NSG Senate Coffee Shop: No Free Refills

[Tectonix]

I believe that debate should be addressed to the Speaker, as to remind members of the Speaker's power to maintain decorum and to avoid circus sideshow like you have in the United States because of the constant sniping that their direct conversations lead to.

Addressed in Section 2, Clause B.

I worry that the voting periods for some things may be too short to give people a chance to respond.

I can extend amendment votes to 12 hours, and the special amendments for treaties and budget bills to full 24 hours.

[Paketo]

Rules and Procedures of the Senate of Galatea
Sponsor: Giovanni Galatis (DP — Tectonix)
Co-Sponsors:

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A Resolution of the Galatean Senate to establish the procedures for the deliberation of business in the federal legislative assembly.

Sponsor Constantine Iolanthe (CHU). I do have a question about S3 f as it says Quorum shall be seven 1/4 of the Senate's composition. Should that seven be there?

[Tectonix]

Rules and Procedures of the Senate of Galatea
Sponsor: Giovanni Galatis (DP — Tectonix)
Co-Sponsors:

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A Resolution of the Galatean Senate to establish the procedures for the deliberation of business in the federal legislative assembly.

Sponsor Constantine Iolanthe (CHU). I do have a question about S3 f as it says Quorum shall be seven 1/4 of the Senate's composition. Should that seven be there?

Nope — I did a little copy pasting from another RoP I'd written for a different political simulator, which had a fixed number of members. That's why the seven was there.

[Coconut Isle]

Senator Xenophon sponsors all available bills.

[Counterforce Militia]

Thoughts, sponsors?

Probably should let the PM and the Opposition Leader change the order of bills in their respective queues.

[Collatis]

Rules and Procedures of the Senate of Galatea

Get rid of the quorum requirement (not at all workable in the Senate) and add a requirement for the Speaker to be nonpartisan and unbiased, and I might sponsor.

The Bill Bill

Sponsor.

[The Miaphysite Church of Coptic Archism]

Rules and Procedures of the House of Representatives of Galatea
Co-Authors: Lilika Samaras (AfC — The Miaphysite Church of Coptic Archism), Giovanni Galatis (DP - Tectonix)
Sponsors: Gary Tyreea (FIRE - Martune), Andrea Michelakos (FDP - Van Hool Islands), Joseph Sartori (DP - Collatis), ? (Ind. - Maklohi Vai), Niccolo Fallaci (FDP - Roosevetania), Andreios Argyris (AfC - Crylante), Alexandra Malgrave (Ind. - Malgrave)

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A Resolution of the Galatean Senate to establish the procedures for the deliberation of business in the federal legislative assembly.

BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Head of the State, by and with the counsel of the Government, and the authority of the Senate, by virtue of the powers placed upon it by the Law, as follows:

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§1 –Definitions:

1. For the purposes of this act, the Leader of the Official Opposition is the leader of the largest political bloc opposed to the government.

§2 –The Dais:

1. The Dais of the House of Representatives shall consist of a Speaker, Parliamentarian and Clerk.
2. The presiding officer of the Galatean House of Representatives shall be the Speaker.
3. The Speaker is charged with maintaining order in the chamber, ruling on incidental (and other such appropriate) motions, bringing bills to the floor for consideration and ensuring all Senator-elects meet the necessary prerequisites for taking office before being sworn in.
4. The Speaker shall be elected by the assembled House of Representatives through a simple majority immediately following the election of the Prime Minister, with their terms lasting the same length.
5. The Speaker may appoint a Speaker pro tempore at their discretion.
6. The Speaker must be non-partisan in action as well as affiliation, if a member of a political party is elected speaker they must resign their position in their party to take up the position of Speaker.
7. The Parliamentarian shall be appointed by the Speaker, and is charged with reviewing proposed bills for legal inconsistencies, halting proceedings on a proposed bill if it breaks either federal law or house rules, and advising the Speaker in the context of house rules.
8. The Clerk shall be appointed by the Speaker, and is charged with calling the roll during roll call votes and maintaining an archive of all passed Acts and Resolutions.

