[DRAFT] The Homelessness Act

[Amuparia]

GENERAL ASSEMBLY PROPOSAL
The Homelessness Act
A resolution to reduce income inequality and increase basic welfare.

Category: Social Justice | Strength: Mild | Proposed by: Amuparia

The General Assembly of the World Assembly (WA), hereby

DEFINING, for the purposes of this legislation, "homelessness" as a state of a lack of a person's permanent residence

AND DESCRIBING a homeless person as a person in a state of homelessness

REGARDING a shelter for homeless people as a building with central heating, which provides an individual with basic necessities needed to survive

HOWEVER NOTING that the personalties in which a person can live in, such as travel trailers/caravans, mobile homes, ice shanties, inflatable buildings, tents, huts, et cetera,
ARE CONSIDERED to be a person's permanent residence per se, notwithstanding the fact that the location of the residence is subject to change

EXPLICITLY STATING that “The Homelessness Act” applies in the event and only in the event that the homeless state in question is caused by the lack of individual's financial power, this lack being defined as the inability to buy a permanent residence and/or pay rent for it

ALSO URGING that the homeless people use the help and benefits given to them by this act to become productive members of society

WHILE NOTING that they will be penalised for spending the large amount of benefits given to them on addictive substances, defined below

HEREBY ratifies "The Homelessness Act" pursuant to the following:

1) A shelter for homeless people, as defined above, must comprise of following: a soup kitchen, a sleeping room outfitted with beds, a room with showers, and a toilette, while there must be a separate sleeping room, room with showers and a toilette for men, women and parents/persons in loco parentis (guardians) with minors

2) A Nurse Practitioner or an Emergency Medical Technician must be present at all times at each of the shelters. A doctor should visit the shelter at least once a week to examine the sick people

3) In the event that at the present time there is no shelter, one is to be built in every large population centre

4) In the event that a country lacks the funds needed to build the shelters, they can take the money provided from the WA General Fund established in the WA resolution #17 on a loan to fund the abovementioned projects, but this loan has to be repaid in the time period between 1 and 10 years

5) A homeless person, as defined in this act, is to be given a monthly allowance in an indeterminate amount of money, the amount of which the country's government decides, but this amount has to be enough for a person to buy basic and cheapest food in one month

6) This money will be put on a current account in a bank which a homeless person can then have disbursed or continue saving money in order to, in time, buy a permanent place of residence and get a job with a regular financial payment for his labour, while, until that time, eating and living at the shelter

7) A financial donation system is to be put into effect, through which the citizens can donate money of their own free will, and that money shall be divided equally and be put on each homeless person's current account, in order to speed up the process of saving money

8) In the event that a person is found out to have a place of residence and a source of income, but nonetheless uses the benefits intended for the homeless people, he/she will be fined. Also, if a homeless person is discovered to be spending large portions his/hers money on addictives (such as drugs, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, or any other addictive substance), large portions here be defined as using 75 or more percent of his financial income for addictives, he/she will be penalised for the first time and in the event of that occuring again, his/hers current account will be donated to the donation system explained in the article #7

9) All of the aforesaid is hereby implemented in all WA nations.

What do you think? Also, please let me know if you find any spelling/grammar mistakes. And is the strength mild or significant?

GENERAL ASSEMBLY PROPOSAL
The Homelessness Act
A resolution to reduce income inequality and increase basic welfare.

Category: Social Justice | Strength: Mild | Proposed by: Amuparia

The General Assembly of the World Assembly (WA), hereby

DEFINING, for the purposes of this legislation, "homelessness" as a state of a lack of a person's permanent residence

AND DESCRIBING a homeless person as a person in a state of homelessness

REGARDING a shelter for homeless people as a building with central heating, which provides an individual with basic necessities needed to survive

HOWEVER NOTING that the personalties in which a person can live in, such as travel trailers/caravans, mobile homes, ice shanties, inflatable buildings, tents, huts, et cetera,
ARE CONSIDERED to be a person's permanent residence per se, notwithstanding the fact that the location of the residence is subject to change

EXPLICITLY STATING that “The Homelessness Act” applies in the event and only in the event that the homeless state in question is caused by the lack of individual's financial power, this lack being defined as the inability to buy a permanent residence and/or pay rent for it

ALSO URGING that the homeless people use the help and benefits given to them by this act to become productive members of society

HEREBY ratifies "The Homelessness Act" pursuant to the following:

