We are working on a brand new version of the game! If you want to stay informed, read our blog and register for our mailing list.
Bill: Senate Proposal Discussion
Details
Submitted by[?]: Baltusian International Democratic Party
Status[?]: passed
Votes: This bill is a resolution. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: November 4186
Description[?]:
| As President, I would like our Congress to have an open discussion and for parties to propose ideas for congress. Once we have reached a conclusion as to the best plan for a Bicameral legislative process, we will vote on it to ensure a 2/3rd majority, and then I propose we take it to a referendum so that the people support the idea before it is implemented. I am aware that historically the Patriotic Party have been actively proposing senate proposals and have had some great ideas, and thus I would encourage them to come forward and present an idea. Thank you. President S. Trudeau Baltusian Republican Party |
Proposals
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 22:08:32, March 11, 2017 CET | From | 🐘Aldegār Nationalist Party | To | Debating the Senate Proposal Discussion |
| Message | http://classic.particracy.net/viewtreaty.php?treatyid=3656&ready= Please ratify this treaty. |
| Date | 22:28:35, March 11, 2017 CET | From | United Democratic Party - Syndicalists | To | Debating the Senate Proposal Discussion |
| Message | please stop spamming us aldegar nationalist party |
| Date | 10:38:29, March 12, 2017 CET | From | Patriotic Party of Baltusia | To | Debating the Senate Proposal Discussion |
| Message | Mr President, The idea our party had was to create a Senate based on how parties faired in the state elections. So the more appeal they had across the five states the more senators they received. The Senate would be able to either block or postpone bills passed by Congress unless they received a 2/3 majority in Congress. It should lead to more compromise and debate before bills are passed and make Baltusia a more moderate country. We will produce a white paper outlining how this will work over the next few months. Patricia Grayson Home Secretary Patriotic Party Leader |
| Date | 10:38:32, March 12, 2017 CET | From | Patriotic Party of Baltusia | To | Debating the Senate Proposal Discussion |
| Message | Mr President, The idea our party had was to create a Senate based on how parties faired in the state elections. So the more appeal they had across the five states the more senators they received. The Senate would be able to either block or postpone bills passed by Congress unless they received a 2/3 majority in Congress. It should lead to more compromise and debate before bills are passed and make Baltusia a more moderate country. We will produce a white paper outlining how this will work over the next few months. Patricia Grayson Home Secretary Patriotic Party Leader |
| Date | 15:51:56, March 13, 2017 CET | From | Patriotic Party of Baltusia | To | Debating the Senate Proposal Discussion |
| Message | Member of Congress, As requested by the President the Constitutional Affairs Committee sets out here plans for a bicameral Baltusian Congress. We ask for a full debate so it can be amended accordingly and to see if it would gain the 2/3rds vote it would require to pass: Composition of Congress 1) The lower chamber is the House of Representatives (or House) currently made up of 700 representatives elected through district elections. 2) The upper chamber would be referred to as the Senate and would be made up of 20 senators. For every top-four finish a party receives in the five state elections they would gain one senator. The Speaker of the Senate is the party with the most senate seats (or most senate seats and most congressional seats combined if required) and would also have the casting vote in case of a tie. For example the current senate would consist of Patriotic Party 5 Senators, BDGP 5 Senators, Republicans 4 senators, RAC 2 senators, Progressives 2 senators and Socialist 2 senators. Note this would mean the 'traditional' Left Bloc parties would have a 11 to 9 advantage even though the Right Alliance parties have a lower chamber majority. Debating a Bill 3) When a normal bill is proposed it is debated in the House of Representatives with all parties indicating how they would vote by writing Aye, Nay or Abstain on the bill. 4) The 700 votes are totted up and if there is a super majority i.e. 2/ 3s of the house agree with the proposal, the bill is moved to vote with everyone voting on the game mechanics accordingly - law passed. 5) If the vote receives a normal majority then it is has to be referred to the senate who also debate on it and vote on it (by writing on the same bill still in debate). A party has as many votes as they have senators and they write their vote tally in the debate section of the bill - i.e. Patriotic Party 5 Senators votes for YES; Progressive Party 2 votes for NO etc and the AYES and NAYS are added up. Voting 6) At this stage the proposer of the bill moves it to vote using the game mechanics and the following happens: a) REGARDLESS of the senate decision, parties vote as they did originally in the House (OOC: this means regardless of RP the game registers the way parties are voting on an issue and will update their ideologies and visibility accordingly). If the Senate approved the bill that is all that has to happen and the game moves on with the bill passed. b) However, if the Senate REJECTS the bill, almost immediately after the original bill has been moved to vote a second, replica bill has to be set up with an identical title and proposal to the above; the only difference is the bill title includes in brackets the words "Senate Overturn". This is then moved to the vote and the only situation that must exist here is that the bill does not pass. I.e enough of the YES voters have to abstain. In this scenario I suggest the original proposer still votes YES, her/his endorsers abstain, the leader of the Senate group opposing it votes NO and then enough other opposing parties vote NO to make sure the NO vote wins. 8) Both bills will then go through the 8 monthly cycle - with the Approved bill passing first followed straight after by the Senate Overturn, which will reverse the law immediately. So in summary, we would have two houses - that have a good chance to be different as is this case right now - and a vote system that makes sure game mechanics are not forgotten at the expense of RP. NOTE - This system is only applied to normal bills that require a simple majority of voters over a 8 month period. Bills that pass as soon as 50 per cent of the legislature vote yes (early elections, budget bills etc) as well as constitutional amendments continue to be voted using normal game mechanics. OOC: I think we would also have to set a limit of 24 to 36 hours on how long players took to vote on the bill under debate otherwise some bills could sit in debate for days and days in the case of a player not being online for three or four days. |
| Date | 17:02:23, March 13, 2017 CET | From | Baltusian International Democratic Party | To | Debating the Senate Proposal Discussion |
| Message | We support the proposal put forward by the patriots and believe there is nothing needed amending as discussion has been done prior. The government will set out its plan for how the Senate will be carried out shortly. Thank you. President Trudeau |
subscribe to this discussion - unsubscribe
Voting
| Vote | Seats | |||||
| yes |
Total Seats: 370 | |||||
| no | Total Seats: 186 | |||||
| abstain | Total Seats: 144 |
| Random fact: Before choosing a nation, you may wish to research it first. For more information on the cultural backgrounds of the nations, please see the Cultural Protocols Index: http://forum.particracy.net/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6365 |
| Random quote: "In all recorded history there has not been one economist who has had to worry about where the next meal would come from." - Peter Drucker |