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BILL
To
Establish Standing Orders for the 21st Congress
BILL
To
Establish Standing Orders for the 21st Congress
The people of DemocracyCraft, 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 - Election of the President of the Senate
(1) Nomination Period. The nomination period lasts 24 hours, or less with the consent of all Senators.
(a) The President of Redmont is to assume the chair of the Senate and ask for those who wish to be elected President of the Senate to nominate themselves or others.
(b) Should only one member be nominated then they shall be declared President of the Senate at the end of the nomincation period.
(c) Should two or more members be nominated, all members are to vote for the President of the Senate in the voting period.
(2) Voting Period. The voting period lasts 24 hours, or less once a majority has been reached and declared by the President.
(a) The ballot is to be conducted through instant runoff voting.
(b) In the event of a tie, the Vice President will cast a tie-breaking vote.
(3) Announcement Period. The President will announce the winning Senator from the instant run-off as the President of the Senate.
(a) Once announced, the winning Senator is to assume the authority of the Presiding Officer of the Chamber.
(b) The Presiding Officer becomes custodian of these Standing orders and calls the Senate to order.
2 - Election of an Acting President of the Senate
(1) In the event that President of the Senate is away for 5 or more days, the Senate will elect an acting President of the Senate.
(2) The tenure of the Acting President of the Senate is stated in the election.
(a) This tenure may be extended by the President of the Senate.
(b) This tenure may be shortened by the President of the Senate.
(3) The Acting President of the Senate becomes custodian of these Standing orders and calls the Senate to order in the absence or incapacity of the Presiding Officer. The Acting President of the Senate inherits the roles and responsibilities of the position during their tenure.
(4) There is to be a clear transfer of custodianship to the Acting President of the Senate and back again, in the eyes of the chamber.
3 - Removal of the Presiding Officer
(1) The President of Senate can be removed through a vote of no confidence (supermajority, excluding impacted senator).
(2) In the vacancy of the President of Senate, the relevant election process(es) will take place following the position becoming vacant.
4 - Sittings of the Senate
(1) The Senate is to sit every day unless the Senate otherwise moves to recess. If the Senate moves to recess it must not vote for the day or propose any motions however, any votation during this period may also be halted. A recess requires a supermajority approval.
5 - Business of the day
(1) Each day it sits, the Senate is to consider business put before it.
(2) The Senate is to consider new bills and resolutions in the order that they are submitted.
6 - Consideration of urgent business
(1) Should a majority of members petition the chair to consider an item of business urgently, that item of business shall be moved to the top of the docket and be considered immediately.
(2) Should the chair, or any other expressly given the powers of the chair, designate a bill for urgent consideration, that item shall be moved to the top of the docket but below any bills moved under the terms of Section 3 Clause 1.
7 - Consideration of business
(1) Bills shall be voted upon in the order in which they appear on the docket, skipping any bills not posted to the forums.
(2) Prior to voting, a bill must be on the Senate's docket for no less than 24 hours - unless subject to a motion of urgent consideration.
(3) Should the bill fail to reach a majority of Ayes or Nays due to Abstentions, the next 24 hours shall be committed to debate and amendments, then the bill will be reopened for votation if the author wishes to hold a revote.
(4) Should the bill fail to reach a majority of Ayes or Nays due to Abstentions for a second time, the bill fails.
8 - Putting the question
(1) Should any question be put to the Senate, the chair shall call roll for the Ayes, the Nays, and the Abstentions.
(2) During an in game session, if a question is put to the Senate, each Senator must publicly declare their vote during the session if present.
(3) Any Senator voting Abstain on a motion must provide a reason.
9 - Passage of bills
(1) Should a bill pass the Senate it shall be sent to the President for assent.
10 - Rules of Debate
(1) All individuals may debate during a reading.
(2) Individuals are not to make personal attacks against anyone.
(3) Individuals are to contribute to the debate in a constructive and relevant fashion.
(4) Individuals are to cease speaking and resume their seat if directed to by the chair.
(5) Individuals are not to exhibit disorderly, inappropriate, or offensive conduct.
