- Joined
- Mar 19, 2021
- Messages
- 8
- Thread Author
- #1
A
BILL
To
Provide for Legislative Standards.
BILL
To
Provide for Legislative Standards.
The people of Democracy Craft, 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 “Legislative Standards Act”.
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.
(3) This Act was written by Representative Lord_Donuticus and Representative xEndeavour
2 - Reasons
(1) This Act will form a consolidated law of standards for the legislature.
(2) This Act will succeed the Congressional Process.
(3) This bill has too many working parts to include in what has been removed, changed, added etc. There were minor changes to wording and format which I encourage people to cross check with the constitution and the below acts of congress. Where necessary, use a text comparator as well.
'3 - Capitol Building
(1) Public spaces within the Capitol are to remain free of political branding and will remain impartial to passing traffic.
4 - Standing Orders
(1) Upon commencing a new congressional session, the first order of business for each chamber is to amend or reconfirm its extant standing orders.
5 - Sergeant at Arms
(1) The Sergeant at Arms is a temporary position appointed at the discretion of the relevant Presiding Officer, and may be relieved at any time.
(a) The Sergeant-at-Arms must be a serving Police Officer.
(2) The Police Officer will be responsible for the following while acting in the capacity of Sergeant-at-Arms:
(a) Ensuring the safety and the security of the Capitol Building.
(b) Ensuring the safety and the security of Representatives, Senators, and citizens on Capitol Grounds.
(c) Removing anyone from the Capitol grounds at the request of the relevant Presiding Officer.
6 - The Office of Congressional Affairs
(1) The Office of Congressional Affairs is a statutory body which provides both chambers of congress with administrative support.
(2) The Office of Congressional Affairs is overseen by the Presiding Officers.
(3) The Office of Congressional Affairs is charged with:
(a) Making all necessary changes to documents of law
(b) Assisting the Speaker with the administration of the House
(c) Assisting the President of the Senate with the administration of the Senate
(d) Communicating with the Press
(e) Assisting in the formatting and drafting of Bills
(f) Managing and publishing congressional transparency reports.
(g) Regularly informing the public of motions of significant public interest via government-announcements. Motions of significant public interest include but are not limited to:
(i) Nominations/Confirmations
(ii) Impeachments/Removals
(iii) Censures
(iv) New committees or changes to committees
(v) Veto overrides
(4) The members of the Office will be referred to as 'Congressional Staff'.
(5) The Office of Congressional Affairs will comprise at least two clerks.
(6) Hiring
(a) The Presiding Officers must receive the approval of the Congress to hire Congressional Staff by way of nomination.
(b) A Congressional Staff position will carry over each term until a Presiding Officer actions §6(7)(a).
(c) Congressional Staff may receive a salary decided by law outside of the Constitution.
(7) Dismissal Process
(a) Congressional Staff serve at the Presiding Officers pleasure.
(8) In the Presiding Officer’s absence, or if otherwise delegated, the Deputy Presiding Officer will assume the Presiding Officer's authority over Congressional Staff.
(9) The Office of Congressional Affairs is authorised to adjust the numbering of sections and subsections within acts, provided that such changes do not alter the substantive meaning of the act and are limited to correcting administrative errors in the sequential numbering.
7 - Bills
(1) Representatives have the ability to officially propose bills to Congress. In order to propose a bill, the Representative will follow the congressional process as defined in §9.
(2) A rejected bill or a bill of the same nature will not be proposed for a period of 14 days unless a motion of reconsideration has been approved by Congress.
(a) Vetoed bills and bills that failed at referendum are considered rejected bills, and are thus subject to the same limitation.
(b) This limitation only applies to bills rejected during the current congressional session.
(3) The template for bills will be annexed to this act in a separate thread. Any amendments to the Bill format will be an amendment to the Legislative Standards Act.
(4) The title of a bill must explain the purpose of the bill and may not contain any personal identifiers such as names, initials and abbreviations referring to persons.
8 - Resolutions
(1) Congress may pass non-binding resolutions to express opinions or make formal requests. These do not require presidential assent.
(2) The template for Resolutions will be annexed to this act in a separate thread. Any amendments to the Resolution format will be an amendment to the Legislative Standards Act.
(3) Resolutions shall follow the same process and rules of Bills as outlined in this Act unless otherwise specified.
(4) Standing orders and other legislation may make distinctions between Bills and Resolutions.
