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Title
1. This Act shall be cited as Procedural Rules Amendment XVI.

Underhusen Procedure
2. Section 2(a) of the Procedural Rules of the Underhusen shall be amended to read:
     

(a) At the beginning of the term, the Speaker may choose to designate one Skrifa other than him/herself or the Speaker pro tempore as Secretary of the Underhusen.  The Secretary shall be responsible for posting newly introduced proposals to the Citizens' Platform and to notify Citizens of new proposals through various means of communication.

Speaker of the Underhusen
3. Section 8(b) of the Procedural Rules of the Underhusen shall be amended to read:
     

(b) The nomination and/or voting period may be shortened at the discretion of the Monarch if the relevant Underhusen session is shortened.

Amendments of the Procedural Rules
4. Section 14 of the Underhusen Procedural Rules shall be rendered null and void. 

Changes:
*Rather than making it a requirement to hire a secretary, since many sessions have had secretaries that do nothing (and there's no disciplinary action that can be taken), "shall designate" has been changed to "may choose to designate" to make it an optional delegation for the Speaker.  A period has also been added and the wording changed, so that it's not a gigantic run-on sentence.

*"One or both of the nomination and voting period" sounds awkward, so it's been changed to "The nomination and/or voting period"

*Since the whole archive thing has been scrapped leagues ago (no, I don't mean the locked thread archive), Section 14 is a useless passage.

Wait, do mine eyes deceive me, or is actual work being done in the UH, for a change.

I see nothing wrong with this.

Two things:

1. If we want to make ties in Speaker votes less ambiguous, perhaps we could include it in this amendment?

2. I noticed an odd vagueness in the procedure for motion to vote:

3.   Any proposal introduced into the Underhusen must be considered by the Underhusen for a minimum of two days before a motion to vote or table can be made.  If no motion has been made or seconded after five days, Skrifa must enter a motion to vote, table, or extend discussion.
     (a) Any Skrifa may motion to expedite at any time after a proposal has been introduced.  If the motion receives a second, the bill will proceed to a vote no later than 24 hours after the second. If the bill is a Revocation of Citizenship, the ability to expedite shall be relinquished.
      (b) A motion to Extend Debate may include a time period shorter or longer than 48 hours, but is not shorter than 4 hours and is not longer than 1 weeks, should no time period be given or should the time period be shorter or longer than what is allowed, the extension shall be 48 hours. If little to no active discussion has happened by the deadline of the first extension, the ability to extend debate/discussion shall be relinquished and a Skrifa other than the Speaker must motion to vote or table the bill. Active discussion shall be defined as any debate or discussion on a bill or its merits with significant or productive contributions from a majority (50% or more) of Skrifa.
      (c) For a motion to table to pass, the motion must be seconded by not less than one half of current Skrifa. The Speaker may only second a motion to table in the event of a tie.
      (d) Tabled bills may be revived if a motion to revive or vote has been proposed and seconded. If either motion passes, the Underhusen resumes normal procedure for discussion or voting, respectively.

4.  Any Skrifa other than the Speaker may motion to vote on any proposal once the two-day debate period has expired. The Speaker shall open the vote no later than five days after the motion to vote has passed.

The motions to expedite and to table are clearly outlined, with explanations on number of seconds required, whether the Speaker can motion/second, etc. On the other hand, the motion to vote merely says that it'd proceed to vote "after the motion to vote has passed." Precedent has established it to be for one Skrifa to second the motion to vote, but I don't see it explicitly stated anywhere.

I also just noticed that the formatting in Section 16 is off compared to the other ones, and also is missing a few spaces in the numbering.

Thoughts?

*Since the whole archive thing has been scrapped leagues ago (no, I don't mean the locked thread archive), Section 14 is a useless passage.

To be fair, that isn't completely true; the laws page does have a votes archive that is being maintained by the Speaker. (Of course that's completely different from the spreadsheet of long ago, but still.)

I actually never noticed that it had that on there.

I'm assuming the Speaker has access to update everything on there outside of Royal Decrees?

I actually never noticed that it had that on there.

I'm assuming the Speaker has access to update everything on there outside of Royal Decrees?

It seems I have access to update everything. (Though Royal Decrees do not have a Votes section.)

Assuming the Chairman of the Overhusen also has access, then perhaps section 14 of our own rules should still be removed...while an amendment to the overall laws may be in order.

Basically it'd state that it would be the responsibility of the current Speaker and Chairman to ensure that the laws in that area are kept up to date.

But that would cover both the laws and vote history always keeping current.

Assuming the Chairman of the Overhusen also has access, then perhaps section 14 of our own rules should still be removed...while an amendment to the overall laws may be in order.

Basically it'd state that it would be the responsibility of the current Speaker and Chairman to ensure that the laws in that area are kept up to date.

But that would cover both the laws and vote history always keeping current.

I mean, the Overhusen as similar rules in place as well.

Speaking of the Votes archive, there seem to be quite a few missing ones in older laws. Will try to update (though there currently seems to be a bug preventing me from doing so on a few).

Assuming the Chairman of the Overhusen also has access, then perhaps section 14 of our own rules should still be removed...while an amendment to the overall laws may be in order.

