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A
BILL
To
Provide for Legislative Standards and to amend the Constitution.
BILL
To
Provide for Legislative Standards and to amend the Constitution.
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) By default the Capitol building shall be cleared of any political party decoration at the beginning of each term.
4 - The House of Representatives
(1) Upon commencing a new Congressional session, the chamber's first order of business is to amend or reconfirm it's standing orders.
5 - The Senate
(1) Upon commencing a new Congressional session, the chamber's first order of business is to amend or reconfirm it's standing orders.
6 - Sergeant at Arms
(1) The Sergeant at Arms is a temporary position, that is appointed before each Congressional session or hearing by the relevant Presiding Officer, and is relieved when the meeting is adjourned.
(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.
7 - 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) Assists the Speaker with the administration of the House
(c) Assists the President of the Senate with the administration of the Senate
(d) Communicates with the Press and assists in the formatting and drafting of bills, if requested.
(e) Manages and publishes congressional transparency reports.
(f) Regularly informs the public of motions of significant public interest via government-announcements. Motions of significant public interest include but are not limited to the following:
(i) Nominations/Confirmations
(ii) Impeachments/Removals
(iii) Censures
(iv) New committees or changes to committees
(v) Veto overrides
(4) The roles within this Office will be referred to as 'Congressional Staff’ and will comprise of at least two clerks.
(5) Hiring
(a) The Presiding Officers must receive the approval of the Congress to hire Congressional Staff by way of nomination.
(b) The Congressional Staff position will carry over each term until the Presiding Officer actions Section 8(6.a) of this act.
(c) Congressional Staff will receive a level 3 Government salary (or equivalent).
(6) Dismissal Process
(a) Congressional Staff serve at the Presiding Officers pleasure.
(7) In the Presiding Officer’s absence, or if otherwise delegated, the Deputy Presiding Officer will assume the Presiding Officer's authority over Congressional Staff.
8 - 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.
(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. Motion of Reconsideration format:--
- Link to Original Bill:
- Purpose of Reconsideration:
- Changes to Bill (if relevant):
(3) If there’s a tie (this is there are the same number of votes in favour and against independently of the number of abstains), the poll will be held again without the abstain option.
(4) 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.
(5) When assigning a title to a bill it may not contain any personal identifier such as, any names, initials, abbreviations or other such personal identifiers. The bill title should exist to explain the purpose of the bill.
9 - Resolutions(1) Congress may pass non-binding resolutions as formal requests to the Executive and the Departments. 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.
10 - 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) The Speaker of the House shall assign the bill, to a committee that shall first review the bill. After the committee is done with reviewing the chairperson shall notify the speaker who will then add a poll to the bill for a 48 hour voting period and the prefix will be changed to Bill: Voting.
(a) The Speaker of the House may also choose to bypass this process and directly, put the bill up for a vote, for example, if they believe there is no relevant committee to discuss the bill.
(b) Note; any bill with a motion of urgent consideration will override this process.
(3) After the 48 hours have passed; all votes have been submitted; or a majority is reached, there will be 2 situations:
(a) If the Bill is passed, the Presiding Officer will change the Bill status to Bill: Pending and move it to the Senate, notifying the Vice President; or
(b) If the Bill is rejected, the Presiding Officer will change the Bill status to Bill: Rejected and move it to the Rejected sub-forum.
(i) Passage shall be considered as a simple majority of ayes out of all non-abstention votes cast, and rejection shall be a failure to reach such a majority.
(ii) No bill shall pass the House unless over 50% of all sitting Representatives have voted on the bill.
(4) When debate is finished in the Senate, the Presiding Officer will re-open the 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, there will be 2 situations:
(a) If the Bill is passed, the Presiding Officer 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 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 of ayes out of all non-abstention votes cast, and rejection shall be a failure to reach such a majority.
(ii) No bill shall pass the Senate unless over 50% of all sitting Senators have voted on the bill.
(6) If a bill is passed by Congress, the President will do 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 Speaker's office will announce the changes to the public, assuming 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
11 - Acts of Congress
(1) When amending a Bill everything being edited or changed to the bill must be highlighted in this way.
