BREAKING: Senate Establishes Frontier/Stronghold Committee
The committee is the first use of the newly-enacted Committee Protocol Amendment (2021).
Written by Pland Adanna
The Senate passed a resolution on Friday, December 11 to create the Frontier and Stronghold Committee, which has been charged with “assessing the benefits and detriments to becoming either a frontier or a stronghold”. The committee is expected to collect information and perspectives through expert testimony and potentially issue a concluding report or recommendation, with the goal of having more public-facing discussions on the issue. The committee currently consists of all seven senators, with Senator Olde Delaware as chair.
The committee's formation stalled in the Senate for almost a month while the body worked on the Committee Protocol Amendment (2021), legislation to outline the official process for creating Senate committees. The Senate passed that bill unanimously in early November but it was vetoed by former President Lime after the Ministry of Justice published a legislative assessment revealing several major flaws. The Senate passed a new version of the amendment shortly after, which Lime signed on November 22. The Frontier and Stronghold Committee marks the first use of this newly-officialized process.
The testimony and discussions within the Frontier and Stronghold Committee have the potential to swing public opinion (and possibly even the path the region takes) regarding the forthcoming update, especially given Comfed’s Quill’s, an independent newspaper’s, recent findings. The organization conducted a poll from November 29 to December 3 in which 51.4% of respondents said they would vote for the Frontier option in a referendum with the remaining 48.6% supporting becoming a Stronghold. Public opinion matters even more because of President Darcness and Vice President UPC's approach to the update. In their platform, they declared their intent to hold a referendum on the issue, stating that “[t]he final say on our region's path forward [in terms of the Frontier/Stronghold Update] will be with the people at large.” As of now, “the people at large” seem roughly split between the two options, but this new committee has the potential to change that.