(5) §9(5)(a) and §9(6) do not apply to Resolutions. After a Resolution passes both chambers of Congress, it shall be moved to the Resolutions forum rather than await assent.
9 - Congressional Process
(1) The Bill is posted to forums by the sponsoring Representative as a Bill: Draft. A link will be posted to #bills by the representative.
(2) After at least 24 hours have passed, the Speaker will then add a publicly visible poll in which congressional members will be able to on the bill for a 48 hour voting period and the prefix will be changed to Bill: Voting.
(3) After the 48 hours have passed, all votes have been submitted, or a majority is reached:
(a) If the Bill is passed, the Presiding Officer of the House will change the Bill status to Bill: Pending and move it to the Senate, notifying the President of the Senate; or
(b) If the Bill is rejected, the Presiding Officer of the House will change the Bill status to Bill: Rejected and move it to the Rejected sub-forum.
(c) Passage shall be considered as a simple majority, unless otherwise provided by law, of ayes out of all non-abstention votes cast, and rejection shall be considered as a simple majority, unless otherwise provided by law, of nays out of all non-abstention votes cast.
(d) If there’s a tie, the poll will be held again without the abstain option. If there is a tie once more, the bill will automatically be rejected.
(4) When debate is finished in the Senate, the President of the Senate will re-open the publicly visible poll for 48 hours. The prefix will be changed to Bill: Voting.
(5) After the 48 hours have passed; all votes have been submitted; or a majority is reached:
(a) If the Bill is passed, the Presiding Officer of the Senate will move the bill to the Congressional forum applying the 'awaiting assent' prefix, notifying the President for their assent; or
(b) If the Bill is rejected, the Presiding Officer of the Senate will change the Bill status to Bill: Rejected and move it to the Rejected sub-forum with Senate recommendations in the comments.
(i) Passage shall be considered as a simple majority, unless otherwise provided by law, of ayes out of all non-abstention votes cast, and rejection shall be considered as a simple majority, unless otherwise provided by law, of nays out of all non-abstention votes cast.
(6) If a bill is passed by Congress, the President will do either of the following:
(a) The President will sign the Bill and move it to the Acts of Congress forum. The Speaker’s Office will update the relevant Rules and Laws; or
(b) The President will Veto the Bill and move it to the Rejected forum, providing the reason in the comments.
(7) Once the changes have been made, the Office of Congressional Affairs will announce the changes to the public, if the law is of significant public interest. Laws of significant public interest include but are not limited to the following:
(a) Changes to tax or property laws
(b) New restrictions against common or widespread crimes
(c) Laws requiring public referendum
10 - Acts of Congress
(1) When amending a bill, all changes must be marked with the appropriate color.
(a) All text being removed from an amended bill must be in a shade of red.
(b) All text being added to an amended bill must be in a shade of green.
(c) All text being reworded in an amended bill must be in a shade of yellow.
(2) Sub Forums
(a) Acts of Congress shall be split into the following categories and Acts will be sorted between them based on their primary function:
(i) Budgets
(ii) Constitutional Law
(iii) Property Law
(iv) Wilderness Law
(v) Economic & Business Law
(vi) Breach of Peace Law
(vii) Administrative Law
(viii) Miscellaneous Laws
(ix) Resolutions
(3) Amendments
(a) When an amendment to a bill passes, it will be added as a reply to the original act’s thread under the Bills in Acts of Congress.
(b) The original act will be edited and updated as new amendments are added to it.
(c) When a bill intends to amend an Act of Congress, a link to the Act of Congress must be present within the bill.
12 - Congressional Motions
A Congressional motion is a formal request for approval or disapproval by Congress. Unless otherwise provided, all motions are passed or failed on a majority basis and can be proposed by any member of a congressional chamber. Motions will be voted on by both chambers of congress, unless it is specified within the motion and not required by law for that type of motion. In order for a motion to be passed, it must pass a vote in all of the chambers in which it was voted on. Examples include, but are not limited to:
(1) Motion of No Confidence
(a) A Motion of No Confidence seeks to remove a presiding officer in a Congressional chamber from their function.
(b) A Motion of No Confidence against a presiding officer may be proposed only by a member in the Congressional chamber which the officer is presiding over and will only be voted on by that chamber.
(c) After a Motion of No Confidence has been proposed, and before it is voted on, the officeholder subject to the motion shall be given 24 hours to submit a response, which, if submitted, will be posted alongside the motion before it is voted on.
