Act of Congress Fluff Removal Act

[End]

House Vote: 9-0-0
Senate Vote: 4-1-0

A
BILL
To

Purpose of this bill is to amend the constitution.​

The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:

1 - Short Title and Enactment
(1) This Act may be cited as the 'Fluff Removal Act.'
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.
(3) This Act has been authored by xEndeavour
(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by v__d

2 - Interpretation
(1) The mischief this bill intends to resolve is the effects of a maximalist constitution.

2 - Reasons
(1) The constitution has become cluttered with unnecessary information to the formation of our government institutions.
(2) The constitution should not need to be changed daily and should be a document which outlines general functions, roles, and responsibilities of different areas of government.
(3) This bill amends this passage in the constitution without changing its meaning.

3 - Amendments

1. Legislative Power
Legislative power is vested in the Congress, consisting of two equal chambers, hereinafter called The Senate and The House of Representatives.

2. Role of Congress
The Congress serves to represent the will of the people and is responsible for debating, creating, removing, and amending country laws and specified rules. The Congress is therefore key in representing the will of the people, allowing every citizen to have either a direct or indirect impact on the governance of the country.

Once the bill has passed through Congress, it is then sent to the President for their approval. (presidential assent is already covered in the Constitutional powers of the president and the LSA)

The President has 14 days to sign or veto a bill from the time that they are notified, otherwise he or she will be in violation of their constitutional duties and the bill will be auto-vetoed. (presidential assent is already covered in the Constitutional powers of the president.)

Congress enters ‘caretaker mode’ on the first day of the electoral month.

Spoiler: Congressional Jurisdiction Summary

• Responsible for the creation, as well as the modification and removal of all server laws.
• Congress can also change rules in addition to laws, but only rules that affect groups that the government has oversight of.
• Congress has the ability to amend the Constitution as prescribed by Section V of this Constitution
• Congress may amend, create, regulate through appropriations, and remove government departments, including the roles and responsibilities they hold, and the positions within them. All of these except regulation through appropriations are complex changes.
• Congress can override an Executive Order (EO) made by the President by a supermajority vote in both chambers.
• Congress can override a Presidential veto by supermajority vote in both chambers.
• Congress can impose, amend, cease, and collect taxes.
• Congress can check, approve, or deny government spending
• Congress cannot give themselves power over other branches of Government nor can they take power away from them.
• Congress cannot override a veto on an appropriations bill.
• Congress cannot override a veto of a complex change.
• The Congress shall have the power to originate an Appropriations bill which shall allocate Government funds for specific purposes. Such a bill may be proposed at any time unless otherwise codified in law outside this Constitution.
• Congress may pass non-binding resolutions as formal requests to the Executive and the Departments. These do not require presidential assent.
• Congress may vote to remove the President for being unfit for office through the defined impeachment process or the defined process of the President being considered incapacitated.

3. The House of Representatives
The House of Representatives shall consist of 11 citizens, referred to as Representatives (Abbreviated Rep.) who are elected for 2-month terms. The House of Representatives is where all bills originate from.

The House of Representatives must have more than 50% of its total seats occupied to approve any motion or bill.

In the event that a vacancy arises in the House, the members of the House may vote amongst themselves to approve a new member to the chamber. Such a motion would require a supermajority to pass and does not require Senate approval or Presidential assent. The House may also motion for a Special Election in accordance with the law outside the Constitution.

