Good day to y’all! It’s Katie again. This week I’d like to bring you something real special that I worked hard on, and that’s the...Underhusen Weekly Report – 29th Term Midterm Edition
This time around I wrote a lot more stuff: detailed descriptions of legislation and motions and events that happened, as well as the usual stuff! So to kick it off I’d like to give y’all a statement from our Speaker, Chanku! Hello fellow Wintreans!
When I ran for Speaker, I had a laid-out plan for the entire session, including the general idea for these releases. When I discussed this with Katie upon the need to find a new Officer of Information, I had brought up these ideas that I had, and she enthusiastically wanted the job. Since making the choice in her as my Officer of Information, I have not once regretted the decision, in fact I am more than stunned at the amazing work she puts into the summaries, and the work she has put into this pamphlet! So please, when you get a chance make sure to thank her for the amazing work and effort she has put into these things, as this wouldn't have been nearly as possible without her willingness and effort to go the extra mile.
In terms of legisative accomplishments, the general agenda I had for the start of the term has generally been progressing well, with the passage of at least one of the amendments I desired. In addition, my fellow Skrifa have introduced bills that are very unique and have lead to some activity in the debate and discussion. While I may disagree with my fellow Skrifa on the legislation at times, and while I may disagree with how they vote, I am pleased with this session as everyone has introduced at least one piece of legislation onto the floor of the Underhusen, something which hasn't generally been done for the past while. With the break-neck pace of the Underhusen this session, you might think we are done, but we aren't entirely done yet. I have some additional pieces of legislation, and I would imagine my fellow Skrifa do as well, so keep paying attention to the weekly summaries for information on those!
Finally, I would like to, once again, bring praise onto my fellow Skrifa as they have done amazing jobs, and we have had an extraordinarily busy and active Underhusen! I do not foresee us slowing down any time soon, and this activity will continue into the next half of the session. I would also like to thank my fellow Skrifa for being patient with me, even with my repeated absences.
Sincerely,
Chanku L. Kaizer - Speaker of the Twenty-Ninth Underhusen
- 07.08.2018 – After the standard scheduled Underhusen elections, Chanku, North, Syraj, Katie, and Evanlicious are elected. Crushita did not win, sadly, but their efforts were much appreciated. Notably, Katie was included on all 13 votes cast, the most of any candidate.
- 11.8.2018 – Chanku is elected as the Chair of the Underhusen. He wins 3-2 over North via a tie-breaker vote that he cast himself.
- 13.8.2018 – Speaker Chanku appoints Syraj as Chair Pro Tempore and Katie as Officer of Information. A brief controversy arises regarding the speaker possibly having promised Katie the OoI position, but the Speaker assured those in doubt that he would have chosen someone else had he seen their merit to be greater.
- 23.8.2018 – Speaker Chanku activates Pro Tempore Syraj’s chairing powers due to a Leave of Absence. This lasted from August 23rd at 2:29 AM EST to August 24th at 6:35 PM EST.
- 28.8.2018 – Speaker Chanku declares Evanlicious to be inactive, citing a lack of activity, specifically that he had not posted a single message on the Wintreath forums since the Speaker Elections concluded on August 11th. Attempts were made to contact Evanlicious through NS Telegrams soon afterward.
- 04.9.2018 – Evanlicious resigns as Skrifa, triggering a special election that will take place at a date to be later determined. Ergo he is removed from the inactivity list.
Twenty Ninth Underhusen
Officers
Speaker - Chanku
Speaker Pro Tempore - Syraj
Officer of Information - Katie
Skrifa
Chanku
Syraj
Katie
North
Evanlicious Resigned on September 4th 2018.
notes
- adds a 13th article to the Fundamental Laws.
- corrects a wording issue in Section 11(b) of the Procedural Rules of the Underhusen.
- adds a 4th section to what is presumably the Underhusen Styles and Honours Act.
- reintroduces a bill tabled during the 28th Storting.
- closes a possible loophole in Speaker Election procedures.
