
- If placed on this list for missing two consecutive final votes, the deputy shall be removed from the list when they next remember to participate in a final vote.
- If placed on this list for missing six final votes within the session, the placement is permanent for the rest of the session.
- Final vote shall be defined as it is defined by the Activity Enforcement Amendment to the 3rd Lincoln Constitution. Please be aware that veto override votes, confirmation votes, and votes regarding the speakership are included within that definition. I will, in accordance with the amendment, omit from the list anyone who is on a publicly announced leave of absence.
- As a reminder, missing four consecutive final votes, or 8 final votes within the session as a whole, without a publicly announced leave of absence, is grounds for automatic expulsion from the LGC!

———

Wall of Shame:

Mechalord: 2 consecutive missed votes

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

17th General Court Noticeboard

MEMBERS (Name, National Party, Regional Party, State)

Adam Griffin(Labor - Independent - Michigan)
Lawer (Peace - Independent - Massachusetts)
Dwarven Dragon (Peace - United for Lincoln - New Hampshire)
Rep. Joseph Cao (Federalist - Independent - Illinois)
Utah Neolib (Democratic Alliance - Antarctic Conservation Party - Wisconsin)
JGibson (Democratic Alliance - Labor Left - Illinois)
Weatherboy1102 (Democratic Alliance - Atlasian Future Party - Pennsylvania)


Legislation currently on the floor:

Slot 1 —
Slot 2 —
Slot 3 —
Slot 4 —
Slot 5 —
Slot 6 —
Slot 7 —
Slot 8 —
Slot 9 —
Slot 10 —

Previously Passed Legislation:

LGC 17.1: Henry George Memorial Act for Liberation of Lincoln from NIMBYism
LGC 17.2: Lead Abatement Act
LGC 17.3: Lincoln Isn't Afraid to be Woke Resolution
LGC 17.4: Regional Minimum Wage Act (REDRAFTED)
LGC 17.5: Lincoln Citizen Initiative Amendment
LGC 17.6: Age of Culpability Act
LGC 17.7: Lincoln Euthansia Act of 2024
LGC 17.11: Lincoln Forestry Act

Failed Legislation:

LGC 17.8: Lincoln Steel Act (VETOED)
LGC 17.9: Ban McDonalds Act
LGC 17.10: Stop Useless Traffic Enforcement Act
———

SOAP:

Be it resolved that the Lincoln General Court adopts the following to govern its proceedings, except when governed by a special rule for a given bill:

Section 1: Proposed Legislation Thread
A. Deputies of the General Court, the Governor, and any concerned Lincoln citizen shall post the full text of any proposed legislation in a response to the Lincoln General Court Legislation Introduction Thread. Each response shall contain only one piece of proposed legislation.

B. Nothing shall be posted to the Lincoln General Court proposed legislation thread except proposed legislation or a Lincoln citizen's signature for proposed citizen legislation.

C: All action taken by the General Court is considered to be Legislation. Items requiring the signature of the Governor shall be additionally categorized as Bills. All legislation regarding the rules of the General Court shall be called the Standing Orders. The Provisions of Section 2F shall be applicable to bills and acts, with section 2E applying to all other legislation.

Section 2: Movement of Legislation to the Floor
A. The Speaker shall keep a thread on the Regional Governments board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Lincoln General Court Legislation Introduction Thread.

B. The number of threads about legislation that may be opened simultaneously shall be two for each Deputy of the General Court. All Deputies shall be able to use all slots, except as stated in C.

C. The Speaker shall move legislation to these threads in the order in which it was introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread, except that legislation without a Court sponsor shall be skipped until it obtains one, and that if a sponsor has 2 or more pieces of legislation on the floor, legislation from other sponsors shall take priority until all such other legislation is on the floor.

D. The speaker shall move any legislation proposed by a citizen which has received the signatures of three or more citizens to the floor provided there is an open slot. However, if there are bills in the queue from deputies, or that have been directly sponsored by a deputy, those bills will be prioritized.

E. Each piece of legislation on the floor shall receive its own thread. Threads shall be titled as follows:

LGC 1.1: The BLANK Act, where LGC acknowledges the legislation is in the General Court of Lincoln, 1 indicating that the legislation is in the first meeting of the General Court, 1 indicating that the legislation was the first piece of legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread, and BLANK being replaced with the name of the piece of legislation.

