S.21-3.12: The Second Southern Referendum Act (LAW'd)

[reagente]

The Second Southern Referendum Act

1. The Southern Referendum Act (S.21.2-5) shall be amended to read:

1. In the case of any bill there is taken a vote on in the Southern Chamber of Delegates in which no majority of total votes is reached (either "Yes" votes or "No" votes do not reach a majority due to abstentions) and a majority of members voted on that bill, that the bill is passed or denied instead as a part of a referendum. If an absolute majority of participating voters in that referendum votes either in favor or against that bill, then it gets sent directly to the governor's office.
2. Legislation filed as Amendments will be exempted from all provisions of the Southern Referendum Act
3. When legislation is presented to the governor (either by majority vote or by popular referendum) and the governor vetoes that legislation, the Southern Referendum Act will no longer apply to the legislation and the regular veto-override process rules will govern.
4. The referendum would take place at the same time as the regional elections directly following the original vote inside the chamber, and sponsors and supporters, or opponents of the bill are encouraged to share their arguments as to why they think the bill is a good or bad idea.
    4A. The format of the referendum is as follows. After all previous questions regarding ballots for elected office, a section of the ballot is dedicated to referendums. In these sections, all bills eligible to be placed as referendums will be titled "[INSERT BILL NAME HERE]" + "Referendum". After this, a link to the bill inside the Southern Chamber is presented along with one paragraph describing what the bill does, one paragraph arguing for the bill, and one paragraph arguing against the bill. The writers of the paragraphs are the first paragraph is written by the person who introduced the bill and/or sponsored it. The second paragraph is written by the first person who voted "Aye!" (if someone did vote Aye, if nobody voted Aye then that paragraph isn't written) and the third paragraph is written by the first person who voted "Nay!" (if someone did vote Nay, if nobody voted Nay then that paragraph isn't written). Also, details about the vote of the bill which came to pass are given. An example is given below in section 2B, for better understanding. Maximum word counts for each paragraph are 200 words, no minimum word count. If nobody writes a paragraph, then that paragraph will not be written. The referendum will carry on though.
   4B.

The [INSERT BILL NAME HERE] Referendum

Link to Bill in Southern Chamber

If this referendum passes with a majority of participating voters choose "Aye" then the above bill passes and will be presented to the governor for signature. If a majority of participating voters choose "Nay" then the above bill is rejected and will not be presented to the governor for signature, and will not be signed into law.

This bill was sponsored by [Person A].

The vote in the Southern Chamber went as follows:

Aye!

Person A
Person B

Nay!

Person C
Person D

Abstain

Person E

Description of bill contents (written by Person A)

The bill will do [things].

Advocation for bill (written by Person B)

You should vote for this bill because [reasons].

Advocation against bill (written by Person C)

You should vote against this bill because [reasons].

3. This bill is effective August 01, 2021.

2. This bill shall be effective immediately.

Sponsor: reagente

Due to the near-miss where we almost had an Amendment subjected to the Southern Referendum Act (and resultant uncertainty that would have caused), I think we should amend the act passed last session to avoid ambiguities. I welcome feedback on this legislation.

So it looks like this bill won't pass. In the event it doesn't - how does it interact with the referendum act?

Do we need to have a referendum... to have a referendum on a constitutional amendment? or does a constitutional amendment just automatically go to referendum if it even gets to a final vote? Any thoughts? we might need to do an emergency amendment to the Referendum Act passed last session to clarify things.

I think that under the Referendum Act, a majority of delegates participating in the final vote is a prerequisite for one to happen?
I remember bringing up the possibility of a low-turnout final vote sparking a referendum and proposing that the wording be amended to preempt this very possibility. It was a suggestion taken up by the Chamber.

That was my initial recollection, but reading the text I wasn't entirely sure since I don't think it explicitly establishes a quorum requirement (I do think legislative history for it implicitly informs it). In any event, I think we should clarify how amendments interact with the referendum act.

A simple fix would be to remove proposed Amendments to the Southern Constitution from the jurisdiction of the Referendum Act. It might be worthwhile to require that a simple majority of delegates take part in the final vote of such bills; the merits of that would have to be considered.

Yeah, I think that would prevent any ambiguities. I will draft legislation later today or tomorrow to that effect.

