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BILL
To
Establish Standing Orders for the 35th House of Representatives
BILL
To
Establish Standing Orders for the 35th House of Representatives
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 - Standing Orders
(1) These Standing Orders of the House of Representatives are extant until another Standing Orders of the House of Representatives are passed by the House.
(a) The passage of new Standing Orders of the House of Representatives shall repeal all previous Standing Orders of the House of Representatives.
(2) Amending the Standing Orders
(a) Standing Orders can be amended, through a motion, during the entire duration of the House term. Changes need to be agreed upon by a simple majority in the House unless otherwise specified by law.
(3) Consistent with Section 5, Subsection 3 of the Constitution, "[t]he Speaker’s first order of business is to amend or reaffirm the extant standing orders of the House of Representatives".
2 - Compliance
(1) The House of Representative will follow all procedures, limitations, and provisions established by the Legislative Standards Act.
(a) These Standing Orders are to be interpreted in the context of the Legislative Standards Act (LSA); in the case of direct conflict that cannot otherwise be resolved through interpretation, the LSA shall prevail.
(2) Unless otherwise stated, compliance with the procedures established by statutes other than the LSA is to be assumed. If a statute other than the LSA creates a material limitation on the House's exclusive authority that is inconsistent with the Constitution, the House retains the right to assert its Constitutional authority at its own discretion.
(3) In the event that an action by any Representative or the Chamber as a whole is not compliant with these Standing Orders or other relevant statutes, the Speaker may declare that action out of order, and its effects will be invalidated.
3 - Election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives
(1) The most senior Representative is to assume the chair of the House and ask for those who wish to be elected Speaker to nominate themselves by notifying the Chair. The most senior Representative is to be the Representative who:
(a) Has served the most days in the House; or if equal:
(b) of the most days and who has the largest popular vote; or if equal:
(c) by common agreement among them or by an informal House vote; and if still undecided:
(d) The Clerk will serve in place of the Senior Representative.
(2) The Chair may instead choose to allow a Clerk to conduct the Speaker elections.
(3) Should only one member be nominated then they shall be declared Speaker of the House at the end of the nomination period.
(4) The nomination period shall last for 24 hours unless all Representatives inform and reply on the Nomination.
(5) Should more than two members be nominated, all members are to vote for the Speaker by majority vote within 24 hours. The winner of the ballot is to be declared the Speaker of the House. In the event of a tie or in case of failure by any candidate to reach an absolute majority, the election shall be conducted again with only the top two candidates. If this still results in a tie, there shall be another runoff until a Speaker is elected.
(6) The President will announce the winning Representative from the election as Speaker of the House.
(7) Upon certifying the election of the Speaker, the Speaker is to assume the Chair of the House, and with it the authority to enforce these standing orders and call the House to Order.
4 - Election of the Deputy Speaker
(1) After successful amendment to or reaffirmation of the Standing Orders, the Speaker shall call the House to Order. At any time thereafter when the Deputy Speaker position is vacant, the Speaker will ask for those who wish to be elected Deputy Speaker to nominate themselves by notifying the Speaker.
(2) The nomination period shall last for 24 hours unless all Representatives inform and reply on the Nomination.
(3) Should only one member be nominated then they shall be declared Deputy Speaker of Congress at the end of the nomination period.
(4) Should two or more members be nominated, all members are to vote for the Deputy Speaker in a 24-hour election. The winner of the ballot is to be declared the Deputy Speaker of the House. In the event of a tie or in case of a failure for a candidate to reach a simple majority, a subsequent round ("runoff") shall take place with the candidates receiving the most votes and second-most votes participating. If this still results in a tie, there shall be another runoff until a Deputy Speaker is decided.
(5) Upon certifying the election of the Deputy Speaker, the Deputy Speaker shall be vested with the power to enforce the rules of the Congress in the absence of the Speaker.
(a) The Speaker shall be presumed absent only in the case that they make a statement to the Deputy Speaker regarding the absence or have not made any sort of contact with a member of the House of Representatives for over four (4) days.
(b) The Deputy Speaker may also perform the duties of the Speaker when specifically delegated by the Speaker.
(6) The Speaker will announce the winning Representative from the election as Deputy Speaker of the House.
5 - Motions
(1) Proposal. Any motion originating in the House will be proposed in #house-floor, and the Speaker of the House will be notified.
(2) Voting. The Speaker of the House will post the motion to #house-voting, create a thread in which Representatives can cast their votes, and notify the Representatives.
(a) The Speaker must put motions up to vote in the order proposed.
(b) A simple majority is needed for a motion to pass unless otherwise specified by law.
(c) If a bill requires a supermajority to pass the House, then any motions to amend that bill shall also require a supermajority to pass.
(d) If a motion is classified and/or it is a motion to classify, then the motion’s proposal and voting shall be done in a non-public channel.
(3) Voting Timeframe. Once the motion has been put up to vote by the Speaker, the Representatives will have 48 hours to vote on the motion.