E. If the thread is for a motion to remove the Speaker or appoint a new one, an amendment to modify the SOAP or the Errata, or a special rule providing for special consideration of a given bill, it shall remain open until it either (a) it becomes passed via simple majority vote of the General Court, (b) fails to receive simple majority support from General Court, (c) the Speaker moves to revoke it from the floor, subject to a simple majority vote, or (d) it is removed pursuant to Section 3.J..

F. Otherwise, each thread shall remain open until the bill either (a) becomes law, (b) fails to receive simple majority support from General Court, (c) it is removed pursuant to Section 3.J., or (d) the Speaker moves to revoke it from the floor, subject to a simple majority vote.

Section 3: Legislative Debates and Voting
A. All proposed legislation shall be open for debate for no less than 72 hours after the Speaker places it on the floor, except that a motion to remove the Speaker or appoint a new one shall only be open for debate pursuant to Section 5.

B. During debate, General Court Deputies may suggest amendments to proposed legislation. The Speaker may ignore amendments they deem frivolous or unconstitutional, subject to a simple majority vote to consider said amendment. If no Deputy objects to the amendment within 24 hours, it shall be adopted. Otherwise, a vote on the amendment shall be taken 24 hours after being proposed unless there is less than 24 hours of debate remaining on the bill. If there is less than 24 hours of debate remaining on the bill, a vote on the amendment shall be taken before proceeding to a final vote on the bill. Such vote shall be open for 48 hours, or until all General Court Deputies have voted, if earlier. An amendment shall pass if a simple majority of General Court Deputies vote in favor of it (with abstentions and absences not counted as votes).

C. The sponsor of a proposed amendment may remove it from the floor by tabling it at any time before a vote on the amendment has concluded.

D. After the conclusion of the first 72 hours for debate, any General Court Deputy may call for a vote on said legislation. The Speaker shall open a vote if there is no objection from the Court within 24 hours of the call for a vote. If a General Court Deputy objects to the motion within 24 hours, a vote shall be held on whether or not to proceed to a final vote, with a two thirds simple majority required for the objection to be overruled if the legislation has been on the floor for less than 240 hours; and a simple majority required if the legislation has been on the floor for more than 240 hours. The presentation of a call for a vote shall not impact the ability to dispose of existing amendments, in such cases the Court shall take votes on amendments followed by the final vote if such call for a vote is successful. However, new amendments may not be offered when a final vote motion is pending.

E. At the motion of the Speaker, the General Court may waive the 72 hour requirement by unanimous consent. Consent shall be granted should no Deputy object within 24 hours.

F. Votes on legislation shall last for 48 hours, or until the whole membership has voted, whichever comes first. Only votes cast within the exact 48 hours after the Speaker has opened the vote shall be valid. Any votes cast after the 48 hours has expired are to be considered invalid, and may not be counted by the Speaker. This text shall not be interpreted as to deny Deputies the right to change their vote before the Speaker has officially closed voting via a post in the appropriate legislation thread. A piece of proposed legislation shall pass if a simple majority of Deputies vote in favour of it (with abstentions and absences not counted as votes). The Speaker shall certify the results of any vote within 24 hours of the end of the voting period.

G. In the event that passed legislation is vetoed, any Deputy may introduce a motion to override within 72 hours. No debate shall be required. An override vote shall last 48 hours, or until all Deputies have voted, if earlier. This text shall not be interpreted as to deny Deputies the right to change their vote before the Speaker has officially closed voting via a post in the appropriate legislation thread.

H. In the event where all Deputies have missed a vote, the Presiding Officer may exercise one of two options: they may extend the vote for 24 hours (they may do so repeatedly), this shall not require consent to suspend the rules, or they may certify the vote as a failed vote, due to not receiving a single AYE vote. Whichever option the presiding officer chooses may be overridden by objection from a two-thirds absolute majority, in which case the presiding officer must choose the other option. If a sufficient amount of Deputies object to both options, the presiding officer may choose whichever option they desire.

I. In the event that a gubernatorial redraft is sent to the General Court, the Speaker shall open an immediate vote. No debate shall be required. The vote shall last 48 hours, or until all Deputies have voted, if earlier. This text shall not be interpreted as to deny Deputies the right to change their vote before the Speaker has officially closed voting via a post in the appropriate legislation thread.

J. Any Deputy may remove their sponsorship of a bill at any time. If no Deputy sponsors the bill within 24 hours, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

K. Should there be a case where a second is required to take action, it must occur on this forum and in the same thread as the thing being seconded. If a second is required for a vote to begin, the second required to begin the vote must be made before the vote can begin. A second must be explicitly stated as such.