(d) A passing Motion of No Confidence will revert the subject of the motion to their regular role (Representative or Senator).
(2) Motion to Fund
(a) A Motion to Fund seeks to allocate funds appropriated to Congress and may be used for any purpose that supports legislative operations.
(b) Either the House of Representatives or the Senate may pass a motion to fund independently.
(c) No chamber may spend more than 50% of the legislative branch’s allocated funds in a fiscal period without joint approval from both chambers.
(3) Motion of Commendation
(a) A Motion of Congressional Commendation seeks to award an individual with a Congressional Medal.
(b) A Motion of Congressional Commendation requires a majority in both chambers of congress to pass.
(4) Motion of Commendation
(a) A Motion of Commendation seeks to recognize an individual for their contributions.
(b) A Motion of Commendation may be specified to be from either chamber independently, only requiring a majority vote in said chamber.
(5) Motion of Urgent Consideration
(a) A Motion of Urgent Consideration seeks to have a bill urgently considered. If passed, the voting on the bill that was motioned for Urgent Consideration must be opened within 12 hours, and the bill will receive priority when advancing to the Senate.
(b) Only a Representative may propose this motion, and it will be voted on by the House of Representatives.
(6) Motion of Censure
(a) A Motion of Censure seeks to publicly condemn an individual, government department or government agency, and their actions.
(b) A Motion of Censure serves as a formal reprimand but does not impose penalties.
(c) A Motion of Censure may only be made against a single individual or government department at a time. In order to censure multiple individuals, separate motions must be filed.
(d) A Motion of Censure may be passed by any congressional chamber independently.
(7) Motion of Removal
(a) A Motion of Removal seeks to remove a member of a congressional chamber from their position in congress.
(b) A Motion of Removal may only be made against a single individual at a time.
(c) A Motion of Removal must be made and voted on in accordance with the constitutional processes for removal of a member of congress, and the passing requirements shall be those that are defined in the Constitution.
(8) Motion to Override
(a) A Motion to Override seeks to override a presidential veto.
(b) A Motion to Override requires a supermajority in both chambers of congress to pass.
(9) Motion to Subpoena
(a) A Motion to Subpoena seeks to subpoena personnel or records for the purposes of a hearing or investigation.
(b) A Motion to Subpoena may be passed by any congressional chamber independently.
(10) Motion for Classification and Motion for Declassification
(a) A Motion for Classification seeks to classify information, preventing public release.
(b) A Motion for Declassification seeks to declassify information that is currently classified, allowing for public release of the information.
(c) A Motion for Classification may be passed by any congressional chamber independently.
(d) A Motion for Declassification requires to be passed in all chambers where the Motion for Classification that originally classified the information was passed in order to pass.
(e) While a Motion for Classification is under vote, the Motion for Classification and the information it seeks to classify may not be publicized.
(12) Motion to Amend
(a) A Motion to Amend seeks to amend a bill that is currently undergoing voting in a Congressional Chamber.
(b) Members of either chamber can propose a Motion to Amend a bill that is currently up for vote in the chamber they are a part of.
(c) A Motion to Amend proposed in the House of Representatives requires the same majority required for passage of that bill in only that chamber, and a Motion to Amend proposed in the Senate requires the same majority required for passage of that bill in both chambers.
(c) Following the passage of a Motion to Amend a bill, the bill will restart voting for 48 hours in the chamber it was in when the motion to amend was proposed, if that bill was up to vote in that chamber at any point between the motion’s proposal and the motion’s passage.
(i) In case the Motion to Amend changes neither the wording, nor the interpretation of a bill, it will not be required to restart the voting process in this manner under the discretion of the presiding officer with agreement from the proposer of the bill.
(12) Motion of Reconsideration
(a) A Motion to Reconsideration seeks to allow a bill to be re-proposed within 14 days of its rejection.
(b) The passage of a Motion of Reconsideration permits the proposal of a bill identical to or of the same nature as the rejected bill which has been motioned for reconsideration.
(c) A Motion of Reconsideration must be voted on and pass the vote in both chambers in order to pass.
(13) Motion to Hold in Contempt
(a) A Motion to Hold in Contempt seeks to summarily convict someone of Contempt of Congress.
(b) A Motion to Hold in Contempt may be passed by any congressional chamber independently.