Any person may submit a petition on the forums to recall a Representative. Should at least 20 other unique people sign the petition, a referendum shall be held no more than 24 hours later. The referendum shall last for 48 hours. The live results of such an election shall not be made public and the results shall only be disclosed once polling has concluded. To determine the outcome of the referendum, the official in question is removed from office if the percentage of nays is less than the percentage that represents their seat in Congress. For example, if there are 4 seats in the House, each seat represents 25% and therefore fewer than 25% of responses would need to be nay for the official to be removed. (this is an impossible threshold to meet, is never used, and is not an effective accountability measure. No one has ever been removed by recall and the recall process is a flawed one that promoted toxicity in politics)

Spoiler: Powers of the House of Representatives

• The House of Representatives is responsible for the creation of all bills.
• The House of Representatives begins the process of overriding a non-complex Presidential veto by a supermajority of votes. Such a motion would then be delivered to the Senate.
• Congress cannot override a veto of a complex change.
• Congress cannot give themselves power over other branches of Government nor can they take power away from
• Can impeach government officials, and ex-government officials no more than 2 months after leaving office, if the actions that led to impeachment happened while in office.
• The House shall have the power to issue a motion of Censure against any person or group. This has no legal repercussions and is purely a statement of disapproval. Should this motion be specific to the House’s disapproval it does not require Senate approval or Presidential assent. Should this motion seek to represent the whole Congress’s disapproval it must also attain Senate approval but not Presidential assent.
• The House may create and start a vote on non-binding resolutions. These do not require presidential assent.

4. The Senate
The Senate shall consist of 6 citizens, referred to as Senators (Abbreviated Sen.) who are elected for 4 month terms. The Senate acts as the house of review to the House of Representatives and cannot originate any bills.

The Senate shall internally elect a senator to the role of 'President of The Senate' whose power it shall be to preside over the Senate. In order to remove the President of The Senate, they must resign from the position or lose to a vote of no confidence from the incumbent Senators (supermajority). Should the election for the President of the Senate result in a tie, the President shall have the power to cast a tie-breaking vote. The President's of the Senate’s first order of business is to amend or reaffirm the standing orders of the Senate.

The Senate must have more than 50% of its total seats occupied to approve any motion, bill, or Presidential nomination, with the sole exception of Motions for Special Election.

In the event that a vacancy arises in the Senate, the members of the Senate may vote amongst themselves to approve a new member to the chamber. Such a motion would require a supermajority to pass and does not require Presidential assent. The Senate may also motion for a Special Election in accordance with the law outside the Constitution.

Any person may submit a petition on the forums to recall a Senator. Should at least 20 other unique people sign the petition, a referendum shall be held no more than 24 hours later. The referendum shall last for 48 hours. The live results of such an election shall not be made public and the results shall only be disclosed once polling has concluded. To determine the outcome of the referendum, the official in question is removed from office if the percentage of nays is less than the percentage that represents their seat in Congress. For example, if there are 4 seats in the Senate, each seat represents 25% and therefore fewer than 25% of responses would need to be nay for the official to be removed. (this is an impossible threshold to meet, is never used, and is not an effective accountability measure. No one has ever been removed by recall and the recall process is a flawed one that promoted toxicity in politics)

The Vice President shall have the power to cast a tie-breaking vote should a tie arise within the Senate, unless otherwise provided.

Spoiler: Powers of the Senate

• Responsible for reviewing all bills passed by the House of Representatives and voting on them as well as making amendments where they see fit.
• Approving and overturning motions of no confidence.
• Responsible for conducting impeachment trials after the house has impeached the official or ex-official, whereby a supermajority is required to decide a verdict. The Chief Justice shall preside over impeachment trials if the President or Vice-President is the one under question. If there is no active Chief Justice or the senate beliefs there might be a conflict of interest, the senate may appoint the "President of The Senate" or a lower-ranking justice instead. The Senate can only issue punishments to a verdict as specified within this constitution.
• Responsible for approving and rejecting players nominated by the President for Cabinet and Judicial appointments.
• The Senate shall have the power to issue a motion of Censure against any person or group. This has no legal repercussions and is purely a statement of disapproval. Should this motion be specific to the Senate’s disapproval it does not require House approval or Presidential assent.
• The Senate may create and start a vote on non-binding resolutions. These do not require presidential assent.
• Responsible for approving the signage/revocation/leaving of any treaty in which the Commonwealth of Redmont is involved, after a motion started by the President and through a simple majority vote.