1) A shelter for homeless people, as defined above, must comprise of following: a soup kitchen, a sleeping room outfitted with beds, a room with showers, and a toilette

2) A doctor must be present at all times at each of the shelters

3) In the event that at the present time there is no shelter, one is to be built in the capital city and/or any larger city

4) In the event that a country lacks the funds needed to build the shelters, they can use the money provided from the WA General Fund established in the WA resolution #17 to fund the abovementioned projects

5) A homeless person, as defined in this act, is to be given a monthly allowance in an indeterminate amount of money, the amount of which the country's government decides, but this amount has to be enough for a person to buy basic and cheapest food in one month

6) This money will be put on a current account in a bank which a homeless person can then have disbursed or continue saving money in order to, in time, buy a permanent place of residence and get a job with a salary which is paid out regularly, while, until that time, eating and living at the shelter

7) A homeless person will have a discount imposed upon the price of the permanent residence he/she wishes to buy, and the discount on paying rent in the first year; the amount of discount must be in the range between 25-50%, while the amount percentage is decided by the country’s government

8) In the event that a person is found out to have a place of residence and a source of income, but nonetheless uses the benefits intended for the homeless people, he/she will be fined

9) All of the aforesaid is hereby implemented in all WA nations.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY PROPOSAL
The Homelessness Act
A resolution to reduce income inequality and increase basic welfare.

Category: Social Justice | Strength: Mild | Proposed by: Amuparia

The General Assembly of the World Assembly (WA), hereby

DEFINING, for the purposes of this legislation, "homelessness" as a state of a lack of a person's permanent residence

AND DESCRIBING a homeless person as a person in a state of homelessness

REGARDING a shelter for homeless people as a building with central heating, which provides an individual with basic necessities needed to survive

HOWEVER NOTING that the personalties in which a person can live in, such as travel trailers/caravans, mobile homes, ice shanties, inflatable buildings, tents, huts, et cetera,
ARE CONSIDERED to be a person's permanent residence per se, notwithstanding the fact that the location of the residence is subject to change

EXPLICITLY STATING that “The Homelessness Act” applies in the event and only in the event that the homeless state in question is caused by the lack of individual's financial power, this lack being defined as the inability to buy a permanent residence and/or pay rent for it

ALSO URGING that the homeless people use the help and benefits given to them by this act to become productive members of society

WHILE NOTING that they will be penalised for spending the benefits given to them on addictive substances

HEREBY ratifies "The Homelessness Act" pursuant to the following:

1) A shelter for homeless people, as defined above, must comprise of following: a soup kitchen, a sleeping room outfitted with beds, a room with showers, and a toilette, while there must be a separate sleeping room, room with showers and a toilette for men, women and parents/persons in loco parentis (guardians) with minors

2) A Nurse Practitioner or an Emergency Medical Technician must be present at all times at each of the shelters. A doctor should visit the shelter at least once a week to examine the sick people

3) In the event that at the present time there is no shelter, one is to be built in every large population centre

4) In the event that a country lacks the funds needed to build the shelters, they can take the money provided from the WA General Fund established in the WA resolution #17 on a loan to fund the abovementioned projects, but this loan has to be repaid in the time period between 1 and 10 years

5) A homeless person, as defined in this act, is to be given a monthly allowance in an indeterminate amount of money, the amount of which the country's government decides, but this amount has to be enough for a person to buy basic and cheapest food in one month

6) This money will be put on a current account in a bank which a homeless person can then have disbursed or continue saving money in order to, in time, buy a permanent place of residence and get a job with a regular financial payment for his labour, while, until that time, eating and living at the shelter

7) A financial donation system is to be put into effect, through which the citizens can donate money of their own free will, and that money shall be divided equally and be put on each homeless person's current account, in order to speed up the process of saving money

8) In the event that a person is found out to have a place of residence and a source of income, but nonetheless uses the benefits intended for the homeless people, he/she will be fined. Also, if a homeless person is discovered to be spending his/hers money on addictives (such as drugs, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, or any other illegal or addictive substance), he/she will be penalised for the first time and in the event of that occuring again, his/hers current account will be donated to the donation system explained in the article #7

9) All of the aforesaid is hereby implemented in all WA nations.

[The Aztec Allience]

I support this bill.