(a) Any text being removed from the bill must be in red and made bold.
(b) Any text being added to the bill must be in green and made bold.
(c) Any changes to the wording of the text in a bill must be made yellow and be made bold.
(d) In addition changes made must be clear so the previous bill in its entire before any edits must be posted on the thread so it is clear what is being changed.
(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 reasons section of a bill.
(4) All votes on bill polls on the forums are to be made public to ensure Transparency between the public and the elected representatives.
12 - Congressional Motions
(1) A motion is moved in Congressional channels. It is simply a message seeking the approval or disapproval of Congress such as:
I move a motion of no confidence against xEndeavour for...
I would like to move a censure motion against xEndeavour for...
Motion: Appoint xEndeavour as the replacement representative for VeryBadRepresentative42069.
(a) Motions will be allowed to be re-voted on twice in case of tie or rejection, otherwise a period of 14 days will need to elapse before it can be put forward again.
(b) Any member of the public, at any time, may request the ayes, nays, and abstains of a non-classified Congressional motion, which the Office of Presiding Officers shall be obligated to provide. This shall not apply to motions on which votation is ongoing.
(2) Motion of No Confidence
(a) Prior to voting on a motion of no confidence, the office holder in question is required to submit a reply to the motion against them which will be posted with the vote. Where 12 hours passes without a response, the Presiding Officer will announce the motion without a reply.
(b) This should not be taken lightly, as it destabilises the Government and has significant wider impacts.
- Where the Presiding Officer is ousted they resume the role of Representative or Senator; a new Presiding Officer is then elected.
(3) Motion to Fund
(a) The legislative may allocate funds via a motion supported by a simple majority, in accordance with existing legislation around budget usage. This motion may be used to fund anything that may assist in the operation of legislative affairs.
(b) A motion to fund may be passed in either chamber individually.
(c) No chamber shall spend over 50% of the allocated funds to the legislative branch in the fiscal period, without the approval of both the House and Senate.
(4) Motion of Commendation
(a) The mover of the motion must make clear whether they want the motion to be carried through both chambers for a Congressional Commendation or just in the Senate or House of Representatives.
(b) The motion will require a simple majority in each chamber to pass.
(c) If passed the motion, a public statement of commendation is made by the Office of the Presiding Officers. A commendation can be given to anybody in the community.
(5) Motion of Urgent Consideration
(a) Motions of Urgent Consideration are proposed by a Representative and are voted on by the House of Representatives.
(b) Any bill that passes a motion of urgent consideration must be opened to voting within 12 hours.
(c) If a Bill with Urgent Consideration passes the house it will be prioritized when it is being moved to the Senate as well.
(6) Motion of Censure
(a) A motion of censure can be moved by any Representative or Senator against anyone. It carries no punishment, however publicly condemns someone's actions. (e.g. The Representative broke the law on or off congressional duties; missed a vote without a reasonable excuse; and or didn't follow parliamentary process etc.). In accordance with the established procedural rules, a motion to censure can be directed against only one individual at a time. This means that in a singular motion, it is not permissible to include or motion to censure multiple individuals simultaneously. To censure an additional person, a separate and distinct motion must be made. A motion to censure may only be directed against an individual person and not against multiple individuals simultaneously within a singular motion. However, it should be noted that a collective entity, such as a government department or agency, may still be subject to censure as a whole. This distinction ensures that while individuals are addressed separately, the accountability of entities can still be upheld through appropriate censure motions.
(7) Motion of Replacement
(a) When a Representative or Senator resigns or is removed from office, they will be replaced in accordance with the process outlined in the Constitution.
(8) Motion of Removal
(a) The Congress can remove a fellow member of the Congress in accordance with the process outlined in the Constitution. Congress should however only exercise this power where the circumstances are appropriate (e.g. the representative has been censured several times).
(9) Motion of Nomination
(a) When a candidate for the Legislative branch is nominated, a majority vote is required in the House and Senate for the nomination to pass. For nominations to the Judiciary, a majority approval is required in the Senate chamber for the nomination to pass.
(10) Motion to Override
(a) When the President vetoes a bill, Congress can override the veto through a 2/3 majority vote.