L. There is no right under this document for a deputy to vote on a question for which a vote has not yet been formally opened by the presiding officer. Nor is there a right for a deputy to designate another to act as their proxy, or for any deputy to cast a vote on behalf of another deputy. Such actions shall not be recognized as valid by the presiding officer or be permitted to effect any outcome or decision made by the General Court.

Section 4: Final Business

A. The General Court shall be dissolved at the start of the general elections.

B. The "Final Business" period of the General Court shall commence 36 hours prior to dissolution of the General Court session and shall end at dissolution.

  i. At the start of Final Business, the Speaker shall declare in all pending legislative threads that Final Business has commenced and the session is nearing its end.

    a. At this time, the Speaker must no longer open new legislative threads.

    b. At this time, the General Court shall not consider new amendment proposals or votes.

   ii. All legislation on the floor of the General Court shall go to a final vote at the start of the final business period, unless either the sponsor of the legislation or an absolute majority of the General Court voices an objection to the vote. Such a vote shall close no later than the time of dissolution. Any legislation left incomplete at the end of a session shall be carried over to the next session.

Section 5: Role of the Speaker
A. The Speaker is the presiding officer of the General Court and is tasked with interpreting and enforcing the Standing Orders as prescribed in this act.

B. At the beginning of each term of the General Court, and at any time when the office is vacant, the first order of business shall be to elect the Speaker. Prior to the election of a Speaker, the most senior Deputy may serve as Acting Speaker for the purposes of electing a Speaker only. If such individual is not available, the Governor may act as Speaker. If the Governor is also unavailable, the next most senior deputy shall preside, and so on and so forth until a deputy able to preside is found. Time served in the 10th Lincoln Council may be used to determine seniority in the 1st General Court.

C. The Presiding Officer shall begin with a nomination period, to last 24 hours, followed by a 48 hour vote between the nominated candidates. The vote may be certified early if all Deputies have voted. Votes may be changed until certification. Write in votes will be allowed. Late votes shall not be counted. The Speaker shall immediately assume office.

D. The General Court may, at any time, remove the Speaker by introducing legislation to do such. The motion shall take precedence over all other business before the Court, and shall only be open to debate at the discretion of the presiding officer. A 48 hour vote, according to the provisions of Section 3, may begin immediately. The Governor will designate a Deputy to preside in the place of the Speaker. The Legislation may designate the new Speaker, or a new one may be elected afterward as detailed above.

Section 6: Rules Dispute

A. The Court may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Deputies. Such a vote may begin at any time, shall last for 48 hours, and shall not require any debate period beforehand.

B. The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Deputy objects. If a Deputy objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Deputies.

--- Such objection must be raised within 24 hours. The presiding officer shall have the option to proceed with the effect of the suspension without waiting for an objection, and then turn back if an objection is raised within 24 hours, but if this option is taken, all action taken going back to the moment of the suspension becomes null and void if an objection is raised. The presiding officer may also elect to wait the full 24 hours before proceeding. The suspension must be announced in some form - there does not need to be any specific phrasing, but it must be made clear that some sort of action is being taken that one could stop or alter by the means of objecting within 24 hours.

C. If a Deputy believes that a given action is in violation of the rules, such a Deputy may raise a point of order. This can be done on the thread in which rules are being broken, or on a new thread the Deputy may create. The Presiding Officer shall immediately rule on the point of order. If the point of order is upheld, all action objected to by the point of order shall be null and void. Any Deputy may appeal the ruling within 24 hours by calling for an immediate vote on it. The Question shall be "Shall the Decision of the Officer stand as the judgment of the Court?" Such a vote will last 48 hours and serve as the final disposition of the point of order.

D. Questions or Disputes regarding the General Court Rules shall not be within the purview of the Lincoln Court or the Supreme Court, unless the Presiding Officer is refusing to recognize the existence of a point of order, in which case the judiciary shall be limited to the ability to compel the Presiding Officer to proceed with handling the point of order and any related appeal. However, in this case, the authority of the judiciary to hear the case ends the moment the Presiding Officer complies with their duties relevant to the point of order, even if such compliance comes during legal proceedings.