[ABDS Corporation]

For Immediate Release - Official Communication

Open Letter to the Delegates for Amuparia,

While we laud the efforts of Amuparia and all our fellow nations in seeking solutions to homelessness and poverty, we are opposed to this bill on a number of levels, vague clauses referring to dwellings as "personalities" not withstanding. While this bill urges the homeless to become productive members of society through the use of the proposed program, it in no way binds them to do so, or penalizes them for ignoring its urging.

Articles of Objection:

1. Article 1 of the Act does not provide for adequate separation of genders in facilities, which we are certain many nations would feel is a requirement.
2. Article 2 mandates the presence of a doctor on 24 hours watch - we feel that the role could be adequately served by a Nurse Practitioner or an Emergency Medical Technician, or other medical service provider.
3. Article 3's "and/or" conjunction allows for the substitution of any "large city" (which is not defined) to substitute for the capital, rather than be included in a mandate of all large populations centres, which I imagine was the point of the clause.
4. Article 4 allows for "[countries which] lack the funds necessary" to receive direct funding for the act from the WA General Fund. We feel that this is discriminatory against countries who have managed their finances effectively.
5. Article 6 allows for the use of the welfare payments to be used to find employment with "a salary", whereas many if not most jobs are actually paid on a piece-work or wage basis.
6. Article 7 mandates a discount on housing for the homeless, which is unfairly discriminatory against the sheltered unemployed, and also against people who are not impoverished, effectively forcing both groups to pay more for housing than they otherwise would. This article is in direct contravention of the free-market ideology enshrined in many resolutions and proposed resolutions, and represents micromanagement on the World Assembly's behalf.

If these articles of objection are given consideration and inclusion in the final act, you would be able to count on our support in the proceedings of the general assembly and the vote of my office when such a bill were to come to pass.

Sincerely,

Geoffrey Mung
Executive Director - NMSI World Assembly Service Division
Adam, Blackmore, Dunnett, and Spears Corporation

[Amuparia]

Dear Mr. Mung,

we have taken your opinion into consideration and realised that the first draft was faulty in some areas. However, we've corrected the articles you opposed, hoping that the rewritten articles would be more satisfactory.
Also, we apologise for not making this more clear, but we haven't written "personalities", we've written "personalties", which is the opposite of real estates. The definition of a "personalty" (personal property) is "any property that is movable". We would once again like to thank you for taking the time to read through this draft, and if you have more advice or would like to see something written differently, please let us know.

Sincerely,

The Amuparia's World Assembley Board (Consilium Amupariae pro Contione Mundi)

[ABDS Corporation]

For Immediate Release - Official Communication

Open Letter to the Consilium Amupariae pro Contione Mundi,

We appreciate your consideration and the correction, and apologize for our misunderstanding.

Sincerely,

Geoffrey Mung
Executive Director - NMSI World Assembly Service Division
Adam, Blackmore, Dunnett, and Spears Corporation

[Amuparia]

To any WA member country who reads this:

1) Do you have any more suggestions for improving this resolution, or do you think it should be made a proposal as-is?

OOC:
2) I read the Q&A on GA proposals, but haven't really understood how to get the number of approvals needed for it to pass. I understood that I could telegram my proposal to my regional delegate and to the regional message board, but does that also mean that I can't telegram the proposal to any other regional delegate other than the one of the region I'm in?

[Bears Armed]

WHILE NOTING that they will be penalised for spending the benefits given to them on addictive substances

"What, even if the government and a majority of the people in the nation concerned are happy with the idea that the homeless can have an occasional drink of something containing alcohol, or smoke, and the funding granted actually allows for this? Even if -- as is definitely the case for some of the WA's members -- the nation has no laws at all against the use of recreational drugs?!?
My government opposes the proposal anyway on general principles, on the grounds that it's 'IntFed micro-management', but finds that specific clause particularly annoying."


Artorrios o SouthWoods,
ChairBear, Bears Armed Mission at the World Assembly
for
The High Council of Clans,
The Confederated Clans of the Free Bears of Bears Armed.

[Amuparia]

WHILE NOTING that they will be penalised for spending the benefits given to them on addictive substances

"What, even if the government and a majority of the people in the nation concerned are happy with the idea that the homeless can have an occasional drink of something containing alcohol, or smoke, and the funding granted actually allows for this? Even if -- as is definitely the case for some of the WA's members -- the nation has no laws at all against the use of recreational drugs?!?
My government opposes the proposal anyway on general principles, on the grounds that it's 'IntFed micro-management', but finds that specific clause particularly annoying."


Artorrios o SouthWoods,
ChairBear, Bears Armed Mission at the World Assembly
for
The High Council of Clans,
The Confederated Clans of the Free Bears of Bears Armed.

Dear Mr. ChairBear,

we understand your concern with this resolution and have rewritten the section you disagree with. However, we, as a liberal and humane country, not at all saying that yours isn't, believe that society should take care of its poorest, IF they don't take this care for granted. Our nation, like yours, also has no laws against the use of recreational drugs, but we are concerned that if a person consumes too much of them, they might not be able to restrain themselves from spending the money they were saving to buy a place of residence on the addictives, and therefore believe that there should be a limit on what a homeless person is allowed to spend on addictives, because this person is, in fact, homeless and therefore in the weaker financial state than other citizens. We appreciate your concern with this resolution, but we don't believe it represents micro-managment - we believe it shows our compassion and kindheartedness to the people who are not as well off as we are.

Yours sincerely,

The Amuparia's World Assembley Board (Consilium Amupariae pro Contione Mundi)

[Paper Flowers]

4) In the event that a country lacks the funds needed to build the shelters, they can take the money provided from the WA General Fund established in the WA resolution #17 on a loan to fund the abovementioned projects, but this loan has to be repaid in the time period between 1 and 10 years

I would suggest reconsidering the source of the funding mentioned in this clause in so much as it could be seen as a House of Cards violation (what would happen if someone were to repeal GAR #17?) Even if it were determined not to be an actual violation, you are still basing your funding on the assumption that the aforementioned resolution does not get repealed in the future.

Perhaps a more general "apply for funding from the WA" without mentioning as explicit a source of that funding?

[Alqania]

Lord Raekevik smiled as he took the floor. "The Queendom finds this a commendable idea, but is not so sure about its execution."

REGARDING a shelter for homeless people as a building with central heating, which provides an individual with basic necessities needed to survive

"Central heating? The temperature drops below 20 degrees Celsius once in a decade in the Queendom. Why would any Alqanian building need central heating?"

EXPLICITLY STATING that “The Homelessness Act” applies in the event and only in the event that the homeless state in question is caused by the lack of individual's financial power, this lack being defined as the inability to buy a permanent residence and/or pay rent for it

"Is by this inability meant only a lack of liquidity or is inability to pay bills because of mental health issues, addiction or other factors also included?"

ALSO URGING that the homeless people use the help and benefits given to them by this act to become productive members of society

"I think this clause is rather offensive, because it implies that when a person is not a productive member of society, the person, and not society, is to blame. It seems to assume, as does perhaps this entire proposal, that the problem of homelessness is poverty, while in many member states, homelessness, as well as poverty, may be caused by other factors such as mental health issues and addiction."

1) A shelter for homeless people, as defined above, must comprise of following: a soup kitchen, a sleeping room outfitted with beds, a room with showers, and a toilette, while there must be a separate sleeping room, room with showers and a toilette for men, women and parents/persons in loco parentis (guardians) with minors

"Why must each member state have separate facilities in homeless shelters for men, women and people with minors? What about other genders? The Queendom is ideologically opposed to such separation."

2) A Nurse Practitioner or an Emergency Medical Technician must be present at all times at each of the shelters. A doctor should visit the shelter at least once a week to examine the sick people

"Why would sick people needing medical attention not be either committed to a hospital or going there?"

3) In the event that at the present time there is no shelter, one is to be built in every large population centre

"So a homeless person somewhere else than in the large population centres is screwed?"

6) This money will be put on a current account in a bank which a homeless person can then have disbursed or continue saving money in order to, in time, buy a permanent place of residence and get a job with a regular financial payment for his labour, while, until that time, eating and living at the shelter

"Once again, the problem of homelessness is portrayed as being merely a financial issue. Why does the money have to be put into a bank account? Why cannot a member state decide for themselves in what manner to hand the money out to the homeless?"

7) A financial donation system is to be put into effect, through which the citizens can donate money of their own free will, and that money shall be divided equally and be put on each homeless person's current account, in order to speed up the process of saving money

"Absolutely not! This is a prime example of why the Queendom is ideologically opposed to charity; the rich buying a clean conscience by sending money through computers to homeless people they don't have to actually meet or be confronted with and society dodging responsibility by saying it will work itself out if people just help each other."

