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Bill: Lex Nymphidia de Reditu Universali
Details
Submitted by[?]: Factio Republicana Socialistica
Status[?]: passed
Votes: This is an ordinary bill. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: April 4385
Description[?]:
| Nymphidian Law on Universal Income Senators, Selucia has one of the most generous welfare systems in the world, where private vices are constrained and all citizens are guaranteed financial independence from rapacious companies and individuals. However, dependence on the arbitrariness of capital has unfortunately been replaced by dependence on government aid and arbitrariness in the distribution of benefits, while trapping millions of Selucians in the welfare trap, leaving them unable and in fact unwilling to seek employment for fear of losing their government assistance. The Republican Party has always been committed to Republican Freedom, that is non-domination and independence from arbitrary power. Welfare is no less arbitrary than the market, and perhaps even more so. The Opportunitas Program (http://classic.particracy.net/viewbill.php?billid=564433) introduced in 4376 revealed the beneficial economic impact of replacing welfare with direct cash payments, and on the basis of that experiment we propose to expand this policy to cover all citizens. In order to promote virtue and grant all Selucian citizens financial independence, we propose the introduction of an unconditional basic income, to replace the current welfare system. Under the provisions of this bill, each citizen will be provided a monthly payment sufficient to live on comfortably, set as the market value of the minimum wage. The universal income is to be considered an additional source of income and will thus be subject to taxation. This sum will be transferred to every citizen each month on a Citizen Card, which is to function as a debit card. Funding for the universal income will be provided by the dismantling of several existing welfare provisions, including unemployment benefits, pharmaceutical subsidies, phone services subsidies, free public transport, and abortion funding. Disability benefits shall be maintained but will be reduced by the amount of the universal income. Means-tested support for housing will remain in place but its value will change for families whose income will increase with the introduction of universal income. Tuition will be provided for low-income earners, while its value will change for students whose income increases with universal income. It is a widely known fact that means-tested policies, meant to be tailored to individual needs, fail to take into account individual preferences. Replacing welfare with universal income will allow citizens more independence in determining which services they actually need, and thus increase their self-governance. With the introduction of the universal income we aim to increase the bargaining power of citizens seeking employment, removing the risk of destitution for not accepting employment and allowing potential employees to spend more time seeking a more satisfying or better paying job, or alternatively will allow them to improve their skills by seeking education instead. This bill will also provide financial independence to women, by recognizing women's unpaid work at home. Additionally, coupled with the elimination of the minimum wage, this proposal will increase the economic efficiency of our cooperatives, given that the minimum wage imposed a high marginal tax on employers, which with universal income will be eliminated. Adeodatus Nymphidius Senator |
Proposals
Article 1
Proposal[?] to change Policy of the government concerning the funding of abortions
Old value:: The government provides abortion funding only for low-income earners.
Current: The government does not provide funding for abortions.
Proposed: The government has no policy on abortion funding.
Article 2
Proposal[?] to change Health care policy.
Old value:: There is a free public health care system and a small number of private clinics, which are heavily regulated to ensure they treat their patients well and provide good care.
Current: There is a public health care system, but private clinics are allowed.
Proposed: Health care is entirely private.
Article 3
Proposal[?] to change Higher education tuition policy.
Old value:: The government fully subsidizes tuition.
Current: The government subsidizes tuition only for students from families classified as low-income or poor.
Proposed: The government subsidizes tuition only for students from families classified as low-income or poor.
Article 4
Proposal[?] to change Guarantee of minimum income.
Old value:: All adults not supported by another person shall be guaranteed a very basic subsistence income by the government.
Current: All adults not supported by another person shall be guaranteed a very basic subsistence income by the government. However, the provision of this is not to exceed a certian period of time.
Proposed: All adults not supported by another person shall be guaranteed a reasonable, though not high, standard of living by the government.
Article 5
Proposal[?] to change Pharmaceutical drugs policy.
Old value:: The government supplies free pharmaceutical drugs to those on low incomes.
Current: The government pays for all citizens' pharmaceutical drugs.
Proposed: The government does not subsidise the cost of pharmaceutical drugs at all.
Article 6
Proposal[?] to change The government's policy concerning phone services.
Old value:: The state subsidizes the phone service of low income families, and regulates the rates providers can charge for phone service.
Current: The state subsidizes the phone service of low income families, and regulates the rates providers can charge for phone service.
Proposed: There are no regulations on phone service.
Article 7
Proposal[?] to change Funding of public transport (where applicable).
Old value:: Public transport is fully subsidised for people with low-income, with the remainder "user-pays".
Current: Public transport is fully subsidised by the government.
Proposed: Public transport is fully user-pays.
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 17:06:54, April 25, 2018 CET | From | Factio Communistarum | To | Debating the Lex Nymphidia de Reditu Universali |
| Message | Such policies would not only decrease wages due to the subsidy in government funding, it would place more and more of the economy in the hands of the anarchy of the market, able to collapse at anytime. Our healthcare cannot be left in the hands of an economic system which is both unstable and unsustainable. Another reactionary policy by the present government. Saturio Carantus First Secretary of the CC of the FCS |
| Date | 18:17:42, April 25, 2018 CET | From | Legio Nationalis | To | Debating the Lex Nymphidia de Reditu Universali |
| Message | Senators, We would like some assurance in the form of official statistics that taxpayers won't actually be paying more to support this plan than they are currently under this broken welfare state. Octavian Atrenius Coetus Dux |
| Date | 05:40:28, April 26, 2018 CET | From | Populi Factio Optimatium (PFO) | To | Debating the Lex Nymphidia de Reditu Universali |
| Message | Our party does not agree with such radical changes which are stealing people the right to education or housing. It can destroy our social conditions. Chairman of Senate Club of PFO Porcius Campana |
| Date | 09:58:20, April 26, 2018 CET | From | Factio Republicana Socialistica | To | Debating the Lex Nymphidia de Reditu Universali |
| Message | Senators, We have introduced a number of amendments to our proposal to increase its viability. The universal income will now count as an additional source of income and will thus be subject to taxation, which will ultimately benefit the lowest income earners and will increase the revenue generated by the income tax. Several social benefits, particularly disability benefits, housing support, and tuition, will remain in place, however in case of disability benefits the amount will be reduced by the amount of the universal income, and for the latter two the universal income will be considered additional income. We estimate that with our proposed system we can replace the welfare benefits with universal income with no need to increase taxation. The total yearly cost of the universal income we estimate at around SEN 63.7 billion, or SEN 639.76 for each Selucian citizen, slightly higher than the minimum income (currently estimated at SEN 500). Adeodatus Nymphidius Senator OOC: I obviously took those numbers out of my ass, but I based them on this OECD study: http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/Basic-Income-Policy-Option-2017-Brackground-Technical-Note.pdf With a similar proposal to the one in this bill, France would end up spending about 11.9% of its GDP and still break even(-ish) on the budget. I reduced the amount to 10% of Selucia's GDP since Selucia has slightly higher taxes than RL France. I also assumed that the lowest taxable income (SEN 500) would represent the minimum income. |
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Voting
| Vote | Seats | |||||
| yes | Total Seats: 412 | |||||
| no |
Total Seats: 338 | |||||
| abstain | Total Seats: 0 |
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