I look forward to what you will writing, it will be a good step for the region imo.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

This is pretty much perfectly in line with what I would have wrote.

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

I'm in favor of this.

[reagente]

Was thinking about if we missed anything, and one issue to think about is how should the Referendum Act interface with a gubernatorial veto?

Lets assume that the bill is sent to the governor's desk by referendum, then gets vetoed. Should we hold another referendum, or should it still just up to the legislature to override the veto?

Would regular bills that get vetoed be allowed to go to referendum to override the veto?

I don't have any strong priors on this - so I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas for a framework on this.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Was thinking about if we missed anything, and one issue to think about is how should the Referendum Act interface with a gubernatorial veto?

Lets assume that the bill is sent to the governor's desk by referendum, then gets vetoed. Should we hold another referendum, or should it still just up to the legislature to override the veto?

Would regular bills that get vetoed be allowed to go to referendum to override the veto?

I don't have any strong priors on this - so I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas for a framework on this.

I'm lean no towards both of these. I'm worried people will get burned out with referendums.

[reagente]

Proposing the following amendment. Does this textual phrasing make sense, or do people think there's a way to clarify it?

The Second Southern Referendum Act

1. The Southern Referendum Act (S.21.2-5) shall be amended to read:

1. In the case of any bill there is taken a vote on in the Southern Chamber of Delegates in which no majority of total votes is reached (either "Yes" votes or "No" votes do not reach a majority due to abstentions) and a majority of members voted on that bill, that the bill is passed or denied instead as a part of a referendum. If an absolute majority of participating voters in that referendum votes either in favor or against that bill, then it gets sent directly to the governor's office.
2. Legislation filed as Amendments will be exempted from all provisions of the Southern Referendum Act
3. When legislation is presented to the governor (either by majority vote or by popular referendum) and the governor vetoes that legislation, the Southern Referendum Act will no longer apply to the legislation and the regular veto-override process rules will govern.
4. The referendum would take place at the same time as the regional elections directly following the original vote inside the chamber, and sponsors and supporters, or opponents of the bill are encouraged to share their arguments as to why they think the bill is a good or bad idea.
    4A. The format of the referendum is as follows. After all previous questions regarding ballots for elected office, a section of the ballot is dedicated to referendums. In these sections, all bills eligible to be placed as referendums will be titled "[INSERT BILL NAME HERE]" + "Referendum". After this, a link to the bill inside the Southern Chamber is presented along with one paragraph describing what the bill does, one paragraph arguing for the bill, and one paragraph arguing against the bill. The writers of the paragraphs are the first paragraph is written by the person who introduced the bill and/or sponsored it. The second paragraph is written by the first person who voted "Aye!" (if someone did vote Aye, if nobody voted Aye then that paragraph isn't written) and the third paragraph is written by the first person who voted "Nay!" (if someone did vote Nay, if nobody voted Nay then that paragraph isn't written). Also, details about the vote of the bill which came to pass are given. An example is given below in section 2B, for better understanding. Maximum word counts for each paragraph are 200 words, no minimum word count. If nobody writes a paragraph, then that paragraph will not be written. The referendum will carry on though.
   4B.

The [INSERT BILL NAME HERE] Referendum

Link to Bill in Southern Chamber

If this referendum passes with a majority of participating voters choose "Aye" then the above bill passes and will be presented to the governor for signature. If a majority of participating voters choose "Nay" then the above bill is rejected and will not be presented to the governor for signature, and will not be signed into law.

This bill was sponsored by [Person A].

The vote in the Southern Chamber went as follows:

Aye!

Person A
Person B

Nay!

Person C
Person D

Abstain

Person E

Description of bill contents (written by Person A)

The bill will do [things].

Advocation for bill (written by Person B)

You should vote for this bill because [reasons].

Advocation against bill (written by Person C)

You should vote against this bill because [reasons].

3. This bill is effective August 01, 2021.

2. This bill shall be effective immediately.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Decent wording.

[reagente]

Motioning for a final vote

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Motioning for a final vote

No objection.

[reagente]

final vote, 48 hours

----

aye

[TheSaint250]

Aye

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Aye

[reagente]

Bill has passed 3 to 0 (with two abstentions), and will be presented to the governor for signature