NSG Senate Chamber [NSG Senate] - Version 3

[Senate President pro Tempore]

Remember folks, the President of the Central Bank elections is also taking place!

[/shamelessplug]

- Battlion

[Phocidaea]

Assuming voting is still open:

CRICA: Aye
PLA: Aye
CBAPA: Abstain (Between this and the prior act, it's like money for nothing and kids for free, but that's not necessarily a bad thing - just unrealistic)
LMA: Aye
ALTA: Nay (Let's not put a tax on everyone who isn't a hippie with OCD, mmkay? Also, essentially a regressive tax in that poor people are going to be less able to afford reusable or recyclable products).
WRA: Aye (Something that actually mixes the socialist dream of communal business with the reality that bankrupt companies and bad management are economically bad? Sure)
CDA: Abstain (I'm not going to vote on something I can't even understand, for the benefit of everyone).

[Beta Test]

I vote Aye to all except WRA and CDA, to which I vote Nay

[Dangelia]

Aye to all

[Soviet Canuckistan]

Vote Count

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Currency Reference Interim Clarification Act
Aye: 24
Nay: 0
Abstain: 3

Parental Leave Act
Aye: 10
Nay: 17
Abstain: 1

Child Benefit Allowance Programme Act
Aye: 12
Nay: 10
Abstain: 6

Labour Mediation Act
Aye: 19
Nay: 3
Abstain: 5

Aurentine Landfill Tax Act
Aye: 17
Nay: 9
Abstain: 1

Workplace Recovery Act
Aye: 5
Nay: 21
Abstain: 3

Co-Determination Act
Aye: 4
Nay: 22
Abstain: 3

Why was my vote not counted for the CRICA?

[Ainin]

Table these suckers please.

On the Fair Admission of Justice
Author: Ainin [NDP] | Urgency: Medium | SIMBEDS: Order
Sponsors: New Zepuha [NDP], NEO Rome Republic [NDP], Kamchastkia [USLP], Maklohi Vai [NDP], Oneracon [RG], Beta Test [ALM]

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The Senate of the Aurentine Commonwealth,

Lauding the Criminal Code of the Aurentine Commonwealth for bringing much needed justice and order to the Commonwealth,

However noting that some activities that are in nature deplorable are not prohibited,

Affirming that the aforementioned acts should be declared illegal under the law,

Hereby passes the Act On the Fair Admission of Justice, consisting of the following sections:

Amendment to Section B of the Criminal Code
Realizing the "Unlawful Imprisonment" clause is improperly numbered, as IIX is not a number, the clause is hereby changed to read:

viii Unlawful Imprisonment: Unlawful Imprisonment is determined to be keeping a person in a location against their will. It is a delict.

To be added to Section G
The following shall be added to Section G of the Criminal Code:

vi Treason is the committing of actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the Aurentine Commonwealth. It is a felony.
vii High Treason is the committing of actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the Aurentine Commonwealth or assassinate a Great Officer of State during wartime. It is a felony, and punishable up to 50 years in prison.
viii Sedition is the committing of violent actions in an attempt to aid the overthrow or serious injury of the government. It is a felony.
ix Incitement to Hatred is publicly urging, or belonging to an organization that publicly urges, violent or arbitrary measures against a racial or ethnic group or assaults the dignity of a racial or ethnic group through the public and intentional spreading of incorrect and malicious statements. It is a contravention.

First Amendment to the Judicial Act

Infants, defined as children 6 years-old or younger are presumed to be incapable of committing a crime. It is forbidden to prosecute infants.
Juveniles, defined as children between the ages of 7 and 12, are presumed to be incapable of committing a crime. However, if the prosecution is capable of proving the child was in control of his actions and understood it was wrong, they may be sentenced to a maximum of 8 years in a reformatory institution for violent and 1 year for nonviolent crimes.
Young adults, defined as children between the ages of 13 and 18, may be prosecuted and sentenced to a maximum of the existing maximum penalty, divided by two.
All persons under the age of 18 shall be given the right to a closed hearing, and it is prohibited under to wilfully publish the image or name of a minor charged with a crime in a manner in which the defendant's criminal reputation is harmed. The illegal publication of the name or image of a minor charged with a crime is Interfering with the administration of justice. It is a derelict.