E. The text known as the "Lincoln Council Errata" is hereby repealed in its entirety.

——————————


WALL OF SHAME

- Deputies who miss two consecutive final votes or six final votes within the session as a whole shall be placed on this list.
- If placed on this list for missing two consecutive final votes, the deputy shall be removed from the list when they next remember to participate in a final vote.
- If placed on this list for missing six final votes within the session, the placement is permanent for the rest of the session.
- Final vote shall be defined as it is defined by the Activity Enforcement Amendment to the 3rd Lincoln Constitution. Please be aware that veto override votes, confirmation votes, and votes regarding the speakership are included within that definition. I will, in accordance with the amendment, omit from the list anyone who is on a publicly announced leave of absence.
- As a reminder, missing four consecutive final votes, or 8 final votes within the session as a whole, without a publicly announced leave of absence, is grounds for automatic expulsion from the LGC!

———

Wall of Shame:

Vacant

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

18th General Court Noticeboard

MEMBERS (Name, National Party, Regional Party, State)

Cosmo Kramer (Labor - Libertarian - Michigan)
Illiniwek (Labor - Independent - Illinois)
Dwarven Dragon (Peace - United for Lincoln - New Hampshire)
Christian Man (Peace - United for Lincoln - Massachusetts)
Lawer (Peace - Independent - Massachusetts)
Rep. Joseph Cao (Federalist - Independent - Illinois)


Legislation currently on the floor:

Slot 1 —  
Slot 2 —
Slot 3 —
Slot 4 —
Slot 5 —
Slot 6 —
Slot 7 —
Slot 8 —
Slot 9 —
Slot 10 —

Previously Passed Legislation:
LGC 18.1 Stop Useless Traffic Enforcement Act
LGC 18.2 Reasonable Traffic Enforcement Act

Failed Legislation:
LGC 18.3 Fast Food Excise Tax Act
LGC 18.4 Fast Food is Acceptable Act

———

SOAP:

Be it resolved that the Lincoln General Court adopts the following to govern its proceedings, except when governed by a special rule for a given bill:

Section 1: Proposed Legislation Thread
A. Deputies of the General Court, the Governor, and any concerned Lincoln citizen shall post the full text of any proposed legislation in a response to the Lincoln General Court Legislation Introduction Thread. Each response shall contain only one piece of proposed legislation.

B. Nothing shall be posted to the Lincoln General Court proposed legislation thread except proposed legislation or a Lincoln citizen's signature for proposed citizen legislation.

C: All action taken by the General Court is considered to be Legislation. Items requiring the signature of the Governor shall be additionally categorized as Bills. All legislation regarding the rules of the General Court shall be called the Standing Orders. The Provisions of Section 2F shall be applicable to bills and acts, with section 2E applying to all other legislation.

Section 2: Movement of Legislation to the Floor
A. The Speaker shall keep a thread on the Regional Governments board for introducing legislation. This thread shall be known as the Lincoln General Court Legislation Introduction Thread.

B. The number of threads about legislation that may be opened simultaneously shall be two for each Deputy of the General Court. All Deputies shall be able to use all slots, except as stated in C.

C. The Speaker shall move legislation to these threads in the order in which it was introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread, except that legislation without a Court sponsor shall be skipped until it obtains one, and that if a sponsor has 2 or more pieces of legislation on the floor, legislation from other sponsors shall take priority until all such other legislation is on the floor.

D. The speaker shall move any legislation proposed by a citizen which has received the signatures of three or more citizens to the floor provided there is an open slot. However, if there are bills in the queue from deputies, or that have been directly sponsored by a deputy, those bills will be prioritized.

E. Each piece of legislation on the floor shall receive its own thread. Threads shall be titled as follows:

LGC 1.1: The BLANK Act, where LGC acknowledges the legislation is in the General Court of Lincoln, 1 indicating that the legislation is in the first meeting of the General Court, 1 indicating that the legislation was the first piece of legislation introduced in the Legislation Introduction Thread, and BLANK being replaced with the name of the piece of legislation.

E. If the thread is for a motion to remove the Speaker or appoint a new one, an amendment to modify the SOAP or the Errata, or a special rule providing for special consideration of a given bill, it shall remain open until it either (a) it becomes passed via simple majority vote of the General Court, (b) fails to receive simple majority support from General Court, (c) the Speaker moves to revoke it from the floor, subject to a simple majority vote, or (d) it is removed pursuant to Section 3.J..

F. Otherwise, each thread shall remain open until the bill either (a) becomes law, (b) fails to receive simple majority support from General Court, (c) it is removed pursuant to Section 3.J., or (d) the Speaker moves to revoke it from the floor, subject to a simple majority vote.

Section 3: Legislative Debates and Voting
A. All proposed legislation shall be open for debate for no less than 72 hours after the Speaker places it on the floor, except that a motion to remove the Speaker or appoint a new one shall only be open for debate pursuant to Section 5.