(c) Upon passage of a Motion to hold in Contempt, the presiding officer of the chamber which passed the motion shall inform the Department of Homeland Security to action the punishment.
(14) Motion of Nomination
(a) A Motion of Nomination seeks to nominate someone to be hired as congressional staff.
(b) A Motion of Nomination must be voted on and pass the vote in both chambers in order to pass.
(15) Motion of Confirmation
(a) A Motion of Confirmation seeks to confirm a nominated candidate to the Cabinet or Judiciary.
(b) A Motion of Confirmation will only be voted on in the Senate, requiring a majority vote to pass.
13 - Voting
(1) If or when there is a motion against or relating specifically to a member of Congress, that member of Congress shall not be allowed to vote on that motion.
(2) An abstention vote may be submitted during voting if the member does not wish to vote for or against a matter before Congress. Failure to vote at all will be considered a non-vote and for the purposes of all other acts will be counted as an abstention.”
14 - Dereliction
(1) Congressional Members will be considered to have committed dereliction of their duties, if:
(a) they fail to vote on five or more bills/motions which fail due to not meeting quorum.
(b) they do not have enough playtime to vote in elections.
(2) Congressional Members will be exempt from this if they request a leave of absence before committing these acts.
15 - Congressional Hearings
(1) Location
(a) Hearings must take place in a Discord channel visible to the public.
(2) Initiating a Hearing
(a) Through a simple majority vote in a chamber of Congress, that chamber can open a chamber-specific hearing. Through a simple majority vote in both chambers of Congress, Congress can open a joint hearing.
(b) In chamber-specific hearings, only members of Congress from that chamber shall be able to participate. In joint hearings, members of both chambers of Congress shall be able to participate.
(c) A motion to hold a hearing may specify whether it is a chamber-specific hearing or a joint hearing. If unspecified, then it shall automatically be assumed to be a chamber-specific hearing.
(d) A chamber-specific hearing can become a joint hearing through a simple majority vote in both chambers, with such a motion initiating in the chamber that the hearing began in.
(i) If a subpoena is issued in a chamber-specific hearing that later becomes a joint hearing, the subpoena is still valid and in effect.
(e) A motion to hold a hearing may include one or more subpoenas as a part of the motion. Further subpoenas can be issued through passage of a motion in the chamber(s) holding the hearing.
(3) Closing a Hearing
(a) A hearing shall automatically be closed after five (5) days of no:
(i) invitations to testify;
(ii) questions asked by participating members of Congress;
(iii) proposals of motions to subpoena;
(iv) votes on motions to subpoena; and
(v) passage of motions to subpoena.
(b) A hearing may be closed through a consent of a simple majority of the chamber(s) holding the hearing.
(c) No hearing shall close solely as the result of a Congressional election.
(d) The five-day count mentioned in 3(a) of this Section shall pause when:
(i) at least one of the chambers of Congress participating in the hearing has no presiding officer;
(ii) at least one of the chambers of Congress participating in the hearing has not amended or reaffirmed its extant standing orders as required by law; and/or
(iii) the hearing has no chairperson.
(4) Subpoenas
(a) Through a simple majority, the chamber(s) of Congress holding a hearing can subpoena any number of persons or entities to appear before that hearing. Failure to appear within 72 hours of being summoned will result in a Contempt of Congress charge.
(b) The subpoena must state its reason.
(c) Where the subpoena is for a Government or business entity, the subpoenaed entity may offer an alternative representative to attend in their place. However, if any individual (e.g. the President or a Secretary) is specifically summoned, then an alternative representative cannot be offered.
(d) Subpoenaed persons and entities are required to testify in the hearing when questioned by any member of a participating chamber of Congress.
(5) Invitations to Testify
(a) The chairperson of a hearing may offer an invitation to testify to any person or entity. This does not require the consent of any other member of Congress, but may be overridden through a simple majority in the relevant chamber(s). An invitation to testify may still be overridden even if it has been accepted to the invitee, which the invitee shall no longer have permission to testify in the hearing.
(i) If an invitation to testify in a specific hearing is overridden, then another invitation to testify in that hearing cannot be offered to the same person or entity.
(b) Those invited to testify cannot provide false testimony, but they may choose to not answer certain questions as long as they explicitly state that they are opting not to answer.
(c) A person or entity invited to testify may dismiss itself from the hearing at any time, and the chairperson of the hearing may dismiss any invited persons or entities at any time.