§3 –Decorum:

1. Senators shall be respectful towards all other Senators, and may address each other in such terms as "The Honourable Senator," "My Honourable Colleague," "The Senator from [constituency],", "My Esteemed Colleague," or other equivalent terms, as deemed by the Speaker.
2. Senators shall address the Speaker when making statements or asking questions within the Chamber.
3. Senators may not impugn the integrity or dignity of another Senator when in the Chamber.
4. Senators may not use language unbecoming of an elected official when speaking in the Chamber — such language shall be decided at the discretion of the Speaker of the Senate.
5. Senators may not call for violence against another Senator, nor their constituents, when in the Chamber.
6. Senators may not physically harm another Senator when in the Chamber.
7. Senators may not unnecessarily obstruct the business of the Chamber.
8. Senators may not impugn the integrity or dignity of the Speaker, nor their Office.
9. Senators may not engage in conduct unbecoming of an elected official with the Chamber, at the discretion of the Speaker of the Senate.
10. Should there be mass disorder, the Speaker may unilaterally suspend proceedings for a temporary period to restore order.

§4 –Debate:

1. Debate within the Chamber must be pertinent to the question at hand, unless it be an address made by a newly-elected official or foreign dignitary.
2. Senators speaking of unrelated matters, while lacking justification, are subject to being called to order by the Speaker of the Senate.
3. Debate may never breach decorum.
4. A Speaker pro tempore may not preside over a question whose debate they participated in.

§5 –Bill Submission and Queues:

1. Any bill, once having gained three (3) supporting representatives (sponsors and co-authors beyond the first co-author), can be submitted to the Office of the Speaker at the leisure of the bill's author.
2. There shall be three queues—One for government bills (henceforth defined as any bill the Prime Minister designates as a government bill), one for opposition bills (henceforth defined as any bill the Leader of the Official Opposition designates as an opposition bill) and one for other bills. Each bill submitted to the speaker shall be put at the bottom of its respective queue.
3. Budget and Appropriations bills shall bypass all other bills, and be put at the top of the government bill queue.

§6 –Schedule:

1. Debate and voting shall be set to a weekly timetable. All bills presented during the week shall be voted on for 24 hours during Saturday-Sunday. The Speaker may not call a vote on a bill at an irregular time during the week.
2. Each week, on Sunday-Monday after the previous week's voting period, there shall be a 24 hour period for Oral Questions. All members may ask questions. Questions must be directed to the Prime Minister or a cabinet member, and must be relevant to the member's portfolio.
3. The number of bills presented each week shall be no less than 2, and no more than 5, at the Speaker's discretion. The nature of the bills presented with regards to their respective queue shall be determined as follows. If two bills are presented in a week, one shall be from the government queue, and one shall be from the opposition queue. If three, one shall be government, one shall be opposition, and one shall be other. If four, two shall be government, one shall be opposition, and one shall be other. If five, two shall be government, two shall be opposition, and one shall be other. If there are no bills from a particular queue to be submitted, it's slot(s) go first to government bills, then to opposition bills, then to other bills.
4. Each bill presented will be debated on for a period of 24 hours.
5. If less than 5 bills are presented in a week, the remaining time before voting begins can be spent on general debate, welcoming foreign dignitaries, hearing speeches from the President or members of the public, or other such functions at the discretion of the Speaker.

§7 –Amendments:

1. Typographical and clerical errors in a bill can be fixed at the time of a bill's passing without needing a vote.
2. During the week a bill is on the floor, the author (or a co-author if applicable) may offer amendments to the bill. If the majority of co-authors and sponsoring representatives support the amendment, it will be added to the bill before voting at the end of the week.
3. After a bill is voted into law, unless explicitly protected, it can be amended by passing an amendment bill, titled "Nth [Act Title] Amendment Bill" or similar.