B. During debate, General Court Deputies may suggest amendments to proposed legislation. The Speaker may ignore amendments they deem frivolous or unconstitutional, subject to a simple majority vote to consider said amendment. If no Deputy objects to the amendment within 24 hours, it shall be adopted. Otherwise, a vote on the amendment shall be taken 24 hours after being proposed unless there is less than 24 hours of debate remaining on the bill. If there is less than 24 hours of debate remaining on the bill, a vote on the amendment shall be taken before proceeding to a final vote on the bill. Such vote shall be open for 48 hours, or until all General Court Deputies have voted, if earlier. An amendment shall pass if a simple majority of General Court Deputies vote in favor of it (with abstentions and absences not counted as votes).

C. The sponsor of a proposed amendment may remove it from the floor by tabling it at any time before a vote on the amendment has concluded.

D. After the conclusion of the first 72 hours for debate, any General Court Deputy may call for a vote on said legislation. The Speaker shall open a vote if there is no objection from the Court within 24 hours of the call for a vote. If a General Court Deputy objects to the motion within 24 hours, a vote shall be held on whether or not to proceed to a final vote, with a two thirds simple majority required for the objection to be overruled if the legislation has been on the floor for less than 240 hours; and a simple majority required if the legislation has been on the floor for more than 240 hours. The presentation of a call for a vote shall not impact the ability to dispose of existing amendments, in such cases the Court shall take votes on amendments followed by the final vote if such call for a vote is successful. However, new amendments may not be offered when a final vote motion is pending.

E. At the motion of the Speaker, the General Court may waive the 72 hour requirement by unanimous consent. Consent shall be granted should no Deputy object within 24 hours.

F. Votes on legislation shall last for 48 hours, or until the whole membership has voted, whichever comes first. Only votes cast within the exact 48 hours after the Speaker has opened the vote shall be valid. Any votes cast after the 48 hours has expired are to be considered invalid, and may not be counted by the Speaker. This text shall not be interpreted as to deny Deputies the right to change their vote before the Speaker has officially closed voting via a post in the appropriate legislation thread. A piece of proposed legislation shall pass if a simple majority of Deputies vote in favour of it (with abstentions and absences not counted as votes). The Speaker shall certify the results of any vote within 24 hours of the end of the voting period.

G. In the event that passed legislation is vetoed, any Deputy may introduce a motion to override within 72 hours. No debate shall be required. An override vote shall last 48 hours, or until all Deputies have voted, if earlier. This text shall not be interpreted as to deny Deputies the right to change their vote before the Speaker has officially closed voting via a post in the appropriate legislation thread.

H. In the event where all Deputies have missed a vote, the Presiding Officer may exercise one of two options: they may extend the vote for 24 hours (they may do so repeatedly), this shall not require consent to suspend the rules, or they may certify the vote as a failed vote, due to not receiving a single AYE vote. Whichever option the presiding officer chooses may be overridden by objection from a two-thirds absolute majority, in which case the presiding officer must choose the other option. If a sufficient amount of Deputies object to both options, the presiding officer may choose whichever option they desire.

I. In the event that a gubernatorial redraft is sent to the General Court, the Speaker shall open an immediate vote. No debate shall be required. The vote shall last 48 hours, or until all Deputies have voted, if earlier. This text shall not be interpreted as to deny Deputies the right to change their vote before the Speaker has officially closed voting via a post in the appropriate legislation thread.

J. Any Deputy may remove their sponsorship of a bill at any time. If no Deputy sponsors the bill within 24 hours, the bill shall be removed from the floor.

K. Should there be a case where a second is required to take action, it must occur on this forum and in the same thread as the thing being seconded. If a second is required for a vote to begin, the second required to begin the vote must be made before the vote can begin. A second must be explicitly stated as such.

L. There is no right under this document for a deputy to vote on a question for which a vote has not yet been formally opened by the presiding officer. Nor is there a right for a deputy to designate another to act as their proxy, or for any deputy to cast a vote on behalf of another deputy. Such actions shall not be recognized as valid by the presiding officer or be permitted to effect any outcome or decision made by the General Court.

Section 4: Final Business

A. The General Court shall be dissolved at the start of the general elections.

B. The "Final Business" period of the General Court shall commence 36 hours prior to dissolution of the General Court session and shall end at dissolution.

  i. At the start of Final Business, the Speaker shall declare in all pending legislative threads that Final Business has commenced and the session is nearing its end.

    a. At this time, the Speaker must no longer open new legislative threads.

    b. At this time, the General Court shall not consider new amendment proposals or votes.

   ii. All legislation on the floor of the General Court shall go to a final vote at the start of the final business period, unless either the sponsor of the legislation or an absolute majority of the General Court voices an objection to the vote. Such a vote shall close no later than the time of dissolution. Any legislation left incomplete at the end of a session shall be carried over to the next session.

