10th Senate Week in Review [96-1] | 09/07 - 09/14
Written by Kasa
Edited by UPC and Vor
Edited by UPC and Vor
Introduction
Welcome back to Senate Week in Review. The EBC returns this week after a short hiatus to begin its coverage of the 96th Senate, following the recent general election.
New Senate Composition and Speaker Selection
The newly-elected 96th Senate consists of Senators Lloenflys, Cordova, Rand, Prov, and Caldrasa. Of these Senators, two (Lloenflys and Cordova) accepted nominations for Speaker. Senator Cordova won the resulting vote 3-2.
Elections Act (2024)
This bill received "discussion" this week as some Senators posted to bump the thread, but as of yet none have commented on the actual content of the proposal. Over a month has passed since any debate has taken place within the Senate surrounding this bill, with the last relevant comments being made in early August.
Discussion - Substitute Reform (Part 2)
A further discussion on substitute reform was introduced by Senator Rand this week. In his words, the previous reforms to Senate Substitutes were "too rushed," so he created a list of proposed changes to be discussed by his colleagues. In order of Senatorial support, these are:
- Granting substitutes the power to make and second motions, but not vote on them (4 Senators in support)
- Automatic abstain for Senators on LOA (4 Senators)
- Substitute power to vote on challenges to Speaker decisions (3 Senators)
- Substitute inclusion in oversight questions (2 Senators)
Delegacy Nomination Amendment Act (2024)
This bill, authored by Senator Rand, would prevent the President or Vice President from being nominated to serve as World Assembly Delegate, unless they were already holding the office at the time of their election to the Presidency/Vice Presidency. Senators Rand, Cordova, and Prov have expressed support for the bill, while Lloenflys and Caldrasa noted their opposition on the grounds that the Senate can simply decide on a case-by-case basis if holding the two roles simultaneously is appropriate.
Comments were also made by President UPC and Assembly Chair HEM, who initially broached this topic in the People's Assembly, indicating their support for the bill.
Circuit Court Abolishment Act (2024)
The new Senate jumped straight into discussing this bill following the general election. Senator Rand introduced a motion to table, which was seconded by Speaker Cordova. Senator Caldrasa expressed agreement with Rand's reasoning, and said that they "probably will vote for tableing [sic] it". In his announcement of the motion to table, Senator Rand defended the Circuit Court as a means for keeping the Judiciary accountable, accessible, and democratic. He also added that conflicts on interest were much more likely without the existence of the Circuit Court.
Calvin Cooldige, the author of the bill, was invited to speak in the Senate now that the legislation was facing renewed scrutiny. He defended his proposal, saying that concerns about conflicts of interest were "a much bigger problem in theory than [they are] in practice". Additionally, Coolidge claimed that the wider public was very supportive of the Court's abolishment, and expresse dhis hope that the Senate would not vote to table.
The future does look bleak for the bill, though, with a Senate majority already leaning towards tabling it. Debate will likely continue into next week, but the Senate's decision is probably not far off.
Conclusion
The members of the 96th Senate have enjoyed a fairly strong start to their term. The Senate currently has some big pieces of legislation before it, (though the Elections Act has not yet actually been debated), and if it can keep up the higher activity that usually follows elections for a few weeks, these bills will receive their time in the spotlight. Thanks for reading this edition of Senate Week in Review, and the EBC hopes to see you there for the next one.
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