(11) Motion to subpoena government documents / records
(a. Congress can subpoena government documents / records. This should only be used if the citizen is going to appear in front of congress for a hearing or a subpoena.
(12) Motion to Classify
(a) Any Representative or Senator may motion for the motion and its vote count to be prevented from releasing to the public by the Office of The Presiding Officers. The motion may classify the motion indefinitely or until a certain date.
(b) To declassify a previously classified motion a motion to rescind the classification may occur.
(c) Both of these motions require a simple majority in all the chambers the motion which is to be classified or unclassified has passed. For example, if a motion to override has passed both chambers- both chambers must vote to classify or declassify it. However, a vote of nomination which has only passed the Senate if needing to be classified - the vote shall only occur in the Senate.
(d) A motion is expected to only be classified if it is for the well-being and betterment of Redmont, and damage may be caused to the government if the motion is not classified.
(e) No motion upon which a motion to classify is actively being voted on may be publicized until the motion to classify fails.
(13) Exclusions
(a) If or when there is a motion against or relating specifically to a member of Congress, their vote shall not be included. (e.g. Motion of nomination, no confidence, removal)
(14) Abstentions
(a) The quorum when voting shall be dynamic. Where a member abstains from voting, the majority will be decided based on those who have not abstained.
13 - Congressional Committees
(1) Process of Creating a Committee
(a) Congressional Committees may be either permanent or temporary. They can be created in both the House of Representatives and Senate. The Senate and the House may form their own committees, or may form joint committees together.
(b) In order for a Congressional Committee to be created a Senator or Representative must motion for the creation of a committee on the floor of their respective chamber. If they wish to create a joint committee that applies to both chambers, such motion will originate in the House and be brought to the Senate.
(c) Format:--
- Committee Name:
- Status: Permanent/Temporary
- Committee Purpose:
- Chairperson:
- Members:
(d) The chamber's respective presiding officer must then put the motion to create the committee to a vote, and if approved by a majority of the chamber the committee will then have been created and henceforth be official. If the committee has been motioned to apply to both chambers, it must be approved by a majority of both chambers.
(2) Process for the establishment of already created Committee(s):
(a) In order for a Congressional Committee to be established a Senator or Representative must motion for the establishment of a committee on the floor of their respective chamber. A motion for the establishment of a joint committee will originate in the House of Representatives and be brought to the Senate.
(b) Format:--
- Committee Name:
- Chairperson:
- Members:
(c) The chairperson will be elected in committee if one is not listed.
(d) The chamber's respective presiding officer must then put the motion to establish the committee to a vote, and if approved by a majority of the chamber the committee will then have been created and henceforth be official. If the committee has been motioned to apply to both chambers, it must be approved by a majority of both chambers.
(3) Committee Leadership
(a) Congressional Committees are led by the Committee Chairperson whose responsibilities are:--
- Organizing and Chairing Committee Meetings and Hearings.
- Leading Committee Investigations, Reviews and actions.
- Putting Committee ideas and proposals to a vote.
- Updating the public and congress on the actions of the committee.
- Firing committee members.
(b) The Chairperson may either be appointed through motion or be elected by committee members following the establishment of the committee.
(c) The election of a Chairperson will be facilitated in committee by the respective presiding officer of the chamber where the committee is situated. An election of a joint committee chairperson may be facilitated by any presiding officer.
(4) Internal Workings of a Committee
(a) After the commencement of each Congressional term, the presiding officers for that term will present nominations for committee membership from their respective chamber. These nominations require a majority vote for confirmation and establishment.
(b) Chamber-specific committees will be limited to five members. Committee nominations specific to each chamber require a majority vote within their respective chamber for confirmation to be established.
(c) Joint committees will be limited to seven members with a minimum of two Senators. Joint committee nominations require a majority vote in both chambers to be established.
(d) The House of Representatives exercises complete authority over the selection of its Representatives for committees.
(e) The Senate exercises complete authority over the selection of its Senators for committees.
(f) A channel of communication shall be established for such respective committees.