Bank Holidays and Annual Leave Act
Author: Ainin [NDP] | SIMBEDS: Business and Finance | Urgency: Medium
Sponsors: New Zepuha [NDP], The Nihilistic View [ALM], Battlion [NDP], Britanno [ALM], Beta Test [ALM]

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The Senate of the Aurentine Commonwealth,

Whereas having days off work are beneficial for employee morale and corporate productivity,

Whereas Aurentina lacks such days, often referred to as bank holidays,

Hereby enacts the following sections:

Section 0 - Definitions
Clearly wavering is defined as explicitly signing a clearly legible contract that had removed their right to bank holidays.
The clause of the Commerce Ministry Act reading "4.) Workers shall be guaranteed 2 weeks of paid vacation" is struck out and rendered null and void.

Section I - Annual Leave

1. All employed persons in the Aurentine Commonwealth must be granted a minimum of 20 days of paid absence per year, an amount non-transferable to a following year.
2. An employee must be paid the same amount when taking a paid leave as they would ordinarily receive during an hour of work, and must be paid for the same amount of hours as they would usually work for. In the case that amount significantly varies per day, they shall be paid the same amount as the last day they had worked prior to the leave of absence, excluding bonuses.
3. No employee may have hir employment terminated for taking hir law-given right to 20 days of paid leave.
4. Employers are prohibited from counting bank holidays (see Section II) as part of annual leave.

Section II - Bank Holidays

1. The Secular State Act cannot be imposed on the following section.
2. All employees, unless their absence would actively put life, property and safety at severe risk, to be further determined by the Auditor-General based on reasonable interpretation of this definition, or of the retail, entertainment and hospitality industries that had clearly wavered this right, must be allowed to take paid leave during bank holidays, which reoccur annually.
3. An employee must be paid the same amount when taking a bank holiday as they would ordinarily receive during an hour of work if the day was not a bank holiday, excluding bonuses of any sort, and must be paid for the same amount of hours as contracted for the particular day.
4. No employee may have hir employment terminated for taking hir law-given right to bank holidays.
5. The following are determined to be bank holidays:
   • New Year's Day, 1 January
   • Independence Day, 10 April
   • Good Friday, Friday before Easter (see below)
   • Easter, on the variable date generally accepted in Western Europe
   • Easter Monday, Monday after Easter (see below)
   • Labour Day, 1 May
   • Liberation Day, 17 July
   • Remembrance Day, 11 November
   • Christmas Eve, 24 December
   • Christmas, 25 December
   • Boxing Day, 26 December
   • New Year's Eve, 31 December
6. If two bank holidays are on the same date, the worker shall be afforded an extra day as part of their annual leave.

Repeal the Second Republican Executive Act
Author: Ainin [NDP] | Original Content of REA by: Trotskylvania, Wolfmanne, Otrenia, Ainin, Yanalia
Sponsors: Maklohi Vai [NDP], NEO Rome Republic [NDP], New Zepuha [NDP], Oneracon [RG], Beta Test [ALM]

---

The Senate of the Aurentine Commonwealth,

Believing that blatant unaccredited usage of large portions of a bill without permission is unabashed theft,

Noting an amendment adds text to a bill, a principle which the preamble of the Republican Executive Act II does not seem to grasp,

Realising that repealing the Republican Executive Act has created massive disruptions in Aurentina, including the removal of the legal mandate of the Constitutional Convention and any and all forms of queuejumping,

Affirming this bill has caused way more disruptions than it has solved,

Hereby enacts the following statute:

The Republican Executive Act II is struck out and rendered null and unconditionally void.
The following bill may be referred to as the Provisional Republican Executive Act, and all references to a "Republican Executive Act" in previous legislation shall be to this one.

Resolved: Since there is no tradition of monarchy here in our nation, it is pointless to establish one. Rather, we would consider it much more fruitful to establish the NSG State as a pluralist, democratic republic, and to that end we proposes establishing an executive that shall take into account the necessity of coalition building.

