The Raising Some Revenue Act and Amendment

[Ian Plätschisch]

The Raising Some Revenue Act and Amendment

WHEREAS The registration fee for parties contesting elections to the Cosâ was recently halved, and 

WHEREAS This is all well and good, but we need some more revenue streams if the government ever wants to start paying for its own web presence, and 

WHEREAS It is not unreasonable to expect successful Senate candidates to pay a small fee as well, since they partake in the election process just as much as political parties do 

THEREFORE, Section 13 is added to Article IV of the Organic Law, which reads:

The Secretary of State may request that Senators-elect pay a small fee before taking their seats.  The fee shall be set by law and uniform for all Senators-elect. 

FURTHERMORE, upon the ratification of the above amendment in a referendum, Lex.B.9, which currently reads: 

The Secretary of State, or his appointed agent, shall charge, as prescribed by the Organic Law, a registration fee of 6¤40 (six louise and forty bence, equivalent to $10 USD) to each political party in forthcoming elections. Any Party or Parties which fail or refuse to pay the fee shall be deemed not registered.

shall be amended to read: 

The Secretary of State, or his appointed agent, shall charge, as prescribed by the Organic Law, a registration fee of 6¤40 (six louise and forty bence, equivalent to $10 USD) to each political party in forthcoming elections. Any Party or parties which fail or refuse to pay the fee shall be deemed not registered.  The Secretary of State, or his appointed agent, shall also charge, as prescribed by the Organic Law, a fee of 3¤20 (three louise and twenty bence, equivalent to $5 USD) to all Senators-elect, which must be paid before a Senator-elect takes his or her seat.

FURTHERMORE, upon the ratification of the above amendment in a referendum, Lex.B.12.3 shall be added, which reads:

In order to appear on the Chancery ballot for an election to the Senäts, candidates must register their candidacy with the Secretary of State.

Uréu q'estadra så;
Ian Plätschisch (MC-MRPT)

[Magniloqueu Épiqeu da Lhiun]

Could you check your amendment? The first section seems incomplete.

[Ian Plätschisch]

Jan 30, 2017 9:54:10 GMT -6 Magniloqueu Épiqeu da Lhiun said:

Could you check your amendment? The first section seems incomplete.

What is missing?

[Munditenens Tresplet]

Jan 30, 2017 12:39:14 GMT -6 Ian Plätschisch said:

Jan 30, 2017 9:54:10 GMT -6 Magniloqueu Épiqeu da Lhiun said:

Could you check your amendment? The first section seems incomplete.

What is missing?

I think he (and I both) didn't see you were adding a section instead of amending a section.

[Miestrâ Schivâ, UrN]

I'm going to oppose this on the basis of the old ZRT policy that any registration fee for elections is "pay for play" politics, and that we should shift to funding the State via "voluntary taxation", aka calls for donations.

[Ian Plätschisch]

Jan 30, 2017 14:17:55 GMT -6 Miestrâ Schivâ, UrN said:

I'm going to oppose this on the basis of the old ZRT policy that any registration fee for elections is "pay for play" politics, and that we should shift to funding the State via "voluntary taxation", aka calls for donations.

I'd hardly say that a $5 fee constitutes "pay for play," but I doubt I'll change your mind on this one.  We've got to start paying for our own web presence one way or another, though, and this would help.  Also, how much in donations do we ever get?

[Ián B. Anglatzarâ]

Jan 30, 2017 18:23:13 GMT -6 Ian Plätschisch said:

Jan 30, 2017 14:17:55 GMT -6 Miestrâ Schivâ, UrN said:

I'm going to oppose this on the basis of the old ZRT policy that any registration fee for elections is "pay for play" politics, and that we should shift to funding the State via "voluntary taxation", aka calls for donations.

I'd hardly say that a $5 fee constitutes "pay for play," but I doubt I'll change your mind on this one.  We've got to start paying for our own web presence one way or another, though, and this would help.  Also, how much in donations do we ever get?

I've put in a couple of hundred by paying for stuff out of my own pocket. I would easily put down a couple of tenners every year and I'm sure we could find ten more people to do so. This is a non-problem. We simply haven't started to ask.

[Sir C. M. Siervicül]

I would be more inclined to support this idea if it seemed like we had an overabundance of competition in Senäts races. If such a fee had been in place for the last election, I think it likely that at least one of the Senäts races would have been uncontested.

[Lüc da Schir]

Given how the national coffers have fared lately, I'd argue that making Senate candidates pay to compete isn't necessarily a priority (the ModRad agenda actually concerned winning Senatorial candidates tbh).

[Ian Plätschisch]

Jan 31, 2017 11:48:39 GMT -6 Lüc da Schir said:

Given how the national coffers have fared lately, I'd argue that making Senate candidates pay to compete isn't necessarily a priority (the ModRad agenda actually concerned winning Senatorial candidates tbh).

Woukd people be more supportive of the fee if it was only for winning candidates?

[Ian Plätschisch]

Jan 31, 2017 12:14:33 GMT -6 Ian Plätschisch said:

Jan 31, 2017 11:48:39 GMT -6 Lüc da Schir said:

Given how the national coffers have fared lately, I'd argue that making Senate candidates pay to compete isn't necessarily a priority (the ModRad agenda actually concerned winning Senatorial candidates tbh).

Woukd people be more supportive of the fee if it was only for winning candidates?

These changes have been made.  Any suggestions to make the bill more condensed would be welcomed.

[Magniloqueu Épiqeu da Lhiun]

Disregarding the merits of this bill for a moment, why is this an Organic Law Amendment, and not an inclusion into the Lexhatx?

[Munditenens Tresplet]

Feb 1, 2017 17:32:42 GMT -6 Magniloqueu Épiqeu da Lhiun said:

Disregarding the merits of this bill for a moment, why is this an Organic Law Amendment, and not an inclusion into the Lexhatx?

As long as we still have everything else in OrgLaw, this belongs in OrgLaw, since statutory law can't prescribe any further requirements to become a Senator than what is in OrgLaw. But I agree, it does belong in El Lexhatx, but only after we get most everything in there first.

[Munditenens Tresplet]

Maybe change:

In order to appear on the ballot for an election to the Senäts, candidates must register their candidacy with the Secretary of State.

to

In order to appear on the Chancery ballot for an election to the Senäts, candidates must register their candidacy with the Secretary of State.

Additionally, you'd be able to put this in El Lexhatx instead of OrgLaw, especially since write-ins are still allowed anyway. The fee part does need to be in OrgLaw though, at least for now.

[Ian Plätschisch]

Feb 3, 2017 22:54:08 GMT -6 Munditenens Tresplet said:

Maybe change:

In order to appear on the ballot for an election to the Senäts, candidates must register their candidacy with the Secretary of State.

to

In order to appear on the Chancery ballot for an election to the Senäts, candidates must register their candidacy with the Secretary of State.

Additionally, you'd be able to put this in El Lexhatx instead of OrgLaw, especially since write-ins are still allowed anyway. The fee part does need to be in OrgLaw though, at least for now.

Done.