Amending RA Procedure

Kingborough

Kingborough

TNPer
I would like to table a debate to amend RA Procedure, Rule 2. - Speaker Pro Tempore.

The proposed text is as follows (changes in bold red);

Absence of Speaker; Deputy Speaker; Speaker Pro Tempore

A. Whenever the Speaker is absent or unavailable for more than 24 hours (or when there is a vacancy in the office of Speaker), the Speaker's designated Deputy, or if no Deputy has been appointed, the Regional Assembly member who is available and who (1) is not holding an office and (2) has the longest period of seniority, shall take the chair of the Regional Assembly and preside as Speaker Pro Tempore.
B. In the event the Speaker has designated a Deputy from among the membership of the Regional Assembly, this Rule shall apply with respect to any absence or unavailability of the Deputy Speaker that extends beyond 24 hours.
C. The Deputy Speaker or Speaker Pro Tempore may perform any act previously noticed by the Speaker within the Regional Assembly, or which is deemed required or necessary for the timely conduct of the business of the Regional Assembly.
D. The Speaker (or the Deputy Speaker) shall take the chair and resume their duties upon their return to the Regional Assembly (or upon posting the oath of office when there has been a vacancy in the Office of Speaker.)
E. After each general, judicial, or special election, (or after the admission or removal of members under Law 28,) the incumbent Speaker shall post an updated list of Regional Assembly members, listed according to their seniority. This list shall determine which member may act as Speaker Pro Tempore when the need arises under this Rule.
F. As used in this Rule:
1. "Absent or unavailable for more than 24 hours" means that the Speaker has not logged onto the forums, or posted in a Regional Assembly thread within the preceding 24 hours; or that some anticipated act by the Speaker within the Regional Assembly is due to be taken, and has not been taken.
2. "Seniority" is determined by the amount of elapsed time since a member’s most recent admission to the Regional Assembly without an interruption, but no longer than the amount of time since the adoption of the current Constitution.
3. "Holding an office" refers to the Delegate, the Vice Delegate, the head of a Cabinet office, the Attorney General, and any Court justice, but does not include members of the Security Council.
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Traditionally we use bold blue text for additions.

That said, the proposed changes seem fine, except for missing an apostrophe.
 
I agree obviously with the proposed changes. Having both a Deputy Speaker and a Speaker Pro Tempore seems silly.
 
From past experience there have been times before the rule was originally passed when a Speaker, or an appointed Acting Speaker weren't around when something needed to be done on the floor of the R.A. or with respect to the admission or removal of R.A. members.

I would ask Kingborough if he would please change the color of the additions from red to blue? A lot of us use, and TNP has used the blue=addition, red=deletion coding as long as I've been around.
 
@Grosse
Hence why I felt it best to leave Speaker Pro Tempore in place for the rare chance that both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are away at sometime in the future.
 
Grosseschnauzer:
From past experience there have been times before the rule was originally passed when a Speaker, or an appointed Acting Speaker weren't around when something needed to be done on the floor of the R.A. or with respect to the admission or removal of R.A. members.

I would ask Kingborough if he would please change the color of the additions from red to blue? A lot of us use, and TNP has used the blue=addition, red=deletion coding as long as I've been around.
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I second the motion to change the colour to blue.

I take Elu's point and I motion for the missing apostrophe to be added.

Apart from that it's well-worded and it certainly has sound logic behind it. I would endorse this proposed change once the above is corrected. It's not silly to have both roles, there is a purpose for them, and I think this proposal is successful at defining them.
 
Another error in editing, I suppose that needs a correction:
C. The Deputy Speaker or Speaker Pro Tempore may perform any act previously noticed by the Speaker within the Regional Assembly, or which is deemed required or necessary for the timely conduct of the business of the Regional Assembly.
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OK, I found another editorial problem that is in clause D
This refers to resuming "their duties upon their return" so the reference should be to "the Speaker (or Deputy Speaker)" otherwise it does not make sense. The only actual change to Clause D should be the addition of the reference to the Deputy Speaker at the beginning:
D. The Speaker (or Deputy Speaker) shall take the chair and resume their duties upon their return to the Regional Assembly (or upon posting the oath of office when there has been a vacancy in the Office of Speaker.)
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I'm going to go back through this and make sure everything is correct as far as the actual changes from the current rule.

ETA; The word "Tempore" in the first part of Clause C is in the current rule, so it does not need to be highlighted in any color.
 
When Limi a/k/a Abstain was Speaker, and had an appointed deputy, there were occlusions when both were unavailable for periods in excess of 24 hours, and it fell on me as the then-senior member of the R.A. to assume the chair as Speaker Pro Tempore.

When Limi resigned, I ended up having to seek a Court opinion about the R.A. application and membership procedures because we needed a determination that as SPT I could address actions that needed to be taken.

Whether a Deputy Speaker should necessarily become Acting Speaker when the principal who appointed them leaves office is a separate issue' and it's one no one has directly addressed. I'm not sure the way this proposal came about really highlighted that aspect, and I'm likely to just abstain. The other aspect of the rule that's not totally clear is when does the Deputy's authority start and end when the Speaker is absent for an extended period? There's an implication, but again, the implication was not explicitly addressed and should have been before this was voted on.
 
If need be (and the law permits it) I will write an omnibus bill with both the legislation for the interpretation act I wish to pass and a more thorough provision which addresses these concerns.

In the meantime this change provides a little more clarification.
 
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