5. Speaker of the House of Representatives
The House shall internally elect a Representative to the role of 'Speaker of the House' whose power it shall be to preside over the House of Representatives and to represent the will of the chamber for the duration of the Congressional session. The Speaker of the House is responsible for maintaining the good order and efficient running of the chamber, as well as chairing meetings, facilitating the voting of bills and all proposed motions, and ensuring the timely passage of Bills to the Senate.

The Speaker of the House must be an elected or appointed member of the House of Representatives.

In order to remove the Speaker’s appointment, the Speaker must resign from Speakership or lose to a vote of no confidence (supermajority).

The Speaker’s first order of business is to amend or reaffirm the standing orders of the House of Representatives.

6. President of the Senate
The Senate shall internally elect a senator to the role of 'President of The Senate' whose power it shall be to preside over the Senate and to represent the will of the chamber for the duration of the Congressional session. The President of the Senate is responsible for maintaining the good order and efficient running of the chamber, as well as chairing meetings, facilitating the voting of bills and all proposed motions, and ensuring the timely passage of Bills to the President for ascent.

Should the election for the President of the Senate result in a tie, the President shall have the power to cast a tie-breaking vote.

The President's of the Senate’s first order of business is to amend or reaffirm the standing orders of the Senate.

The President of the Senate can be removed via a vote of no confidence (supermajority).

7. Electoral Terms and Limitations
(1) The Supreme Court of Redmont is to act as the Court of Disputed Returns.
(2) A citizen can only sit in one chamber; Where a citizen is elected to both chambers, it will be that they assume their seat in the Senate and forfeit their Seat in the House of Representatives.
(3) Candidates are to make their official political party affiliations known or if none, opt to run as an independent. Failure to identify a party affiliation will result in the candidate being declared an independent.
(4) Each candidate is to be listed separately on the ballot with their party in parentheses by their name.
(5) False party affiliations will be excluded at the request of the relevant party leader.
(6) All citizens eligible to vote shall be granted one vote.
(7) Political parties cannot sponsor a higher number of candidates than seats that are up to vote.

8. Elections for the House of Representatives
(1) Elections for the House of Representatives shall be conducted through a system of Proportional Representation outlined in the Electoral Act.
(2) In order to run for the House of Representatives, citizens need to meet these requirements:

• Has accrued 24 hours playtime and 12 hours of playtime within the last 30 days prior to declaring their intent to contest the election on the forums.
• Is an active participant in the community, in-game, on discord, and on the forums.

(3) House of Representatives Duration
2 Month Term
(4) House of Representatives Election Months:
January, March, May, July, September, and November

9. Elections for the Senate
(1) Elections for the Senate shall be conducted through a system of block voting outlined in the Electoral Act.
(2) The Senate shall be divided into two classes, Class A and Class B. Class A Senators are elected in January, May, and September elections. Class B Senators are elected in March, July, and November elections.
a. Where the entire Senate is up for election, the highest polling 50% of Senators shall be assigned to Class A while the remaining Senators shall be assigned to Class B.
(3) In order to run for the Senate, citizens need to meet these requirements:

• Has accrued 72 hours playtime and 12 hours of playtime within the last 30 days prior to declaring their intent to contest the election on the forums
• Is an active participant in the community, in-game, on discord, and on the forums.

(4) Senate Duration
4 Month Term
(5) Senate Election Months:
Class A:
January, May, September
Class B:
March, July, November

10. Quorums
(1) Quorums apply to all voting conducted in congress.
(2) The quorum when voting shall be dynamic - the majority will be decided based on the total number of those who have voted.
(3) The quorum to make a decision must be no less than 50% of the statutory amount of seats in the chamber.

11. Procedures for the Removal and Replacement of Congress Members
Vacancy, nomination, and special election procedures are highlighted in the Electoral Act.

 

[GoldBlooded]

Presidential Assent

This bill has been granted assent and is hereby signed into law.