Section 5: Role of the Speaker
A. The Speaker is the presiding officer of the General Court and is tasked with interpreting and enforcing the Standing Orders as prescribed in this act.

B. At the beginning of each term of the General Court, and at any time when the office is vacant, the first order of business shall be to elect the Speaker. Prior to the election of a Speaker, the most senior Deputy may serve as Acting Speaker for the purposes of electing a Speaker only. If such individual is not available, the Governor may act as Speaker. If the Governor is also unavailable, the next most senior deputy shall preside, and so on and so forth until a deputy able to preside is found. Time served in the 10th Lincoln Council may be used to determine seniority in the 1st General Court.

C. The Presiding Officer shall begin with a nomination period, to last 24 hours, followed by a 48 hour vote between the nominated candidates. The vote may be certified early if all Deputies have voted. Votes may be changed until certification. Write in votes will be allowed. Late votes shall not be counted. The Speaker shall immediately assume office.

D. The General Court may, at any time, remove the Speaker by introducing legislation to do such. The motion shall take precedence over all other business before the Court, and shall only be open to debate at the discretion of the presiding officer. A 48 hour vote, according to the provisions of Section 3, may begin immediately. The Governor will designate a Deputy to preside in the place of the Speaker. The Legislation may designate the new Speaker, or a new one may be elected afterward as detailed above.

Section 6: Rules Dispute

A. The Court may elect to suspend any section of these rules at any time with the consent of two-thirds of sitting Deputies. Such a vote may begin at any time, shall last for 48 hours, and shall not require any debate period beforehand.

B. The presiding officer may unilaterally suspend any section of these rules at any time, unless another Deputy objects. If a Deputy objects, suspending the rules shall require the consent of two-thirds of sitting Deputies.

--- Such objection must be raised within 24 hours. The presiding officer shall have the option to proceed with the effect of the suspension without waiting for an objection, and then turn back if an objection is raised within 24 hours, but if this option is taken, all action taken going back to the moment of the suspension becomes null and void if an objection is raised. The presiding officer may also elect to wait the full 24 hours before proceeding. The suspension must be announced in some form - there does not need to be any specific phrasing, but it must be made clear that some sort of action is being taken that one could stop or alter by the means of objecting within 24 hours.

C. If a Deputy believes that a given action is in violation of the rules, such a Deputy may raise a point of order. This can be done on the thread in which rules are being broken, or on a new thread the Deputy may create. The Presiding Officer shall immediately rule on the point of order. If the point of order is upheld, all action objected to by the point of order shall be null and void. Any Deputy may appeal the ruling within 24 hours by calling for an immediate vote on it. The Question shall be "Shall the Decision of the Officer stand as the judgment of the Court?" Such a vote will last 48 hours and serve as the final disposition of the point of order.

D. Questions or Disputes regarding the General Court Rules shall not be within the purview of the Lincoln Court or the Supreme Court, unless the Presiding Officer is refusing to recognize the existence of a point of order, in which case the judiciary shall be limited to the ability to compel the Presiding Officer to proceed with handling the point of order and any related appeal. However, in this case, the authority of the judiciary to hear the case ends the moment the Presiding Officer complies with their duties relevant to the point of order, even if such compliance comes during legal proceedings.

E. The text known as the "Lincoln Council Errata" is hereby repealed in its entirety.

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WALL OF SHAME

- Deputies who miss two consecutive final votes or six final votes within the session as a whole shall be placed on this list.
- If placed on this list for missing two consecutive final votes, the deputy shall be removed from the list when they next remember to participate in a final vote.
- If placed on this list for missing six final votes within the session, the placement is permanent for the rest of the session.
- Final vote shall be defined as it is defined by the Activity Enforcement Amendment to the 3rd Lincoln Constitution. Please be aware that veto override votes, confirmation votes, and votes regarding the speakership are included within that definition. I will, in accordance with the amendment, omit from the list anyone who is on a publicly announced leave of absence.
- As a reminder, missing four consecutive final votes, or 8 final votes within the session as a whole, without a publicly announced leave of absence, is grounds for automatic expulsion from the LGC!

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Wall of Shame:

Vacant