Atlasian Statutes

[Peter]

F.L. 3-7
Education and Care for Children in Poverty Act
Section A
From the second a child is born into a family that is below the poverty line, that child's parents will have the option of sending the child to a day-care center, operated from 6 AM until 7 PM, until the child is ready to attend the normal public school. The day-care center will be cost free, and it will attempt to instill positive traits in children at a young age, so that they will be better adults. The federal government will allocate funds for this, but will leave all decisions up to local governments.

Section B
For children who live with families below the poverty line, totally free before and after-school care will be provided until the child graduates middle school. The rest is the same as Section A.

Section C
The estimated cost of this is 18.9 billion dollars this year, and 17.65 billion dollars every other year. That cost is split between hiring people to run the programs, providing equipment for the programs, and, if needed, constructing new facilities.

Passed by the Third Congress of the A.F.F. (October 20, 2004)
Presented to the President on October 22, 2004
Entered into law after 7 days with no executive action.

[Peter]

F.L. 4-1
F-22 Act
$4,500 million per year for the next ten years will be allocated to the Department of Defense for the purpose of developing a naval version of the F-22 fighter and to accelerate the development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Passed by the Fourth Congress of the A.F.F. (23rd November, 2004)
Signed by the Honorable President PBrunsel (27th November, 2004)
F.L. 4-2
The Federal Unionization and Competitive Contracting Act
Clause 1.
Members of the Atlasian military, as well as all federal employees whose job functions are vital for the national security and peaceable order of the nation, are exempt from the provisions of this act in its entirety.

Clause 2.
All federal government employees of Atlasia are hereby granted the right to form a union for the purposes of advocating for their interests and for negotiating contracts with management.

Clause 3.
The President shall have the power to appoint, subject to Senate approval,  members of an Atlasian Competitive Contracting Committee. The Committee will be comprised of 9 members, though the number may be increased by appropriate legislation by the Senate as is deemed necessary. The purpose of this Committee will be to conduct regular performance reviews of all federal government departments to determine if privatization of these functions is feasible in full or in part. They will do this in accordance with established performance standards for each department, which will be determined by performance reviews of all Atlasian Federal employees, the standards of which will be determined by the managers of each federal department. The federal employee unions shall have the right to review these standards, and if they do not find them agreeable, present their own standards if they so choose. If the two cannot come to a mutally agreeable set of performance standards, both sides will present their proposals to the Competitive Contracting Committee at a public hearing, which will then be required to choose which proposal of the two that they feel is most appropriate.

Clause 4.
Employee reviews of all federal employees shall be conducted from time to time, but must be conducted for each employee at a minimum of once every 365 days, starting at their date of hire. These reviews will be conducted by managers according to standards approved of by both management and unions as detailed in Clause 3.

Clause 5.
The Competitive Contracting Committee will review the functions of each department and a summary of the performance reviews, conducted as detailed in Clause 4 and presented to them by the managers of each department, at a minimum of once every 365 days, and determine if performance standards are being met. If it is determined that they are not, the functions of that department may be opened for contract bids from the private sector, either in whole or in part at the discretion of the Committee. Sealed bids will be accepted from contractors, and will be reviewed by the Committee, and 5 will be chosen to present a presentation of their bid to the Committee at a public hearing. The Committee will then choose which to accept. Federal employee unions will be permitted to present a bid to the Committee, and if submitted, must be given the same consideration as bids from private contractors in the review process.

Clause 6.
Functions of the federal government that are privatized and outsourced to a private contractor by the above procedures will be required to be reviewed by the Committee at least once every 365 days, in accordance with procedures detailed in the contract with the contractor. Yearly performance reviews of the contractor must be conducted by the Committee to determine if it is in the best interests of the federal government to change to a different contractor, including but not limited to the federal employees union.

Passed by the Fourth Congress of the A.F.F. (26th November, 2004)
Signed by the Honorable President PBrunsel (27th November, 2004)
F.L. 4-3
Applicability of Common Law Act
That much of the common law not inconsistent with the Constitution of the United Forum or with any law passed by the Senate of the United Forum is the rule of decision in all matters brought before any branch¹ of the Federal Government.

Passed by the Fourth Congress of the A.F.F. (27th November, 2004)
Signed by the Honorable President PBrunsel (28th November, 2004)

Footnotes
¹ Text altered from original for grammatical sense.
F.L. 4-4
The Miscellany Act

Section 1: The Census

1. The provisions of this Section shall be considered to be carrying out the Constitutionally mandated Census prescribed in the Apportionment of States to Districts Amendment.