(6) Individuals are not to misrepresent a statement or viewpoint of another individual.
(7) Individuals are not to threaten other members.
(8) Individuals who voice chat during debate should be asked for consent of recording in the scenario an ingame session is being recorded.
11 - Points of Order
(1) All individuals may raise points of order. Points of order are to be considered immediately.
(2) The chair rules on points of order.
(3) Individuals are not to raise vexatious points of order.
(4) Points of order are matters between the individual raising them and the chair.
(5) Points of order may be made at any time even during recess and must be ruled on by the chair.
12 - Suspension of Individuals
(1) The chair may suspend an individual who acts against the wellbeing of the Commonwealth of Redmont from the service of the Senate until their conduct can be deemed proper by the chair. Suspension while votation is open results in an abstention for the individual suspended. If their vote is required for passage or failure of a bill, they may vote when they return.
(2) The chair must not use suspensions as a political tool and a suspension can be overturned with a majority vote of all Senators (excluding the suspended member).
13 - Adoption by the Congress
(1) Upon the passage of this bill in the Senate it shall come into force.
14 - Committees
(1) The Senators of this chamber may form Committees with House of Representative members in what shall be known as "Joint Committees".
(2) Every member of Congress shall be in every committee related to their chamber due to the Legislative Standards Act.
(3) A Joint Committee is led by a chairperson, who is chosen by majority vote from the committee members. Individuals may nominate themselves during a 24-hour period prior to the election with an election taking place for 24 hours unless a candidate reaches majority vote during that duration.
(5) The House must also pass this section in the same language in their standing orders in order for this to take effect. If one chamber's Joint Committee of Congress standing order section is revised, then the current Joint Committee of Congress standing order section will continue to be in place until both can be revised to match each other.
(6) The Joint Committees of Congress are subject to all procedural law passed by the legislative branch except for the above sections, which can only be revised through revising the standing orders.
(7) All other information on Congressional Committees may be found in the Legislative Standards Act.
15- Chair code of conduct
(1) The Chair must present motions in the order proposed.
(2) The Chair must act appropriately.
(3) The Chair must make necessary motions public once passed.
(4) The chair must be accommodative of those who do not use voice chat and each event or proceeding must make all Senators feel comfortable in their environment to a reasonable degree.
(5) The Senators have a right to expect the chair to maintain the standing orders.
16- Press and Public Conferences
(1) Any Senator may request the Press Advisor of Congress for a press conference to be called.
(2) The Press Advisor should accept this request unless the request is deemed unreasonable and not practical. The Press Advisor will help coordinate and organise this conference and shall cooperate with the host of the conference.
(3) To aid the press industry, when a press conference is called, only select members of the press industry (approved through the Press Advisor under the directive of the chair of the chamber) will be able to attend these conferences.
(4) The press may be given 2 hours after the conference to distribute the news.
(5) If the matter is of great urgency to the public, the chair of the chamber could request a public conference to announce important votes and decisions. The Press Advisor would help coordinate this.
(6) Press and Public Conferences remain optional, however, if possible Senators should try to engage the player base through such political events.
17 - Established Committees
(1) The following Senate and Joint committees are established for this congressional term:
- Joint Legislative Oversight Committee
- Senate Judicial Oversight Committee
- Joint Economics Committee
- Senate Executive Oversight Committee
18 - Senate Confirmation Hearings
1) When the President (or President-Elect) nominates any player to a position in Cabinet or the Judicial a Senate Confirmation Hearing must be held.
2) The President of the Senate will then create a space for the Senators to ask the nominee question and for the nominee to respond.
3) In the event that no Senator has wishes to ask the nominee any questions, a senator can motion for a vote to skip the hearing. The vote must pass with a simple majority to skip the hearing.
4) After a hearing or motion to skip the hearing has ended, a vote will be held to confirm or reject the nominee.
5) Confirmation hearings will automatically close and proceed to vote following three days of no new questions or motions
19 - Amendments
(1) These Standing Orders can be amended at any time with the approval of the chamber (simple majority)
(2) These Standing Orders are extant, for the chamber, regardless of session, until otherwise amended.