Basically it'd state that it would be the responsibility of the current Speaker and Chairman to ensure that the laws in that area are kept up to date.

But that would cover both the laws and vote history always keeping current.

I mean, the Overhusen as similar rules in place as well.

True, I guess we can always reword it to something like "It is the responsibility of the Speaker, with assistance from the Chairman of the Overhusen, to maintain the Laws of Wintreath by adding newly passed laws and their vote history and ensuring that everything is kept up to date."

Clearly the wording could be a bit better as that's a rough idea, but it's an idea to make it more about the current way and less about having to create a secondary template in something like Excel/Google Spreadsheet.

And we could encourage the OH to update that same amendment, but flip it around to "It is the responsibility of the Chairman, with assistance from the Speaker of the Underhusen"

Thoughts on both Pengu's proposals and mine?

@Mathyland
@Laurentus
@North

True, I guess we can always reword it to something like "It is the responsibility of the Speaker, with assistance from the Chairman of the Overhusen, to maintain the Laws of Wintreath by adding newly passed laws and their vote history and ensuring that everything is kept up to date."

Clearly the wording could be a bit better as that's a rough idea, but it's an idea to make it more about the current way and less about having to create a secondary template in something like Excel/Google Spreadsheet.

And we could encourage the OH to update that same amendment, but flip it around to "It is the responsibility of the Chairman, with assistance from the Speaker of the Underhusen"

That makes sense to me.

I do not mind Pengu's proposal.

[First post of the 25th term of the UH]

To start with, I would like to clarify the changes proposed, as I myself had some trouble noting the difference as presented in the first post.

Current 2a
(a) At the beginning of the term, the Speaker shall designate one Skrifa other than him/herself or the Speaker pro tempore as Secretary of the Underhusen, who shall have the responsibility to post newly introduced proposals to the Citizens' Platform and to notify Citizens of new proposals through various means of communication.

Pengu's Proposal
(a) At the beginning of the term, the Speaker may choose to designate one Skrifa other than him/herself or the Speaker pro tempore as Secretary of the Underhusen.  The Secretary shall be responsible for posting newly introduced proposals to the Citizens' Platform and to notify Citizens of new proposals through various means of communication.

Current 8b
(b) One or both of the nomination and voting period may be shortened at the discretion of the Monarch if the relevant Underhusen session is shortened.

Pengu's Proposal
(b) The nomination and/or voting period may be shortened at the discretion of the Monarch if the relevant Underhusen session is shortened.

Current 14
14. The Speaker of the Underhusen, or Speaker Pro Tempore if he/she is in use, shall keep an easily accessible archive of all former and current votes in a way that he/she chooses that all citizens shall have access to.

Pengu's Proposal


Comparison doesn't work as well for that last one, but I didn't want it to be forgotten.

Other discussion has been interesting, I don't think I need to summarize it, other than saying that I see no prior opposition to this, merely a lack of a motion to vote.

Noting taulover's post about Section 16, which is straightforward enough that I can guess what changes may be needed, I would also ask if we should add in these formatting changes:

Current 16
16. (a)The Speaker (or standing Speaker) may deem members of the Underhusen "inactive" if they are not present for a prolonged period of time; this status can be ignored if supplanted by either the "inactive" member stating they are no longer inactive in the Underhusen or by majority vote of all current Skrifa. This status must be noted and maintained in a public listing in the Underhusen.
(b)The "inactive" label may only be placed on a Skrifa that has not taken part in any discussion or vote in the Underhusen for the last 14 days (336 hours).
(c) If the majority (equal to or more than 50%) of the Underhusen is deemed "inactive" then requirements on the Speaker to not initiate motions can be waived for the interim. Namely in sections 3(b) and 3(c). Thus the speaker would be able to initiate motions to vote or table discussions.
(d) If all Skrifa bar the Speaker (or standing Speaker) are deemed "inactive" then the session will be immediately suspended until either 1] The Skrifa return, or 2] The session ends. During this suspension, no proposals may be introduced, motioned on, or voted on in the Underhusen.

Aethelia's attempted grammar and consistency fix
16. The Speaker of the Underhusen, or Speaker Pro Tempore if he/she is in use, may deem members of the Underhusen "inactive" if they are not present for a prolonged period of time; this status may be ignored if supplanted by either the "inactive" member stating they are no longer inactive in the Underhusen, or by majority vote of all current Skrifa. This status must be noted and maintained in a public listing in the Underhusen.
(a) The "inactive" label may only be placed on a Skrifa that has not taken part in any discussion or vote in the Underhusen for the last 14 days (336 hours).
(b) If the majority (equal to or more than 50%) of the Underhusen is deemed "inactive" then requirements on the speaker to not initiate motions may be waived for the interim. Namely, in Sections 3(b) and 3(c). Thus, the Speaker would be able to initiate motions to vote or table discussions.
(c) If all Skrifa bar the Speaker, or Speaker Pro Tempore if he/she is in use, are deemed "inactive", then the term will be immediately suspended until either the Skrifa return, or the term ends. During this suspension, no proposals may be introduced, motioned on, or voted on in the Underhusen.


I think I'm done with color tags for awhile, but it's hard to show the differences without doing that... anyway, what does the 25th Underhusen think of these changes?

If further edits are recommended, I will keep this post updated.