2. The Census shall be taken at noon Eastern Standard Time on the first Friday of March, July and November of each year.

Section 2: Contiguity Borders

Since Hawaii and Alaska lack borders with other US States, they are considered to be contiguous for the purposes of redistricting in the following ways:

1. Alaska is contiguous to Hawaii
2. Alaska is contiguous to Washington
3. Hawaii is contiguous to California

Section 3: Party Platform Definition

For a Party to have a Party Platform under the Organized Parties Amendment, its submitted Party Platform shall meet the following criteria:

1. It shall be at least two hundred words in length.
2. It shall address general political issues or issues relevant to the circumstances of Atlasia.

Section 4: Numerical Definition

For the purposes of all statute, executive orders, judicial rulings and other official documents of the Atlasian government, the following shall be the standard definitions throughout Atlasia:

1. One Billion = 1,000,000,000
2. One Trillion = 1,000,000,000,000

Passed by the Fourth Congress of the A.F.F. (29th November, 2004)
Signed by the Honorable President PBrunsel (29th November, 2004)
F.L. 4-5
Voter Fraud Bill

§ 1.  Voter fraud, defined as the act of creating identities other than one's primary identity in Atlasia and subsequently entering this identity into the tally of registered voters, is hereby declared to be a crime in Atlasia.

§ 2.  Anyone found to have committed voter fraud shall have his or her voting rights suspended for no less than three months, but no greater than five months.

§ 3.  Anyone found to have committed multiple voter fraud, defined as being found to have committed the actions in Section 1 two or more times, shall receive additional periods of suspension for each instance of voter fraud beyond the initial instance, each subject to the policies declared in Section 2.

§ 4.  The Supreme Court shall be given the ability to enforce this bill by appropriate sentencing.

Passed by the Fourth Congress of the A.F.F. (10th December, 2004)
Signed by the Honorable President PBrunsel (11th December, 2004)
F.L. 4-6
None of the Above Act

§ 1 A None of the Above Option shall be included on federal election ballots.

§ 2 Voters choosing to vote for None of The Above will not be able to preference any candidate.

§ 3 If none of the above wins more votes than the candidate with the highest number of first preferences, the election shall be declared null and void, and a special election for that seat shall be held in no less than two weeks and no more than three, where the None of the Above option shall be equally valid, as well as all the provisions in this bill.

§ 4 None of the candidates defeated against none of the above shall be permitted to run in the special election.

Passed by the Fourth Congress of the A.F.F. (4th December, 2004)
Vetoed by the Honorable President PBrunsel (8th December, 2004)
Veto overriden by the Fourth Congress of the A.F.F. (12th December, 2004)

[Peter]

With the passage of the Senate Powers Amendment, all of the statute listed in this thread is considered to be Constitutional, with the exception of the following:

Federal Activity Act
This Act was rendered unconstitutional by the Texasgurl v. Fritz decision; Read the decision for the Court's reasoning. There has been no section of recent amendments that overcome the unconstitutionality of the Act under the decision rendered.

3rd Boss Abortion Act and Death Penalty Abolition Act
The majority of laws were rendered unconstitutional by the Fritz v. Ernest decision. The majority of these were fixed by the recent Senate Powers Amendment; However, no power was granted to regulate abortion, nor was power to regulate the method of punishment, on any scale, of the Regions.

The Death Penalty Abolition Act is applied to all federal sentences however. There are more technical reasons also interwoven in my decision regarding the Third Boss Abortion Act regarding the assumed parallel between the US and Atlasia, and therefore the Roe v. Wade and Stenberg v. Carhart decisions. Neither of these decisions are yet to be contradicted by either our Constitution or any SC ruling, therefore in applying these rulings to the particular act, i found them prima facie unconstitutional.

Please post questions regarding statute to the Office of the Attorney General thread, or PM or email me.

[Peter]

Such is the length of the statutes in this term, that they must now span into a second post!
F.L. 4-7
Clean Energy Act

Definitions:

Clean Energy - A form of power generation that produces little to no pollution. Little meaning less than 5 tonnes of air pollution for yearly operation. (Currently the average Coal Plant produces something like 30-100 tonnes) This term also covers all renewable sources, and any future developments that meet these two criteria.

Hazardous or Non-Renewable Power - Oil, Gas, and Coal power production.

Renewable - (As of Oct. 2004) – Electricity generated through the following methods Hydro, Wind, Solar, Geothermal, Tidal, Wave, Nuclear Fission, Nuclear Fusion and Biomass.

Power Plant - Any structure that produces over 1000 Watts of electricity.

Small Generator - Equal to or less than 1000 Watts.

Efficiency – Reducing the amount of pollution produced by this form of power by 20% or more.