Be it enacted by the Senate of NSG, a constitutional bill to establish the executive offices of state:

I. The executive power of the NSG state shall be vested in a President and a Council of Ministers
- A. The President shall be the Head of State, elected by the Senate in a two-round system, in which the top two candidates from the first round shall be voted one.
- B. The President shall serve a term of two months, renewable once.
- C. The President may be removed by the Senate for official misconduct or disability by a vote of 2/3rds of the Senate.
- D. Upon the death of the President, the Senate shall elect a new president to a new 2 month term.
- E. The President shall have the following powers:
- - 1. Remand/veto a bill to the Senate if it's unconstitutional and call for revisions (may only do this once), with a full explanation.
- - 2. Declaring a state of war, if in full agreement with the Senate.
- - 3. Making and receiving state visits, on behalf of the Prime Minister.
- - 4. Ratification of international treaties, upon approval of the Senate.
- - 5. He must formally recognise the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, as elected by the Senate.
- - 6. Act as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and exercises his role by order of the Senate.

II. The Council of Ministers shall consist of a Prime Minister, and Ministers of the various executive departments.
- A. The Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President upon election by the Senate, and shall hold office with the confidence of the Senate.
- B. The Prime Minister shall appoint all other Ministers with the confidence of parliament, and shall have the power to dismiss them.
- C. The Prime Minister shall be head of government

III. Any person serving as a Senator shall be eligible to hold executive office.
- A. Ministers shall hold office at the Prime Minister's pleasure for a maximum of the same length as the President of Aurentina. The Prime Minister shall hold office at the President's pleasure. One week before this period elapses, the President shall request the Prime Minister of Aurentina to dissolve the Council of Ministers. They shall have 7 days to comply. If by any chance the Prime Minister is absent or incapable of doing hir job during this time, the President pro tempore of the Senate may do so up to 3 days before the deadline. Neither sitting Ministers nor previous Ministers shall be barred from reappointment.
- B. The President and executive Ministers shall maintain their privileges as Senators while holding office.

IV. The Council of Ministers shall enforce the laws ratified by the Senate.
- A. Ministers shall hold executive powers according to their portfolio as established by law.

V. If at any time the Council of Ministers loses the confidence of the Senate, they must resign immediately, holding office only until new executive officers can be elected.

Office of Vice President

1a. The office of Vice President of Aurentina shall be formally established.
1b. The Vice President of Aurentina shall be appointed by the President upon his immediate election.
1c. The Vice President is to take over the role of President, in periods in which the President is unavailable.
1d. The Vice President may only assume his role if the President is unavailable or is inactive.
1e. If the President has been unavailable or inactive for a long period of time, the Vice President is to ascend to the office of President of Aurentina.
1f. In a regular period of time, the President is permitted delegate his powers and responsibilities to the Vice President and may establish limits to how much power the Vice President gets in a regular period of time.
1g. Upon the resignation of the President, if he does the Vice President is to take over and continue the remainder of the President's term time.

Council of State

2a. The Council of State shall be formally established as a non-executive advisory council to the President.
2b. The Council of State shall be formally headed by the Vice President of Aurentina and shall provide advise to the President, whether on or whether not on request.
2c. The Council of State may not consist of a number of individual exceeding the number of 20, including the Vice President however it is not mandated for all 20 seats to be occupied.
2d. The Council of State is mandated to include the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior, Minister of Treasury and Finance (Exchequer) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in addition to the regular holders in the Council of State; these five offices are collectively to be referred to as the Great Offices of State.
2e. The Council of State, whilst it may hold elections regarding a decision on what advice to give to the President, the President, or any individual for that matter, is not legally obliged to follow the orders of an elected decision of the Council of State and their role is purely advisory only.

