Senate Rules and Procedures Act

Senate Rules and Procedures Act

Preamble

Whereas: The Senate rules should be more interesting

Article 1: Motion types

§1. There shall be three types of motions, privileged, non-privileged, and internal.

§2. A privileged motion must have a vote or begin procedures as outlined in this act or any other piece of legislation within 24 hours of the motion being filed. Privileged motions are the following votes:

§2.1. Cabinet Appointments.

§2.2. Impeachments including any motion to remove the speaker.

§2.3. Motions passed with a successful discharge petition

§2.4. Any votes required by other legislation

§2.5. Budgetary Votes

Repealed §3. An internal motion shall be a motion only used while in discussion unless otherwise mentioned by law. Internal motions shall last 12 hours, or until enough senators have voted in favor or against the motion for it to pass. All internal motions must be put up as quickly as possible by the presiding officer. The following are some internal motions:

§3.1. Motion to suspend rules of debate shall require a 2/3rds majority. It shall suspend any rule of debate stated in the motion surrounding debate in any piece of legislation that is not the constitution and the speaker's decision.

§3.2. Motion to override the speaker's decision shall require a simple majority vote, this motion shall override any decision the speaker unilaterally made that the motion states. This motion may be used outside of discussion if necessary.

§3.3. Motion to end debate shall end debate on a bill and shall require a simple majority vote. The motion shall end discussion on a bill and move on to another bill. If there are no more bills for consideration, the discussion on bills is to be considered over.

§3.4. Motion to adjourn discussion shall require a majority vote. It shall end discussion on all bills put for discussion.

§3.5. Motion to amend the motion shall require a majority vote. If passed, it shall amend the motion with whatever the motion states.

§3.6. Motion to debate shall be a motion which shall have no vote which serves as a formal request to the Speaker to have a debate on a bill or motion.

§3. An internal motion shall be a motion only used while in discussion unless otherwise mentioned by law. Internal motions shall last 12 to 24 hours at the speaker's discretion, or until enough senators have voted in favor or against the motion for it to pass. All internal motions must be put up as quickly as possible by the presiding officer. The following are some internal motions:

§3.1. Motion to suspend rules of debate shall require a 2/3rds majority. It shall suspend any rule of debate stated in the motion surrounding debate in any piece of legislation that is not the constitution and the speaker's decision.

§3.2. Motion to override the speaker's decision shall require a simple majority vote, this motion shall override any decision the speaker unilaterally made that the motion states. This motion may be used outside of discussion if necessary.

§3.3. Motion to end debate shall end any discussion forums on a bill and shall require a simple majority vote. If this motion succeeds after a motion has received a floor vote but before the vote ends, the speaker at their discretion may invalidate that motion's floor vote.

§3.4. Motion to table a motion shall require a simple majority vote. It shall end the discussion forum on the motion without a floor vote.

§3.5. Motion to amend the motion shall require a simple majority vote. If passed, it shall amend the motion with whatever the motion states.

§3.6. Motion to divide shall divide a bill or motion into separate motions as specified by the author requiring a simple majority to pass. If no such specification is given by the author of the motion, the speaker shall decide.

§3.7. Motion to Divide the House shall bar abstaining on the motion in question and shall require a 2/3rds majority vote to pass.

§3.8. The speaker may accept at their discretion any motion or procedure from Roberts Rules of Order or other motions established by senate precedent. They shall not be obligated to accept these motions.

§4. A non-privileged motion shall be any motion not covered under internal and privileged motions.

§4.1. The speaker shall have full discretion in how these types of motions go up for a vote.

Article 2: Discharge Petitions

§1. A majority of senators at any time may sign a petition to make a non-privileged motion a privileged motion.

Article 3: Disciplinary Consequences for Members

§1. The Speaker shall have the power to censure someone for repeated misconduct in the Senate. At any time any member, including the censured member may object to this and call a motion to overturn the speaker's decision. The consequences of censure are the following:

§1.1. Removal from the Senate floor for up to 24 hours. The senator shall be able to vote on all motions, but not be allowed to speak on the Senate floor.

§2. Before issuing a censure, the Speaker must provide a formal written warning to the member.

§2.1. A member must continue misconductful behavior after the formal warning to be censured.

Article 4: Legislative Process

§1. When a non-privileged motion is proposed to the speaker for consideration, the speaker shall have four options.

§1.1. Postpone indefinitely.

§1.2. Putting up the motion for an immediate floor vote.

§1.3. Sending the motion to a discussion forum.

§1.4. Sending the bill to a committee of the speaker's choosing.

§2. Postponing indefinitely shall mean the bill will not be on the legislative calendar for the time being.

§3. A floor vote shall last 24 hours or until all senators have voted on the motion. Unless stated in the law or the constitution, all votes shall require a simple majority to pass.

§3.1. The Vice President shall break ties in the Senate.

§4. A discussion form shall be a place for senators to debate bills as well as propose amendments to bills.

§4.1. Discussion forums shall last a minimum of 12 hours and a maximum of 48 hours unless internal motions are applied to extend or end the discussion forum.

§4.2. After discussion, the speaker shall put up the motions for a floor vote.

§4.3. At the start of discussion, the speaker may impose rules of debate and conduct for the discussion.

Article 5: Conduct on the Senate Floor

§1. It shall be the responsibility of the speaker to maintain civil and orderly debate in the Senate at all times.

§2. The presiding officer may set standards for conduct and debate.

Article 6: The Speaker of the Senate

§1. Every person shall have one vote for the speaker. A speaker shall be considered elected if a majority of votes cast for a legal person are in favor of the candidate.

§1.1. If a speaker is not elected on the first ballot, there shall be ballots until a speaker is elected.

§1.2. The Vice President shall be able to put up privileged motions while there is no Speaker elected.

§2. The speaker shall have full control over the legislative calendar for all non-privileged motions.

§3. The speaker shall be the presiding officer of the Senate.

§4. The Speaker shall appoint a Deputy Speaker to act as presiding officer in the event the speaker is unable to at a current moment in time.

§5. At any time, any senator may motion to remove the speaker from their position. This shall be considered a privileged motion and shall require a majority vote to pass.

Article 7: Line of Succession (Repealed)

Repealed §1. The following people shall succeed the speaker if there is no speaker. They shall only be able to put up privileged motions straight to a floor vote.

§1.1. The Vice President

§1.2. Senators in order of how they placed in their senate election.

§2. If the Speaker has a conflict of interest in a vote such as expulsion, impeachment, or removal from any office they might be in. The Vice President shall run the vote as well as any proceedings regarding the accusations.

Article 8: Appendix

§1. A majority vote shall be defined as more people voting aye than nay on a motion.

§1.1. A tie in the Senate shall be defined as there being equal ayes and nays on a motion.

§2. People who vote “abstain”, “present” or any other vote other than “aye” or “nay” shall not be counted.

Article 9: Repeals

§1. The “Revised Senate Procedures Act 2023” shall be repealed.