Sections

1. Regional Planning

A. The regions of Atlasia shall have 25 years to discuss, decide and implement the type of alternative, clean energy that suits their region the best. A plan for the elimination, reduction or regulation to increase the efficiency of non-renewable of heavy pollutant power production must be drafted and ready for implementation.

B. The federal government shall allocate rather total or partial funds to help the Regions meet these goals, providing that the Senate through a vote deems the plan feasible.

2. Penalties for failure of Regional Action

A. If the deadline is not met the Federal Government will intervene and implement a Federal plan to reduce, eliminate or increase the efficiency of hazardous power generation.

3. Back-up

A. The regions of Atlasia shall be required to have back up sources of energy (i.e. Coal, nuclear energy) available and ready to be used.

B. The Federal Government has the power to prosecute any lapse in this policy.

4. Citizen Power

A. Any citizen is allowed to own his or her own independent small generator of any make or model.

B. Any citizen that purchases a clean or renewable individual small generator for their home, or if a citizen purchases a hybrid or clean vehicle, the government will refund 20% of the cost.

C. Any business that purchases a clean or renewable individual small generator for their business or if a business purchases a hybrid or clean vehicle, the government will refund 15% of the cost.

5. Clean Coal

A. The Federal Government will invest 100 million dollars over 5 years into the research, and development of clean or cleaner coal technology.

Passed by the Fourth Congress of the A.F.F. (10th December, 2004)
Vetoed by the Honorable President PBrunsel (10th December, 2004)
Veto overriden by the Fourth Congress of the A.F.F. (13th December, 2004)
F.L. 4-8
Intracoastal and Other Waterways Act

§1. Findings
The Atlasian Senate finds that -
   (1) waterborne barge traffic is the most economical and least pollutiing method of moving bulk cargo,
   (2) such traffic is dependent upon the prompt and proper maintence of the navigable waters of Atlasia,
   (3) the intracoastal waterways have not been maintained to the depths and other standards mandated by statute,
   (4) said lack of maintenence has impeded the safety and efficency of waterborne barge traffic, and
   (5) said lack of maintenence has been due to lack of funding rather than negligence on the part of the Army Corps of Engineers.

§2. Appropriations
The portion of the annual budget for the Army Corps of Engineers labeled “Operations and Maintence” shall be increased by $385,000,000, with at least one quarter of that increase to be devoted to restoring the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway to standard, and an additional one quarter to be devoted to restoring the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to standard.

Passed by the Fourth Congress of the A.F.F. (12th December, 2004)
Signed by the Honorable President PBrunsel (13th December, 2004)
F.L. 4-9
Welfare Reform Act

Clause 1.  Atlasians receiving public assistance will be alloted a two year maximum with the following exceptions:

       a. Disability
       b. Perpetual care of dependent

Clause 2.  Section 8 housing vouchers

     a.  Maximum two years unrestricted with the following exceptions:

            i. Disability
            ii.  Over the age of 65
            iii. Veteran permanently disabled in military duty

     b.  Housing shall be rented at the average market value for rent given a two block radius and the same accomodations.

     c.  Anyone convicted of a felony shall be removed from the program

     d.  "Three Strikes Clause"

            i.  Any minor problems such as noise violations, unkempt property that is the fault of the tenant, or any generally disruptive needing a police prescence shall be given three chances.

Clause 3.  Any able-bodied Atlasian on public assistance and not currently working shall be required to do 20 hours of community service plus 20 hours of job searching and/or interviews.

Passed by the Fourth Congress of the A.F.F. (14th December, 2004)
Signed by the Honorable President PBrunsel (16th December, 2004)

[Peter]

R. 2
Senate Procedure Resolution concerning multiple issue bills

1. Senators should not introduce bills to the Senate that address two or more divorced subjects.
2. Senators should not introduce amendments to bills that would cause the bill to address two or more divorced subjects
3. The Presiding Officer of the Senate is empowered to enforce this resolution through the ability to reject bills, or sections thereof, and to reject amendments, or sections thereof.
4. However, the Senate, by a two thirds vote, may overrule the Presiding Officer, if it considers his decision to be on infringment of the intention of this resolution.

Passed by the Fourth Congress of the A.F.F. (19th December, 2004)

[Peter]

This thread is missing Supersoulty's Abortion thing Bill and the new Election Procedure, Certification, and Challenges Act as far as I can tell (there could be more since I haven't been following too closely). This needs to be remdied quickly, and can we please get rid of all the superfluous comments.

[Peter]

It's there.  5-6

It really is not clear to the casual reader that clauses c and d of the original act have been repealed.

Also could you create an AG thread as I had so that we can get all these comments out of the Statute thread.