(a) Representatives shall be able to change their vote on the motion until the voting period has ended.
(b) The voting period may end early, should the motion reach a majority necessary for passage or failure.
(c) Representatives can choose to vote Aye or Nay, or note a decision to Abstain. Any Representative noting a decision to abstain on a motion must provide a reason.
(4) Styling. Motions will be titled as H-<motion number for the session>/<session number>.
6 - Bills and Resolutions
(1) For the purposes of these Standing Orders, a resolution shall be considered a bill.
(2) If a bill goes three days in a row without any messages from Representatives in its #bills thread, then it may be put up to vote.
(a) A bill may be put up to vote before this if the proposer of the bill notifies the Speaker to do so, but not before 24 hours have passed since the bill's corresponding #bills thread was created. Voting on a bill may also be delayed this way.
(i) The proposer of the bill cannot delay voting if it has already begun.
(3) During voting on the house floor, the Presiding Officer is required to remind Representatives who have not voted to vote by pinging them. This shall take place at or around half-way through the scheduled voting period.
(4) Motions voting will take place over a 96 hour period, unless otherwise provided by law.
7 - Prefixes
(1) A 'Repealed' prefix will be made available to the Office of Congressional Affairs.
(a) This prefix may be applied to bills by the Office of Congressional Affairs where a bill has been repealed. Bills with the repealed prefix will be moved to the Archive forum.
(2) A 'Rescinded' prefix will be made available to the Office of Congressional Affairs.
(a) This prefix may be applied to bills by the Office of Congressional Affairs where a bill has been rescinded. Bills with the rescinded prefix will be moved to the Archive forum.
8 - Definitions
(1) Rejected: A bill or motion that does not receive a quorum or simple majority, or majority otherwise provided outside of these standing orders.
(2) Passed: A bill or motion that receives a simple majority, or majority otherwise provided outside of these standing orders.
(3) Quorum: A majority of the statutory seats in the House of Representatives.
(4) Rescinded: A bill or motion that is revoked by its proposer before any voting has begun on it.
9 - Review by the Legislative Service Commission
(1) This standing order implements §5(1) of the Legislative Service Commission Act.
(2) The Legislative Service Commission may review any bill proposed by a Representative and provide advice on the bill, subject to this standing order.
(3) The Legislative Service Commission may provide amendment drafts to the bill’s author in advice given under Standing Order 8(2), but must only provide advice on—
(a) the bill’s consistency with the laws of the Commonwealth, including the Constitution;
(b) The drafting of the bill, particularly with respect to clarity;
(c) The bill’s effectiveness at achieving its stated policy goals.
(4) Advice given under House Standing Order 8(2)—
(a) must be provided to the House when the bill is voted upon;
(b) is subject to attorney-client privilege unless waived by the House of Representatives by motion; and
(c) is automatically classified as LEG-RESTRICTED upon creation.
(5) Nothing in this standing order—
(a) prevents a Representative from—
(i) publicizing a bill; or
(ii) seeking advice from the public or from outside counsel; or
(b) restricts the constitutional rights of the House to—
(i) determine its own procedure; or
(ii) pass bills.
(6) This standing order does not apply to any bill certified as urgent by the Speaker of the House (such as following a successful motion for urgent consideration).
(7) For the purposes of this standing order, "bill" includes a substantive amendment to a bill.
10 - Alternative Methods
(1) Alternative Voting. A Representative may submit their vote through alternative methods if they are unable to access Discord due to:
(a) technical limitations; or
(b) any other limitation that is not a permanent ban or deportation, subject to the discretion of the Speaker.
(c) The Presiding Officer will submit proof, via screenshot, of the alternative vote occurring.
(2) Submission of Alternative Votes. Alternative votes may be submitted through:
(a) Forum direct messages to any Presiding Officer; or
(b) In-game messages to any Presiding Officer; or
(c) Any other written communication method approved by the Speaker.
(3) Recording and Validity.
(a) The Presiding Officer or House staff shall record the vote in the appropriate voting thread and note that it was submitted via alternative method.
(b) Alternative votes have the same validity and weight as Discord votes.
(c) Alternative votes follow the same timing and validity restrictions as typical votes.
(4) Alternative Motion Proposal Methods. A Representative may propose motions through alternative methods if they meet the criteria in subsection (1).
(a) Alternative motion proposals may be submitted through the same methods specified in subsection (2),
(b) Any Presiding Officer shall post such proposals to the appropriate House channel on behalf of the Representative.
(5) Alternative Bill Proposal.
(a) If a Representative who meets the criteria under subsection (1) posts a bill through the forums, they must inform a Presiding Officer or other designated House staff, who will post a link to #bills in order to satisfy Legislative Standards Act § 9(1).
(6) Override by Direct Participation. If a Representative who has submitted a vote or proposal via alternative method subsequently participates directly via Discord, their direct participation shall take precedence.
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