§8 - Voting Procedures:

1. Motions made by senators shall be voted on if they receive three (3) seconds from other senators.
2. Voting on motions shall last 24 hours and can happen concurrently with debating on bills.
3. Votes on bills and motions shall require a simple majority for passage — treaties shall require a 2/3rds vote.
4. Discussion other than to inform the Speaker of important information is out of order during bill voting periods.
5. The Speaker may not vote unless breaking a tie.
6. Proxy voting may only be in order if both parties (the one proxying the vote and the one casting the vote that is to be proxied)
   sign a legal affidavit and present it to the Speaker prior to voting procedures being initiated.

§9 - Motion Precedence and their Functionalities:

1. Motion to adjourn, used to adjourn Senate proceedings until a set time.
2. Motion to recess, used to adjourn Senate proceedings for a short period of time.
3. Point of personal privilege, used to bring to the attention of the Senate a lack of comfort, safety, or capacity of hearing other Delegates.
4. Point of excusal, used by a Senator to request being excused from their duties as Senator for a specified reason for a set period of time.
5. Point of order, used to bring to the attention of the Speaker of the Senate a departure from the set rules and precedence that may be in progress.
6. Point of parliamentary inquiry, used to seek information with regards to procedural matters.
7. Point of information, used to seek information regarding the business and debate at hand.
8. Motion to extend debate, used to extend the amount of time allowed for debate, under extraordinary circumstances as allowed by the Speaker of the Senate.
9. Motion to appeal the ruling of the Chair, used to override the ruling of the Speaker of the Senate on a motion, amendment, or other ruling, if successful.

§10 - Disciplinary Procedures:

1. Disciplinary procedures may be enacted should a Senator continue to breach decorum.
2. Official Warning: The Speaker may issue a senator an official warning for breaching decorum of the House of Representatives. This warning carries no punishment but can be used to indicate that further breaches will not be tolerated.
3. Call to Order: Should a Senator break House rules during debate, the Speaker may call them to order. The Senator shall not participate during the current debate, but shall not be required to leave the Chamber.
4. Censuring: A public reprimand or condemnation by the House against a Senator who has committed an offense against the state, government members, or the Senate itself, or of a group of people, may be initiated by the Speaker, requiring five (5) seconds. If censure is formally invoked, the Senator must appear before the Dais while the Speaker of the Senate reads aloud why they were censured. A censured Senator may not participate in debate for three (3) days after censure is invoked.
5. Expulsion: In the most dire circumstances where a member has been convicted of a criminal offense and refuses to resign, or other extraordinary circumstances deemed as eligible for expulsion by the Parliamentarian, senators may motion for the expulsion of said member, requiring ten (10) seconds. A 2/3rds majority must be acquired in a 24 hour vote for a Senator to be expelled; if expulsion is formally invoked, the Senator is to be seized by the Serjeant-at-Arms and be brought before the Speaker of the Senate, who will read aloud the charges levied against them, before being taken by the Serjeant-at-Arms out of the Chamber of the Senate. An expelled Senator is barred from stepping foot on Senate again, pending a trial by the appropriate judicial court.
6. Motion to Vacate the Chair: In the circumstances of dereliction of duty, lack of impartiality, or inability to carry out the duties of the Speaker of the Senate, any member of the Senate may move to vacate the Speaker of the Senate, prompting a vote to sustain the motion or overrule it, requires ten (10) seconds. If the Speaker of the Senate is formally vacated, elections for a new Speaker of the Senate shall begin.

Took work from both Tectonix's and Merizoc's bills and tweaked them significantly to make a more inclusive single bill for procedures of the House of Representatives. (Btw, I will add both of you as co-authors of this bill if you'd like, felt tactless to do so without permission).

Made a few changes to discipline, got rid of quorums, got rid of amending bills on the floor (encourages more care before submitting bills and can breed more bills to amend already passed laws), and a few other changes throughout. Open to criticism.