- modifies and adds a 6th section to the Persona Non Grata Act.
- sets the number of Skrifa for the 30th term Underhusen.
And finally, I’d like to go in-depth into some of the important or controversial events this term.The Fundamental Laws Supremacy Amendment ActThis session saw the reintroduction of
the Fundamental Laws Supremacy Amendment Act, which had been introduced during the Twenty-Eighth session by current Speaker of the Underhusen
Chanku L. Kaizer. It was reintroduced to the floor of the Underhusen on August 11th by Speaker
Chanku. The act seeks to explicitly establish the Fundamental Laws, our constitution, as above any other law or document, to fix a potential loophole in the current system. The current system would allow the Storting to legally alter the Fundamental Laws with statutory law, as the Storting has the power to pass laws in all matters, with the supremacy of the Fundamental Laws is only a legal norm and custom.
The amendment itself explicitly declares that a law that conflicts with the Fundamental Laws is invalid. This also extends to decrees and rulings to protect the Fundamental Laws. While this situation would ultimately be fruitless, it would be legally possible to do it which is concerning enough none-the-less. Additionally, it makes it harder for a bad actor, or a group of bad actors, to harm Wintreath.
Upon being reintroduced, the bill provoked some discussion and reactions, with some claficiations being made, and it was quickly moved to a vote. Upon voting on the act, it was almost unanimously passed the Underhusen, with Evanlicious not voting. The act passed the Overhusen with a majority of three, the other two peers (
Aragonn and
Cinciri) abstaining. As such this amendment will now be moved to a vote by the Citizenry during the next election, where it is to be seen if it will be passed or rejected, although there is currently no opposition to this amendment.
The Persona-Non-Grata Amendment ActThe Persona Non Grata Amendment Act was proposed to the floor of the Underhusen on August 20th by Skrifa
Syraj. Its original stated purpose was to give overriding rights to the Monarch and the Storting regarding each other’s PNG declarations, citing a potential misuse of the current system by a “bad Storting” that would necessitate an appeal by the Monarch. Immediately fellow Skrifa were sceptical, but Skrifa
Katie attempted to bring a compromise by making such an appellate process more difficult.
The topic was also highly debated in its thread in the Citizen’s Platform. Thane of Dispatches
taulover expressed, in response to Skrifa Katie’s rebuttal of the Speaker’s arguments, the concern that since the Storting and the Monarchy are separated to the point that they cannot interfere with eachother, increasing more checks may increase the amount of interference. “The Overhusen represents the Monarch”, as taulover says.
In the end, the act passed the Underhusen with only Speaker Chanku voting against. Skrifa
North originally abstained but switched his vote to “aye”, citing Evanlicious’ inactivity and intent to expedite the passage of the bill. The bill failed the Overhusen with a unanimous “nay” vote. An oft-quoted source for their opposition to the bill was Speaker Chanku’s initial arguments regarding the bill’s pitfalls.
The Speaker Election Amendment ActThe Speaker Election Amendment Act was presented to the floor of the Underhusen on August 20th by Skrifa
North. It was intended (at least from what can be ascertained) to address the issue of tiebreaking in Underhusen Speaker elections by introducing 3 tie-breaking ballots and allowing the Monarch a tie-break vote in the event of the failure of the extra ballots.
Quite quickly, many questions arose from fellow Skrifa. Skrifa
Katie was concerned that the wording of the bill implied that there were already multiple ballots, and Speaker
Chanku cited a clause of the Fundamental Laws that states the Underhusen must elect a member of their own.
Intense debate lasted for more than 48 hours before Skrifa
North motioned to table the resolution. The motion passed with the seconds of Katie and Syraj. It is unknown at what future date the Underhusen may return to this legislation and what solutions they may come up with.
And that's a wrap! Be sure to come back next week for the Underhusen Weekly Summary, and at the end of the term I'll be coming back to y'all with another one of these lovely detailed summaries! Have a great day! - Katie 