WHILE NOTING that they will be penalised for spending the large amount of benefits given to them on addictive substances, defined below

...

In the event that a person is found out to have a place of residence and a source of income, but nonetheless uses the benefits intended for the homeless people, he/she will be fined. Also, if a homeless person is discovered to be spending large portions his/hers money on addictives (such as drugs, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, or any other addictive substance), large portions here be defined as using 75 or more percent of his financial income for addictives, he/she will be penalised for the first time and in the event of that occuring again, his/hers current account will be donated to the donation system explained in the article #7

"This is offensive and completely unacceptable! A person with an addiction needs to be rehabilitated, not penalised. The nature of an addiction means that the person cannot choose not to spend money on what they crave. This proposal would force the homeless with addictions to do something impossible and then penalise them when they inevitably fail at that. Have you no shame?"

[Amuparia]

Dear Lord Raekevik,

we understand your concern and are going to rewrite the proposal as you suggested in a couple of hours, because we are currently having elections in our country. However, we must ask a couple of things before we can rewrite the proposal:

About your objection on the section #2, about homeless people going to hospital. What if they don't have a health insurance? If we give them free medical care, that would be discriminatory to other people who have money or health insurance, woudln't it?

Again, about section #8, or , what if a person doesn't have money to pay for a rehab? Again, wouldn't it be discriminatory to get free rehab as opposed to other people who have to pay for it?

We're not trying to insult homeless people, on the contrary, we simply wish to understand whether or not it would be discriminatory as Mr. Mung similarly stated here about the financial power of different countries:

(...) Article 4 allows for "[countries which] lack the funds necessary" to receive direct funding for the act from the WA General Fund. We feel that this is discriminatory against countries who have managed their finances effectively. (...)

We are looking forward to reading your answer.

Best regards,

The Amuparia's World Assembley Board (Consilium Amupariae pro Contione Mundi)

[Alqania]

Dear Lord Raekevik,

we understand your concern and are going to rewrite the proposal as you suggested in a couple of hours, because we are currently having elections in our country. However, we must ask a couple of things before we can rewrite the proposal:

About your objection on the section #2, about homeless people going to hospital. What if they don't have a health insurance? If we give them free medical care, that would be discriminatory to other people who have money or health insurance, woudln't it?

Again, about section #8, or , what if a person doesn't have money to pay for a rehab? Again, wouldn't it be discriminatory to get free rehab as opposed to other people who have to pay for it?

We're not trying to insult homeless people, on the contrary, we simply wish to understand whether or not it would be discriminatory as Mr. Mung similarly stated here about the financial power of different countries:

(...) Article 4 allows for "[countries which] lack the funds necessary" to receive direct funding for the act from the WA General Fund. We feel that this is discriminatory against countries who have managed their finances effectively. (...)

We are looking forward to reading your answer.

Best regards,

The Amuparia's World Assembley Board (Consilium Amupariae pro Contione Mundi)

Lord Raekevik looked slightly perplexed.

"Health insurance? The Queendom has free healthcare for everyone and finds it in very poor taste to deny anyone healthcare because they do not have enough money. But even in such a despicable system, healthcare benefits to the homeless would be no more discriminatory than the handouts that this proposal mandates, would they?

Money to pay for a rehab? As with healthcare, rehabilitation is free of charge in the Queendom. But again, even in a system where only the rich can live a decent life, I cannot see how giving the homeless that kind of particular benefit would be any more discriminatory than handing out money to them. And of course, it should go without saying that giving a homeless person with an addiction a free rehabilitation from said addiction would be much more effective than giving them money and telling them they must spend it on rehabilitation or else they will be fined.

To sum it up, if we are going to give the homeless shelter and money, why would we not be able to give them healthcare and rehabilitation?"

[Flibbleites]

OOC:
2) I read the Q&A on GA proposals, but haven't really understood how to get the number of approvals needed for it to pass. I understood that I could telegram my proposal to my regional delegate and to the regional message board, but does that also mean that I can't telegram the proposal to any other regional delegate other than the one of the region I'm in?

As long as a region doesn't have either the "No GA Campaigning or No WA Campaigning tags, yes you can contact their delegate and ask for their approval. For more information about WA campaigning, see the One Stop Rules Shop under WA Advertising Spam.

[Amuparia]

OOC:

I apologize, but I won't be able to rewrite the draft today, because I have fever (38,7°C, 101,66°F). Sorry.