(5) Committee Oversight
(a) The Presiding Officers shall have oversight of all joint committees, but shall have no benefits unless added to a committee as a member through a majority vote of committee members.
(b) The Speaker of the House shall have oversight of all committees specific to the House of Representatives, but shall have no benefits unless added to a committee as a member through a majority vote of committee members.
(c) The President of the Senate shall have oversight of all committees specific to the Senate, but shall have no benefits unless added to a committee as a member through a majority vote of committee members.
14 - Congressional Hearings
(1) Functionality
(a) To ensure transparency and accountability, all hearings must be summarised in writing by the Presiding Officers' Office and published.
(b) There must be a minimum of three representatives in attendance at each question time and the most Senior Member will act as Chair of the Committee overseeing question time.
(2) Attendance
(a) Congress can subpoena any citizen to appear before a hearing. The Presiding Officers' Office will arrange a time that works for Congress and the individual being subpoenaed. Failure to attend the agreed meeting time will result in Contempt of Congress.
(b) The subpoena must state the reasoning for the hearing.
(c) In extraordinary circumstances, the executive member may be granted the ability to submit a written response to questions put forward by the Congress. This will be reviewed and decided upon by Congress.
(d) Where the subpoena relates to a Government or business entity, the subpoenaed citizen may offer an alternative representative to attend in their place. e.g. The President may nominate a member of cabinet to attend in their place.
15 - Congressional Question Time
(1) Functionality
(a) To ensure transparency and accountability all question times must be recorded and written down by the Clerk in a document or by another congressional official if the Clerk is unavailable, These documents should be made available to the general public at the earliest possible time.
(b) There must be a minimum of Three representatives in attendance at each question time.
(2) Schedule
(a) Question time will occur when the Congress passes a motion by a simple majority to request the testimony of a secretary.
(b) The Speaker of Congress shall propose not fewer than two and not more than four times to the Secretary/Secretaries requested to appear before Congress.
(c) If no time proposed by the Speaker works for the Secretary/Secretaries, the Secretary may request an alternate time from the Speaker or a member of their office.
(d) Once a time is agreed upon, the Speaker of Congress is to announce via #government-announcements that a meeting has been scheduled. This announcement is to come no fewer than three days prior to the meeting.
(e) In the event that a time cannot be arranged with a Secretary, they may nominate their deputy or a member of the relevant cabinet department to represent them, or to submit responses to Congress' questions in writing.
(2) Conduct
(a) Testimony is to be heard in either of the hearing rooms in the capitol.
(b) The hearing is to be presided over by either the chair of the committee impaneled to hear testimony or the Speaker of Congress. How the members of Congress determine the chair of the committee is to be up to the members of Congress, as is the composition of the committee.
(c) Representatives will ask questions of the Secretary or their appointed representative in descending order of seniority.
(d) If requested, members of the committee impaneled to hear testimony shall provide written copies of the questions they wish to ask.
(e) Meetings are to be open to the public, and a report is to be published by the congressional Press Assistant following each meeting.
(3) Legal Obligation
(a) When a Secretary's presence is requested by the Congress, they are required to attend a hearing when scheduled as outlined above.
(b) Secretaries are obligated to attend a hearing or provide testimony in writing when summoned by Congress. Secretaries may meet their legal obligation under this clause by appointing their deputy or another member of their department to stand in for them, or by submitting responses to questions asked by Congress in writing.
(c) If a Secretary fails to meet their obligations under this section, they may be fined an amount not greater than 500 dollars if a super majority in Congress holds the Secretary in contempt.
(d) If a Secretary fails to meet their obligations repeatedly, Congress reserves the power to remove the Secretary through Impeachment.
(4) Limitations
(a) Congress may not require testimony from any one secretary more than once in a period of 6 weeks.
(b) This limitation does not apply to summons before an impeachment trial.
16 - Congressional Subpoenas
(1) Process
(a) Any member of the Congress may propose a motion to subpoena any number of people or entities to testify.
(b) Motions to exercise Congressional Subpoenas are accepted or denied by the chamber that they are proposed. Congressional Committees are also able to accept or deny Congressional Subpoenas.
(c) Should the motion pass, the subject(s) of the motion will be compelled to testify before Congress by the date specified in the motion.
(d) Should the subject of a subpoena fail to appear before Congress without reasonable justification they will be charged 1% of their balance for each day with a minimum of $100.
(e) Subjects of Congressional subpoenas may invoke their right not to incriminate themselves during the hearing.
17 - Congressional Tax Powers
(1) Terms
(a) The Congress may pass legislation to dictate the tax code.
(b) No tax bill may specifically target any individual or corporation.
(c) Tax bills may target specific industries.
(d) The DEC may enact tax policy so long as it does not conflict with Congressionally approved tax policy.
18 - Activity Requirements
(1) The Electoral Act sets out activity requirements for serving members of Congress.
(2) A member of Congress may petition their respective chamber to waive their activity requirements (by simple majority) for up to a month on compassionate grounds or in extenuating circumstances.
(3) It is otherwise expected that a member of Congress maintain the minimum level of activity required for election during their tenure or resign to allow other citizens to fulfil the role.
(4) If it is discovered that a member is below activity requirements, the Department of State must serve the member with a five day warning to return to the required activity requirements.
(a) Involuntary resignation will take place five days from being issued the warning if the member remains under activity requirements.
19 - Congressional Funds
(1) Codified Spending:
(a) The reference to the legislative budget in this bill relates to the respective balance of the 'DCGovernmentLEG' account.
(b) The legislative branch may pass bills to limit or enforce spending on a specific subject.
(c) Spending remains subject to all bills regarding appropriations, including the logging and transparency of such spending.
(2) Facilitation of Funding
(a) The Office of the Presiding Officers is responsible for appropriating the proper funds once a motion is passed, unless otherwise directed in such motion.
(3) Legislative bonuses
(a) Congressional members are barred from appropriating themselves and or accepting bonuses for the purpose of extra remuneration.
(i) Members of the speakers office are the only members exempt from this exclusion.
(b) Representatives may still receive appropriations to assist them in the course of their official duties (e.g. paying a staffer).
(4) Any official gifts made to a Representative or Senator are to be property of the state and should be surrendered to the Speaker's office at the member's first opportunity.
(a) The speaker's office may choose to display or simply retain and archive these gifts.
20 - Contempt of Congress
(1) The House of Representatives, Senate, or any committee may vote to hold a person "in contempt" by a majority vote. The Speaker will then report the incident to the Department of Justice to be actioned.
(a) To refuse to testify, won't provide information requested by the House or the Senate, or obstructs an inquiry by a congressional committee.
First Offence: $1500 fine and 10 minutes of jail time
Second Offence: $2000 fine and 20 minutes of jail time
Third Offence: $4000 fine, 40 minutes of jailtime, and a Censure
21 - Redundancy
(1) A 'Redundant' prefix will be made available to the Speaker's office.
(2) This prefix may be applied to bills by the Speaker's office where a bill no longer has legal relevance. Bills with the redundancy prefix will be moved to the rescinded / vetoed / rejected forum.
(3) Redundant bills will remain law until they are formally rescinded.
22 - Peer Review
(1) A co-sponsor is required on all bills proposed.
(a) This co-sponsor must be a Representative or Senator who is not the poster of the bill and this co-sponsor must be willing in the process of co-sponsorship.
(b) The bill and resolution format will be updated to include a space under section 1 for the co-sponsor to be put.
(c) 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.
23 - 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 End.”
(a) Congressional staff shall be sworn in by a Presiding Officer with the same oath.
(3) Congressional swearing-ins are entirely ceremonial and shall have no legal effect.
24 - Ethical Standards
(1) Members of Congress should 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 if they have a conflict of interest. This may only be overridden via a supermajority of Congress.
(3) Members of Congress should maintain the same level of activity required for voters in Section 16 of the Electoral Act. If a member of Congress continues to not be active on Discord, Forums, or in-game it may be considered a failure to perform duty and a removable offense.
25 - Amendments
(1) Any changes to this process should take the form of an amendment to the Legislative Standards Act.
26 - Bill & Resolution Format Thread
(1) See Information - Bill & Resolution Formats
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