Romane Statehood Advancing
This morning, the House of Representatives officially passed the Romane Statehood Act 156-76 (with the Representatives absent). The bill, sponsored by the Romane Territory's Non-Voting Delegate Norene Queen, has now been sent to the Senate, where it will need to be approved by the Standing Committee on Governmental Affairs, before going to vote on the senate floor. Most legislative and political experts are anticipating the Senate to pass the Statehood Act. This is following a scandal from earlier this year when the Romane Territory held an unauthorized referendum on statehood, in which the federal government threatened to disband the territorial legislature and some conservative federal legislators called for the Romane Governor's impeachment. A resulting court case upheld the Territory's right to apply for statehood.
So what's the deal with statehood, what is the difference between being a state and being a territory? That really depends on the territory's specific organic act. Generally speaking though, territories lack sovereignty. The Ibican federal system is based on the theory of Dual Sovereignty, that the federal government and the states' both have their own, inherent sovereignty, defined and limited by the Constitution. Territories though, do not have sovereignty. Because of this lack of sovereignty, territories also lack representation. In Congress, each state gets 2 senators and 1 representative for every 500,000 residents. Territories though, only get one non-voting representative each, and no senators. Residents of territories also cannot vote for president. People born in territories are Ibican citizens by birth, and are entitled to voting rights, but not while residing in territories. If a resident of Romane desired to vote in a Presidential Election, they would need to move across the state line into Albion to illegible.
There are some benefits though to territorial status, or, at least there can be. This depends on the territories specific Organic Act. For instance, Edward Island is allowed to represent itself in intergovernmental organizations and international sporting competitions. Every Territory is also exempted from federal income taxes, while still receiving federal aide; such as highway funding, disaster relief, and welfare programs. Territories also technically have the option to become independent. While states also can become independent, it is theorized that it would be much more difficult and expensive for them to do so. The only territory though that would likely be financially solvent on its own is Edward Island (which 500 years ago was an independent kingdom), however their is are no serious independence movements in Ibica at the moment.
With the Apparent success of Romane's statehood bid looming, we should expect to see Edward Island follow suit very quickly. Haviland Territory may make a bid as well, but support for statehood is much lower there. Time will only tell though. Should the Romane Statehood Act pass, it stipulates that the Territory of Romane would become the State of Romane on January 1st, with the scheduled territorial elections in November would become the first Romane state level election, with seat for an upper house of their legislature, 3 federal House of Representative Seats, and an elector governor. The newly elected governor would then also appoint 2 senators to serve until the next Senate elections. Supposing the bill passes, the Romane State Government would take office at noon on January 1st.
About the Author
Eve Warren is a graduate of the University of Angola - Olympia's School of Political Science. During her school years, she interned with the Angola State Legislature's Legislative Staff, one year serving as the chief of staff for her local state representative. After college, she moved to Willmington and become a professional legislative staffer for five years, before joining the Congressional Reporting Service. Because of the excellence of her reporting with the CRS, she was the first writer chosen asked to write for the Record. Eve is also a wife and mother of two young daughters.©Ibica Government Record, all rights reserved.
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