Officers of the Senate

3a. Whilst it has been established that the office of 'President of the Senate' exists in previous acts, the powers of President of the Senate are yet to be defined.
3b. The President of the Senate is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, monitor the amount of votes recorded and announce the results of votes.
3c. The office of President of the Senate is mandated to be held simultaneously by the Vice President of the Senate.
3d. The office of Vice President of the Senate has also been established through previous acts. This position has hereby been renamed to President pro tempore of the Senate to avoid confusion with the President of the Senate, who simultaneously holds the office of Vice President of Aurentina.
3e. The President pro tempore of the Senate shall act in the place of the President of the Senate and carry out his responsibilities on his behalf. He shall be formally appointed by the President of the Senate and he must have the confidence of a supermajority of the Senate to be defined as 75% of all voting senators.
3f. The President pro tempore of the Senate shall be legally delegated all powers of the President of the Senate, however he may not be delegated the powers of Vice President of Aurentina.
3g. The President of the Senate, or the President pro tempore of the Senate acting on his behalf, shall appoint a Secretary of the Senate, who is responsible for administrative tasks such as counting votes, organising or recording down the official legislative queue and any other administrative tasks. The President of the Senate, or the President pro tempore of the Senate acting on his behalf, is permitted to appoint a number of Assistant Secretaries of the Senate (referred to in singular form as Assistant Secretary of the Senate), to aid in the task of the Secretary of Senate.
3h. The office of Administrator of the Senate is hereby established. An Administrator of the Senate shall be defined as Senators formally permitted to ensure that discipline is maintained among the Senators. Being an Administrator of the Senate is a hallowed privilege and new Administrators can only be selected by current Administrators. Administrators can only be fired by the consent of other Administrators.
3i: The office of Founder of the Senate is established and shall be eternally held by Denecaep, who is also recognised as the only Senator for Life, for his extremely important role in the founding of the Senate. He shall hold the position even in his death and no one else may hold the position.
3j. In the absence of the President of the Senate, President pro tempore, the Secretary of the Senate, an Assistant Secretary of the Senate or an Administrator of the Senate, are permitted to act in the place of the President of the Senate.
3k. It is recommended by this act that the President of the Senate, as he can be delegated the powers of Presidency, does not take an active role as the Presiding Officer of the Senate and instead recommends that the President pro tempore of the Senate leads proceedings.
3l. The Prime Minister is to be recognised as the Majority Leader of the Senate and the Deputy Prime Minister as the Deputy Majority Leader. Meanwhile, the Opposition is permitted to designate a Leader of the Opposition, who is to be recognised as the Minority Leader of the Senate, who may appoint a Shadow Cabinet with a shadow minister for each Minister in the Council of Ministers. The Shadow Cabinet must include a Deputy Leader of the Oppposition, who is to be recognised as the Deputy Minority Leader of the Senate and is to be the shadow ministers of the Deputy Prime Minister. The Leader of the Opposition is required to be a Senator with a simple majority of opposition Senators (defined as Senators that the current government doesn't recognise as part of the Majority or as a Senator who voted against the appointment of this Prime Minister) supporting the Senator appointed to Leader of the Opposition. A plurality is not considered acceptable.
3m. The President of the Senate or the President pro tempore of the Senate may extend the debating period for 12 hours if at least 7 Senators move for an extension.

Legislative queuejumping

4a. Establishes a new power to the President of Aurentina, referred to as legislative queuejumping.
4b. Senators are permitted to petition to the President of Aurentina to rearrange the queue to allow a number of bills, include those that have been omnibused, to be voted on at a sooner time. A formal petition with a minimum of seven Senators signing it is required before any legislative queuejumping can commence. Alternative methods includes a Letter of Recommendation from a member of the Council of Ministers.
4c. Usage of legislative queuejumping is to be at the discretion of the President and it is strongly recommended that he seeks advice of the Council of State before he makes a decision.
4d. The President of Aurentina then rearranges the queue to how he see fits and the President of the Senate, or the President pro tempore acting in his place, formally posts the new queue.
4e. This act strongly recommends that the President of Aurentina expresses extreme discretion before using his power of legislative queuejumping and recognises that improper usage of it is a cause of his immediate Impeachment.
4f. If the Vice President is carrying out the duties of the President of Aurentina due to his absence or inactivity, then he can not be the one who formally posts the new queue; only the President pro tempore may do so.

Senatorial Committees

5a. This bill permits Ministers to establish Senatorial Committees, which are recommended to be multipartisan, to advise them on issues regarding their portfolio.
5b. A committee is to be titled Senatorial Committee on [PORTFOLIO OF THE MINISTER]'. The Minister is to be the Chairman and he may appoint a Deputy Chairman to carry out his duties on his behalf.
5c. A Minister is not required to listen to the elected decision of a Senatorial Committee.
5d. It is permitted for a permanent committee under the authority of the relevant Minister to be established if 2/3 of Senators voting approves of it's status of permanence.
5e. Non-permanent committees may be dismissed at will by the Chairman, whilst permanent committees can only be disbanded with the approval of 2/3 of voting Senators.

Constitution of Aurentina

6a. In the Republican Executive Act, provisions for remanding or vetoing a bill is established as a power for the President; he may do this once if a bill is unconstitutional and it require a full explanation. However, this is an inefficient system and hereby Article 1, Section EI, is repealed.
6b. An alternative system for a constitutional veto is proposed by this bill, with the President having the ability to make one veto to the Senate if he or she believe that it breaks the constitution. The second time is comes up, if the President believes it's still unconstitutional, then the bill is passed over to the the highest court in the land delegated with the ability to trial cases regarding constitutional law, upon the establishment of a judicial system.
6c. It is mandated that all acts signed into law by the President undergoes judicial review by the highest court in the land delegated with the ability to trial cases regarding constitutional law and reviews whether it is indeed constitutional. If not, it may issue a decree mandating that the President formally vetoes it. If so, then the act is to be formally recognised as being part of the law of the land.
6d. A formal document referred to as the 'Constitution of Aurentina', consisting of the codification of acts that are deemed to define the constitution of this nation, is to be created.
6e. Upon the passing of this amendment, the Constitution of Aurentina is to consist of the Judicial Act, the Republican Executive Act, the Ministry Foundation Act, the National Symbols Act, First Amendment to the Republican Executive Act and the Constitution of the New Senate.
6f. Bills must specify on whether they are to be amended to the Constitution of Aurentina; if so then, they require a 2/3 supermajority of Senators voting to be added to the Constitution of Aurentina.

Regarding the Second Constitution of the Senate

7a. Repeals Article 1, Section 6 of the Second Constitution of the Senate, on the condition that the Second Constitution of the Senate due to the fact that it sees the President of the Senate as being a Majority Leader rather than a speaker (in light of this, Article 3l Section L has been added to this bill), Article 2, Section 3 as it allows the queue to be changed with only the approval of one Administrator; this bill has a fairer system, as the President is the one who changes the queue and if he does it in poor faith, he is accountable to the Senate and can be impeached and Article 2, Section 5, as it is fairer for the President of the Senate or the President pro tempore to decide this.

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
1. The Deputy Prime Minister shall be appointed by the Prime Minister and may perform the duties of the Prime Minister in case of resignation or a physical inability to complete duties on the part of the Prime Minister.

2. Clause 1-A of the REA is hereby struck out and rendered null and void. It shall be replaced with the following clause. "The President shall be the Head of State, elected by the Senate in a two-round system, in which the top two candidates from the first round shall be voted on, unless one candidate attains a majority of 50%+1 of the total votes in the first round, upon which that candidate assumes the Presidency without a second round of voting."

On Impeachments

"The Senate may, by a 2/3rds vote of members present, remove the President from office for criminal actions. If the Council of State, by majority vote, deems the President incapable of carrying out the duties of the office, due to mental or physical incapacitation, they may present a motion for the President's removal to the Senate. The Senate may then remove the President by majority vote."

Motion of No Confidence
If 15 senators motion that they have no faith remaining in a minister or the Prime Minister, they will trigger a vote of no confidence against the person. If a simple majority (excl. abstains) of present senators vote in favour, the person shall be dismissed from the Council of Ministers, but the person in question is the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers shall go through the aforementioned dissolving procedure, and a new Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. However, previous ministers (excl. the Prime Minister) may keep their position, at the discretion of the confirmed Prime Minister and a new Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. However, previous ministers (excl. the Prime Minister) may keep their position, at the discretion of the confirmed Prime Minister. Only one vote of no confidence may be held per term.

Prorogation
The President of the Senate may suspend all debate, voting and other legislative activity in the Senate Chamber for a maximum of 1 hour. They understand that this act should only be sparingly used for the sole purpose of keeping an ordered and civil attitude in cases where heated debates actively turn to widespread PPUBA violations by multiple senators, and that improper use is grounds for impeachment.

“The ends you serve that are selfish will take you no further than yourself but the ends you serve that are for all, in common, will take you into eternity.”
― Marcus Garvey

Social Justice Act
Author: PM Alexander Ainin [NDP] | Urgency: High | SIMBEDS: Domestic Development
Sponsors: David Sloman [NDP], Wulukuno Porunalakai [NDP], Max Roman [NDP], Zephiniah Nuckerberg [NDP], Joshua Burchett [RG], Rupert Weinthal [ALM]

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The Senate of the Aurentine Commonwealth,

Whereas often-abused and unprivileged persons in lower classes of society deserve the protection of the law against discrimination and personal attacks, as mandated by the International Law Act,

Whereas government is the only institution capable of enforcing justice in an uniform and objective fashion,

Whereas the Government of Aurentina believes everyone is born free and equal, as affirmed by our ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Charter of the United Nations,

Hereby enacts the following into law:

This act may be referred to as the Social Justice Act of 2013, tabled by Prime Minister Alexander Ainin of the New Democratic Party.

Section 0
Homeless person is defined as an actual person (see below) without a permanent residence within Aurentina, but is either a citizen or permanent resident.
Restaurant is defined as a business located in a fixed location larger than 100m² selling food, drinks or both, and with access to tap water (see below).
Tap water is defined as drinkable water originating from a government-owned water filtration facility.
Actual person is defined as a member of the Homo sapiens family.
Person is defined as an entity prosecutable by law for offences.

Section I

1. All restaurants are mandated to offer a glass of tap water to persons at no charge.
2. All owners of restaurant owners are mandated to inform its existing staff of the above regulation, and to explain this to all new staff.
3. All persons that fail to implementing either clause within 31 days of the act's passage is violation of a statute, a contravention.
4. The Ministry of Health shall be mandated to inform all restaurant owners within 10 days of the act's passage, through the Aurentine Postal Service.
5. Restaurants that lack addresses shall be given one by the relevant authority, and the Ministry of Health shall have to mail its owners with the provisions of this act within 15 days of the creation of the address.

Section II

1. The Ministry of the Interior shall be mandated to create and operate night shelters for homeless persons.
2. It must build at least one publicly-administered shelter in every census-designated area (see: Aurentine Postal Service Act) for every 10,000 persons (rounded to the nearest ten thousand).
3. All shelters must have able to accommodate a minimum of 25 actual persons comfortably, to be verified by the Ministry of Labour each year.
4. Shelters must provide an adequate quantity of free food, an unlimited amount of free water, and comfortable bedding to all homeless persons.
5. A shelter may only refuse access to a person for the following reasons:
   • The person is clearly not a homeless person, which the staff is allowed to verify by asking for an adequate form of identification. If it cannot be presented, the staff may forbid the person from entry at its discretion.
   • The person's entry may severely disrupt the public order or may put the staff or residents at risk of bodily or psychological harm.

[The Grand Republic of Hannover]

CRICA: Yay
PLA: Abstain
CBAPA: Nay
LMA: Yay
ALTA: Abstain
WRA: Nay
CDA: Nay

[Costa Alegria]

Local Government Act
Category: Safety and Order
Urgency: Moderate
Drafted By: Michael Blumenthal (NDP)
Sponsors: New Bierstaat (LP), Minarchist States (LP), The New Sea Territory (LP), Ainin (NDP)

RECOGNISING: That Aurentina needs local government bodies to administer cities and districts effectively.

ACKNOWLEDGING: That provinces were meant to be provided for in the constitution that has never materialised.

HEREBY: Passes the Local Government Act which seeks to outline and regulate the powers of provincial and local body governments and repeals any previous legislation articles regarding local governance structure and powers.

Article 1: On Provinces
1a: Hereby creates provinces as second-tier levels of local-body administration in Aurentina.
1b: Each province is to be administered by an intendant. The intendant serves as the figurehead of the provincial administrative body and is to be elected for a term of five years to be held concurrent with local body elections.
1c: The intendant has no powers over central government.
1d: The intendant does have the power of the following:

• Infrastructure funding
• Education funding towards schools and universities
• Extra-government healthcare funding
• Cultural funding (i.e funding of arts festivals)
• Administration of local divisions of government agencies
• Local body government funding
• Ability to repeal local-body laws that are conflict or break national statutory law
• Ability to stand down an elected mayor if they refuse to resign or have committed a violation of the law that requires them to stand trial.

1e: Control of law and order, healthcare, welfare, justice and energy are to fully remain under the control of central government. Housing shall remain under the control of both local body governments and central government.
1f: Provinces may not enact statutory law nor any by-laws altogether.
1g: Provinces may not create legislative bodies.
1h: Provinces may not enact taxes on residents.
1i: Intendant candidacy restrictions are those of mayoral and council candidates.

Article 2: On District and City Councils
Article 2a: Hereby defines the following:

• District Council: A local government body that governs an area comprising one or more cities and towns with a population totalling less than 100,000 inhabitants.
• City Council: A local government body that governs an urban area with a population totalling more than 100,000 inhabitants.
• Urban Area: A population cluster totalling more than 100,000 inhabitants with a density of 350 persons per square kilometre.
• Additionally defines a district as an urban or rural area as described above without population conditions and is governed by a district or a city council.

Article 2b: Hereby creates city and district councils as third tier local body administration in Aurentina.
Article 2c: Each council shall be administered by a mayor. They are the head of the council and are elected to a term of five years to be held in elections.
Article 2d: The mayor shall not have powers over central government but does have powers over local government.
Article 2e: District Councils have the following powers:

• Control over transport and infrastructure related issues, such as road planning, tolls, parking, maintenance etc.
• Control over placement of speed limits within their respective district boundaries in accordance with national law.
• Control over zoning laws and housing areas as well as by-laws surrounding property maintenance.
• Implementation of local by-laws by the council. These laws are only valid within the territorial boundaries of the respective district and must not conflict, undermine or overrule national law.
• Provision of services such as utilities, waste disposal and public transport.
• Implementation of laws regarding the consumption of alcohol and other drugs that pose health issues towards the general public.

[*]Enact rates: monthly bills sent to residents to pay for water and other utilities and public services provided by the local council (except public transport).[/list]

Article 2f: Councils may not enact taxes on residents.
Article 2g: Mayors may not be members of any established political party prior to office nor may they hold any other political office during their term.
Article 2h: Mayors are not above local or national laws and any break of the law resulting in a trial will result in their removal from office.
Article 2i: Mayoral and council candidates must have the following in order to be eligible to run in elections:

• Aurentine citizenship or permanent residency
• Must have lived in their district for more than five years and must be able to reside on a permanent basis in said district throughout their term (holidays do not apply).
• No serious criminal record.
• All candidates must be over 18 years of age.

[The Gallant Old Republic]

Apparently I am feeling negative tonight:

Currency Reference Interim Clarification Act - Abstain.
Parental Leave Act - NAY.
Child Benefit Allowance Programme Act - NAY.
Labour Mediation Act - NAY.
Aurentine Landfill Tax Act - NAY.
Workplace Recovery Act - NAY.
Co-Determination Act - NAY.

[Battlion]

Britanno and Ainin, can you both please monitor votes in my absence?

Boyfriend has been sick and I'm gonna need a day or two to look after him.

[South Minorqa]

Currency Reference Interim Clarification Act: AYE
Parental Leave Act: AYE
Child Benefit Allowance Programme Act: AYE
Labour Mediation Act: NAY
Aurentine Landfill Tax Act: AYE
Workplace Recovery Act: AYE
Co-Determination Act: AYE

[The Union of the West]

Currency Reference Interim Clarification Act - Aye
Parental Leave Act - NAY
Child Benefit Allowance Programme Act - NAY
Labour Mediation Act - Abstain
Aurentine Landfill Tax Act - Aye
Workplace Recovery Act - NAY
Co-Determination Act - NAY

[Britanno]

Apologies with the delay in the vote count, I hope to have it sorted soon.

[National Empire]

Nay to all.

[Lamaredia]

Apologies with the delay in the vote count, I hope to have it sorted soon.

I'm almost done with it if you want me to post it.
EDIT: I was doing it in case both you and Ainin were indisposed.

[Britanno]

Apologies with the delay in the vote count, I hope to have it sorted soon.

I'm almost done with it if you want me to post it.
EDIT: I was doing it in case both you and Ainin were indisposed.

How kind of you to offer, thank you.

[Lamaredia]

The vote was over ages ago. Since it seems that Ainin and Brittano isn't nearby I guess I have to do this. (EDIT: Brittano came back while I was doing this. I finished it anyways)

Final Vote Count

---

Currency Reference Interim Clarification Act
Aye: 42
Nay: 1
Abstain: 4

Parental Leave Act
Aye: 22
Nay: 22
Abstain: 4

Child Benefit Allowance Programme Act
Aye: 24
Nay: 17
Abstain: 7

Labour Mediation Act
Aye: 29
Nay: 7
Abstain: 10

Aurentine Landfill Tax Act
Aye: 28
Nay: 13
Abstain: 5

Workplace Recovery Act
Aye: 15
Nay: 29
Abstain: 5

Co-Determination Act
Aye: 15
Nay: 29
Abstain: 5

Lemurian Islands didn't vote for two acts, so I'm a bit confused since he never clarified whether he skipped them or not.

The Currency Reference Interim Clarification Act, Child Benefit Allowance Programme Act, Labour Mediation Act and Aurentine Landfill Tax Act passed.

The Parental Leave Act, Workplace Recovery Act and Co-Determination Act did not pass.

All votes, even those after the actual end of the vote are counted.

[Lamaredia]

I'm almost done with it if you want me to post it.
EDIT: I was doing it in case both you and Ainin were indisposed.

How kind of you to offer, thank you.

No problem at all.

[Lamaredia]

Debate has started on Business & Finance Section B. The debate will last for 48 hours, until 06:31 PM, the 4th of November.

Business & Finance
To deal with issues pertinent to the Work, Commerce, and Treasury ministries

---

Section B
-2013 Aurentine Budget Proposal [GOV Proposal]
-Responsible Budget of 2013 [Libertarian Proposal]
-Transparent Pricing Act
-The Freedom From Taxation Act
-Continuing Resolution Act

[Minarchist States]

For the authors of the Libertarian budget, Bel needs to change it from LCP to LPA, unless you don't think it matters. Otherwise all looks good so far...

[Lamaredia]

For the authors of the Libertarian budget, Bel needs to change it from LCP to LPA, unless you don't think it matters. Otherwise all looks good so far...

At the moment I do not think that it matters.
EDIT: You may ask him to fix it yourself though.

[Belmaria]

There is a problem with the government budget proposal. The bracket tax system is inherently flawed, as some individuals who receive raises will end up earning less money rather than more.

Example:

I am a construction worker making £30,000/year. I just got a raise and now make £31,000/year. Before, I paid £4,500 (15%) in taxes, leaving me with £25,500 for personal use. Now I pay £9,300 (30%) in taxes, leaving £21,700 for my own use. So I got a raise but actually lost a huge chunk of money. That's not right at all. The other budget uses a fairer system based on an algorithm that ensures that people do not suffer from this problem.

For the authors of the Libertarian budget, Bel needs to change it from LCP to LPA, unless you don't think it matters. Otherwise all looks good so far...

At the moment I do not think that it matters.
EDIT: You may ask him to fix it yourself though.

It was fixed but the SPpT did not link to the original bill, rather a post which quoted it. So the edits are not in the link provided by the SPpT.

[Lamaredia]

There is a problem with the government budget proposal. The bracket tax system is inherently flawed, as some individuals who receive raises will end up earning less money rather than more.

Example:

I am a construction worker making £30,000/year. I just got a raise and now make £31,000/year. Before, I paid £4,500 (15%) in taxes, leaving me with £25,500 for personal use. Now I pay £9,300 (30%) in taxes, leaving £21,700 for my own use. So I got a raise but actually lost a huge chunk of money. That's not right at all. The other budget uses a fairer system based on an algorithm that ensures that people do not suffer from this problem.

At the moment I do not think that it matters.
EDIT: You may ask him to fix it yourself though.

It was fixed but the SPpT did not link to the original bill, rather a post which quoted it. So the edits are not in the link provided by the SPpT.

Ah, understood. I can't fix that sadly, as I do not have access to the SPpT account.

[Belmaria]

There is a problem with the government budget proposal. The bracket tax system is inherently flawed, as some individuals who receive raises will end up earning less money rather than more.

Example:

I am a construction worker making £30,000/year. I just got a raise and now make £31,000/year. Before, I paid £4,500 (15%) in taxes, leaving me with £25,500 for personal use. Now I pay £9,300 (30%) in taxes, leaving £21,700 for my own use. So I got a raise but actually lost a huge chunk of money. That's not right at all. The other budget uses a fairer system based on an algorithm that ensures that people do not suffer from this problem.


It was fixed but the SPpT did not link to the original bill, rather a post which quoted it. So the edits are not in the link provided by the SPpT.

Ah, understood. I can't fix that sadly, as I do not have access to the SPpT account.

Sorry, not the SPpT, you. You can edit the above post to include the original version of the bill.

[Lamaredia]

Ah, understood. I can't fix that sadly, as I do not have access to the SPpT account.

Sorry, not the SPpT, you. You can edit the above post to include the original version of the bill.

Done.