[Martune]

Sponsor above bill

[Paketo]

I would sponser above bill but the no floor amending makes me not. If people have a problem with a bill they should be able to offer a amendment right there.

[Collatis]

I like the idea of getting rid of floor amendments. They honestly haven’t worked very well when we’ve used them and I prefer going back to the old system. However, I would still like to see a requirement for the Speaker to be nonpartisan in their affiliation and their actions. History has shown that a partisan Speaker does not work.

[Ainin]

As someone who's written a lot of bills in the past, I still support including an amendment process to bills.

1. It slows down the pace at which bills are debated, which is otherwise too fast.

2. Finding a flaw in the chamber and fixing it then and there is incredibly valuable.

[Tectonix]

Co-authored (sponsored) if we have some mechanism for amendments, and a rule that makes the Speaker nonpartisan.

[MERIZoC]

Archism >_>

[The Miaphysite Church of Coptic Archism]

For the most part, if people want to make changes to bills before they pass, they should try to accomplish it in the Coffee Shop, this is meant to be a legislation workshop after all, not just a place for bills to go to be sponsored. I will explicitly make the speaker non-partisan, but I don't think on-floor amendments will work. At most, I could maybe allow amendments on the floor if the submitting author and majority of sponsors support it, but not otherwise putting it to a vote.

[Vienna Eliot]

Let's have floor amendments in the House of Tribunes. I think they'd work better in a smaller body like that, and we could even have bills amended by a motion with three seconds (half the chamber), avoiding even having a formal vote on it.

[MERIZoC]

Bill -> Queue -> Assembly -> Tribunes (amendments) -> Queue -> Assembly -> Pass?

[Collatis]

I will explicitly make the speaker non-partisan

Once you make the change, you’ll have my sponsorship.

[Maklohi Vai]

I support having on-floor amendments.

I will explicitly make the speaker non-partisan

Once you make the change, you’ll have my sponsorship.

This for me as well.

[Nulla Bellum]

"I could possible sign on as a sponsor to this bill if floor amendments were allowed and proxy voting were eliminated. Either you show up and vote / don't vote, or you don't show up and don't vote. None of that 'Epstein's Mom wrote a note' crap to excuse no-shows."

[Van Hool Islands]

Rules and Procedures of the House of Representatives of Galatea

[House of Judah]

"I could possible sign on as a sponsor to this bill if floor amendments were allowed and proxy voting were eliminated. Either you show up and vote / don't vote, or you don't show up and don't vote. None of that 'Epstein's Mom wrote a note' crap to excuse no-shows."

Proxy voting has been part of the RP since the beginning. It is a recognition of the fact that there are times even with the 24 hour voting period that people can't get on but still wish to participate in the votes.

[Roosevetania]

Once you make the change, you’ll have my sponsorship.

This for me as well.

And me too.

[Nulla Bellum]

"I could possible sign on as a sponsor to this bill if floor amendments were allowed and proxy voting were eliminated. Either you show up and vote / don't vote, or you don't show up and don't vote. None of that 'Epstein's Mom wrote a note' crap to excuse no-shows."

Proxy voting has been part of the RP since the beginning. It is a recognition of the fact that there are times even with the 24 hour voting period that people can't get on but still wish to participate in the votes.

Oh, that's meta / OOC stuff. I'm RPing as if 29 Senators didn't care for the GEA bill, with only 7 of them bold enough to say so.

[House of Judah]

Proxy voting has been part of the RP since the beginning. It is a recognition of the fact that there are times even with the 24 hour voting period that people can't get on but still wish to participate in the votes.

Oh, that's meta / OOC stuff. I'm RPing as if 29 Senators didn't care for the GEA bill, with only 7 of them bold enough to say so.

Coffee shop is largely OOC.

[Lamaredia]

Oh, that's meta / OOC stuff. I'm RPing as if 29 Senators didn't care for the GEA bill, with only 7 of them bold enough to say so.

Coffee shop is largely OOC.

Isn't it usually 100% OOC?