(i) If dismissed, the person or entity shall require another invitation to testify or a subpoena to testify in the hearing once more.
(d) Any offered invitations to testify must be disclosed to the chamber(s) of Congress holding the hearing.
(6) Chairperson
(a) The chairperson of a hearing shall be the member of Congress who proposed that hearing.
(b) If the chairperson of a hearing ceases to be a member of a chamber participating in that hearing, the presiding officer of the chamber in which the hearing motion was proposed shall become the new chairperson of that hearing (once elected, if not yet elected).
(c) The chamber(s) holding the hearing may change the chairperson of the hearing to a different member of Congress through a simple majority vote.
(7) Right to Not Self-Incriminate
(a) A person or entity that is subpoenaed and/or invited to testify may invoke their right not to produce self-incriminating evidence during the hearing.
(8) Confirmation Hearings
(a) A Confirmation Hearing shall occur within 24 hours whenever an individual is nominated for a position in which the Senate must vote on the nomination.
(i) Positions may be exempt from this as specified in the Standing Orders of the Senate.
(b) Confirmation Hearings shall be Senate chamber-specific hearings and may not be expanded to include both chambers.
(c) The nominee shall automatically be subpoenaed.
(d) Unless otherwise specified by the Standing Orders of the Senate, the President of the Senate shall be the initial chairperson of a Confirmation Hearing.
(9) Standing Orders
(a) Each chamber of Congress may create further rules for their own chamber-specific hearings in their Standing Orders, as long as such rules do not conflict with any law.
(i) The Senate may create separate rules for Confirmation Hearings and other hearings specific to the Senate.
(b) Further rules for joint hearings must be agreed upon by both chambers of Congress.
(c) Further rules may substitute the provisions for the automatic closure of hearings described in Subsection 3(a) of this Section.
16 - Congressional Funds
(1) The reference to the legislative budget in this bill relates to the respective balance of the 'DCGovernmentLEG' account.
(2) The legislative branch may pass bills to limit or enforce spending on a specific subject.
(3) Spending remains subject to all bills regarding appropriations, including the logging and transparency of such spending.
(4) The Office of Congressional Affairs is responsible for appropriating the proper funds once a motion is passed, unless otherwise directed in such motion.
(5) Congressional members are barred from appropriating themselves and or accepting bonuses for the purpose of extra remuneration.
(a) Members of the Office of Congressional Affairs are exempt from this.
(b) Representatives and Senators may still receive appropriations to assist them in the course of their official duties.
(6) Any official gifts made to a Representative or Senator are to be property of the state and should be surrendered to the Office of Congressional Affairs at the member's first opportunity.
(a) The Office of Congressional Affairs may choose to display or simply retain and archive these gifts.
17 - Redundancy
(1) A 'Redundant' prefix will be made available to the Office of Congressional Affairs.
(2) This prefix may be applied to bills by the Office of Congressional Affairs where a bill no longer has legal relevance. Bills with the redundancy prefix will be moved to the Congress archive folder on the forum.
(3) Redundant bills will remain law until they are formally rescinded.
19 - Peer Review
(1) A co-sponsor is required on all bills proposed.
(a) A co-sponsor must be a willing Representative or Senator who is not the proposer of the bill.
(b) If a listed co-sponsor claims that legislation was introduced without their consent, it is to be withdrawn from consideration at the discretion of the presiding officer of the House unless evidence of consent is provided. Consent may not be withdrawn once legislation is introduced.
20 - Oath of Office
(1) Any Presiding Officer of a chamber of Congress may choose to hold a swearing-in ceremony for their chamber each term.
(2) All Representatives and Senators in attendance of such a ceremony shall be sworn in by the Clerk with the following oath: 'I, (username), do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Redmont for the people. So help me Staff.'
(a) Congressional staff may be sworn in by a Presiding Officer with the same oath.
(3) Congressional swearing-ins are entirely ceremonial and shall have no legal effect.
21 - Ethical Standards
(1) Members of Congress must recuse themselves from any investigations in which they may have a conflict of interest.
(2) Members of Congress cannot engage in questioning, proposing subpoenas, or any other investigative matter in which they have a conflict of interest.
22 - Amendments
(1) Any changes to the legislative process should take the form of an amendment to the Legislative Standards Act.
23 - Bill & Resolution Format Thread
(1) See Information - Bill & Resolution Formats
Last edited by a moderator:
