Bill: Rejected LSA Cleanup Act

[lcn]

A
BILL
To
Amend the Legislative Standards Act​

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 'LSA Cleanup Act'.
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.
(3) This Act has been authored by Senator TheReal42Person.
(4) This Act has been proposed by Representative lcn.
(5) This Act has been co-sponsored by Senator TheReal42Person.

2 - Reasons
(1) §10(2) of the LSA is currently not done and will not be done, as §13 of the LSA is also being removed.
(2) §3(3.a) of the LSA is outdated, as the Vice President is no longer Presiding Officer of the Senate.
(3) Committees are currently unused and when they are formed, they do not do anything. As such, §13 of the LSA can be removed.
(4) §17(1.d) of the LSA is outdated, as the DEC has been reformed into the DOC.
(5) §18 of the LSA is ineffective and not a good way of enforcing activity. Members of Congress do not need to be in-game to be successful. Other means of communication (discord, forums) exist. Additionally, proposing bills, voting on bills, participating in discussions, and moving motions are ways a Representative or Senator can be active without being in-game.

3 - Section 10 of the Legislative Standards Act Shall be Amended as Follows:
“(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.

(2) After at least 24 hours have passed, the Speaker will then add a poll to 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, 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 President of the Senate; 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”

4 - Section 13 of the Legislative Standards Act Shall be Amended as Follows:
“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.”
Subsequent sections shall be renumbered as needed.

5 - Section 17 of the Legislative Standards Act Shall be Amended as Follows:
“(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 DOC may enact tax policy so long as it does not conflict with Congressionally approved tax policy.”

6 - Section 18 of the Legislative Standards Act Shall be Amended as Follows:
“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 fulfill 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.”