Senate Week in Review 06/29-07/06
Written by Kasaria
Edited by Grea Kriopia
Edited by Grea Kriopia
INTRODUCTION
Welcome back to Senate Week in Review. This week’s article is the first on developments within the recently elected 95th Senate. As such, it will open with a brief section on the results of the recent general election, as well as the selection of the speaker.
As a general principle, for the sake of efficiency and brevity, I will only write a full analysis of a bill on the week it is introduced or on weeks when amendments are made. Otherwise (as is the case for some legislation this week) I will only include a brief summary/review, and any new developments or debates related to the Act.
SENATE COMPOSITION & SPEAKER SELECTION
The last Europeian general election yielded five Senators. These are Senators Cordova, Rand, Gem, Sopo, and Eldorin. Of these five, four (Senators Rand, Cordova, Sopo, and Gem) are re-elected incumbents, and one (Senator Eldorin) is not.
There were three nominees for the Speakership, but only two candidates as Senator Sopo declined his nomination. The remaining two were Senators Gem and Rand. Ultimately, Senator Rand was elected with a 3-2 majority.
ELECTIONS ACT (2024)
Shortly following the general election, this Act was proposed by now-Speaker Rand. It would reform Europeian elections by introducing changes proposed by the recently vetoed Approval Voting Amendment Act, also authored by Speaker Rand. Notably, the extension of Approval Voting to Presidential elections was dropped in this Act, due to the opposition it encountered in the previous Senate.
Approval Voting is a system under which any candidate receiving more than 50% of the vote is elected. If there are a limited number of offices open for election, they are assigned in descending order from the candidate who received the greatest share of the vote. Speaker Rand has been an advocate for introducing this to Europeian elections for a long time.
The Act has faced scrutiny by Supreme Chancellor Lethen and Vice Chancellor Pland Adanna, both of whom criticized some of the language introduced by the Act. As SC Lethen noted, “...some of this language really needs to be cleaned up.” Additionally, he raised concerns about the re-numbering and renaming system employed by Speaker Rand, which in his opinion made it difficult to find the new changes introduced.
VC Pland Adanna added that the current wording of the Act (which avoids referring to election types by name and instead uses the number of candidates or seats open for election) makes it too unclear and confusing, even if the language is present to pre-empt future amendments.
No Senators aside from the author have commented within the Senate on the proposal, though if the opinions of the Supreme Chancellor and Vice Chancellor find support amongst the public or particularly the legislature, the Act will face a long and uphill battle before it becomes law.
SENATE SUBSTITUTE REFORM ACT
Senator Sopo’s Senate Substitute Reform Act was introduced in the 94th Senate and garnered universal support amongst those who constituted it. As four out of the five current Senators carried over from that Senate, and the only newly-elected candidate (Senator Eldorin) has also voiced his approval, it seemed that it would get complete Senate support again in the 95th.
However, Senator Rand recently came out against the legislation, noting his opposition to altering the system over one incident. Senator Gem agreed with his reasoning, but did not indicate which way they would vote.
As a quick review, the Act would remove the voting power of substitutes while still allowing them to debate topics that come before the Senate, a compromise position that has achieved a great amount of momentum in the continuing debates surrounding the Gameside Approval Controversy in late May.
As it stands, the Act faces more uncertainty than it did in the closing days of the 94th Senate, but is still fairly likely to pass with a 3-2 majority.
PAC SENATE VOTING ACT
This Act is also carried over from discussions in the previous Senate. It was introduced by Senator Gem after debates on how to improve the relevance of the People’s Assembly. Currently, three of the five Senators are in favor of the Act, while Senator Sopo has voiced his opposition and Speaker Rand is neutral.
The Act would give limited rights within the Senate to the PA Chair, including the right to vote on certain motions that come before the Senate.
Senator Gem has noted that they are in the process of rewriting the bill, so it is very unlikely that the current form of the bill is what will be presented at the time of the final vote. Still, it is notable that the existing proposal already enjoys majority support.
RESOLUTION 015; ESTABLISHING AN OFFICIAL DRINK FOR EUROPEIA
This was introduced by Senator Gem following the initial debates about the SPIT Treaty, and would have added to Europeian lore by establishing our regional drink as the Europeian Tropical Smoothie.
It was withdrawn after the changes to the Treaty, but Senator Gem has noted their continued consideration of the overall concept.
CONCLUSION
The 95th Senate begins its term with some fairly major pieces of legislation before it. All of the bills under consideration would alter the workings of the Senate itself, and some (such as the massive Elections Act) would reform the very core of our electoral system. For a look at how these Acts fare under continued debate, join the EBC next week for the following edition of Senate Week in Review.
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