The Senate Leadership and Committees Act

The Senate Leadership and Committees Act

Section I: Definitions and Positions

1. Conference: A group of senators with aligned interests.

2. Majority Conference: The largest conference 1. In the event of a tie for the largest conference, the speaker shall break the tie, unless the senate votes to establish one caucus as the majority conference which may only happen in the event of a tie between two conferences.

3. Minority Conference: The second-largest conference

4. Non-aligned: A senator not affiliated with any conference.

5. At any time, a senator may switch conferences, form a new conference, or become non-aligned.

6. The minimum requirements to form a new conference shall be 15% of the Senate or two senators, whichever one is greater. All conferences must have a leader to represent them and may govern themselves as they please.

7. Majority Leader: Shall be appointed by the largest conference by the formation of the conference.

8. Minority Leader: Shall be appointed by the second largest conference by the formation of the conference.

9. Leader: The person in charge of the managing of the conference. The Minority and Majority leaders shall be considered leaders for this act.

10. The Majority and Minority Leader titles shall be updated as Senators switch conferences during the term.

Section II: Conferences

§1. Within 24 hours of a speaker election, if a speaker wishes to use committees, they must put out a conference affiliation call.

§1.1. In a conference affiliation call, conferences shall be formed, and senators may join conferences. This shall last 24 hours.

§1.2. When a conference is announced it must have a leader in its formation statement.

§2. If a speaker wishes to use committees but did not put up a conference affiliation call, they must do so before creating committees.

§3. Conferences may be formed at any time and may be disbanded or merged into another conference by a vote of its members.

§4. The Speaker of the Senate shall be barred from being any Leader. However, they may be a member of a conference but may not hold any leadership positions in the conference.

Section III: Leadership

1. The Majority Leader shall have the following responsibilities:

a.Appointments to committees on behalf of the majority conference.

b.Appointments of committee chairs.

c.Priority internal motion recognition.

d.Represents the majority conference.

e.Advises the speaker on the preferences of the majority conference.

2. The Minority Leader shall have the following responsibilities:

a.Appointments to committees on behalf of the minority conference.

b.Represents the minority conference.

c.Priority internal motion recognition.

d.Advises the speaker on the preferences of the minority conference.

3. All Leaders shall have the following responsibilities:

a.Appointments to committees on behalf of their conference.

b.Represents their conference.

c.Advises the speaker on the preferences of their conference.

d.Priority internal motion recognition.

4. In the event of a vacancy of a leader, their conference shall vote on a replacement, unless it is the majority leader where the speaker shall appoint the next majority leader.

5. In the event of a senator becoming the leader of two conferences, they must resign from one conference and that conference must vote for a new leader.

Section IV: Committees

1. Committees shall be formed and disbanded by the speaker, the speaker shall allocate the number of seats on the committees for each leader to appoint.

a.The Speaker shall not allocate more committee seats to a conference or party that holds fewer seats in the chamber than any other conference or party.

b.The largest three conferences shall be entitled to a minimum of 1 seat.

c.If a conference has a majority of senators as members, that conference shall be entitled to a majority of the committee seats.

d.The Senate by a simple majority vote, may remove committee members for misconduct or inactivity.

Leaders shall be able to remove any committee member appointed by their conference for inactivity or misconduct.

2. The Senate may vote to open a new committee permanently or temporarily by a vote or keep an existing committee overriding the speaker's orders.

3. Only Senators shall be able to serve on committees.

a.This requirement may be waived by a simple majority vote of the Senate.

b.This requirement may also be waived for committee chairs by a 2/3rds majority vote in the Senate.

4. Committees shall have the authority to issue subpoenas on behalf of the Senate by a vote of the committee.

5. Committees shall be tasked with holding hearings scheduled by the chair of the committee.

a.Hearings may summon executive or judicial officials for questioning by a subpoena.

b.To compel an official to show up, a vote of the committee must be held.

6. All subpoenas must be justified by either helping aid the legislative process on a bill or aiding in the work of the committee in some other compelling way. The subpoenaed individual may request a judicial remedy if they believe the subpoena is unwarranted for the reasons listed in this act.

7. Committees shall be tasked with making reports to the public about their findings or work whenever necessary by the committee or the senate as a whole.

8. Oversight shall be conducted in a manner that respects the autonomy of the executive and judicial branches, focusing on transparency and accountability without overreach.

9. The Speaker may forward any piece of legislation relevant to the committee as decided by the Speaker to a committee for review.

9.1. Committees must, within 72 hours of receiving a bill for review, either vote aye or nay to put the bill up for a floor vote. If the vote is successful, it constitutes a formal request for the Speaker to put it up for a vote.

9.2. If no vote is held or is in the process of being held within the deadline, the bill shall be taken out of committee.

9.3. The Speaker may extend this deadline if they believe it is necessary.

9.4. Committees may, in their motion to put a bill for a floor vote, allow or deny floor amendments by the entire chamber. If unspecified, the Speaker shall decide.

9.5. Committees may also recommend an open floor debate or an immediate vote. If unspecified, the Speaker shall decide.

10. If a bill had a debate in a committee, the speaker shall be permitted but not required to skip the debate amongst all of the senators.

11. Committee chairs shall be in charge as the presiding officer of the committee and shall manage procedures for the committee.

11.1.Chairs are responsible for setting agendas, conducting meetings, holding votes, and ensuring compliance with Senate rules.

11.2.At any point, the committee may move to replace the committee chair with any member of the committee by a simple majority vote.

12. Ties on committees shall be considered a failure or a rejection of the proposal.

12.1. Any leader may request the Senate to hold a floor vote to break the tie.

13. If someone is disciplined by a vote of the entire Senate, all committee assignments shall be removed unless explicitly exempted by the motion. They shall be barred from serving on any committee until the next Senate election.

Section V: Standing Committees

1. Standing committees may be created by law or by a simple majority vote of the Senate and may not be disbanded by the speaker. 1. Standing committees may be disbanded by a vote of the Senate as they please.

2. Standing committee responsibilities may be amended by a vote in the Senate.

3. At any time, any committee may motion to replace their committee chair with anyone else who is a member of the committee.

4. Standing committees shall have the same appointment process as other committees unless specified by law or specific rules the Senate imposed on the committee.

Section VI: Implementation

1. This act shall take effect after the next Senate election.