Bills

This is bill id#1080 (this information has no legal importance and is technical in nature.

Hopper Thread

WHEREAS there are talks about nationalizing Wittenberg so that Wittenberg operations are handled by officials instead of honorary Wittmeisters AND

WHEREAS in reality, this concerns Wittenberg operation and not Wittenberg hosting AND

WHEREAS in the past, it was impossible to move data from our current hosting company due to their policy AND

WHEREAS it is now possible to do so with a migration to the professional version of their forum which allows to export data AND

WHEREAS this professional version can only be upgraded to if 6 months are paid (at 10$ each) AND

WHEREAS at this point, we do not have enough information to decide if the export of the data is good or not AND

WHEREAS the former Witthoster of Wittenber 8, 9 and 10 is willing to once again sponsor hosting of Wittenberg if asked AND

WHEREAS this bill is not yet privatizing Wittenberg, it is only there to mandate a research on privatization 

THEREFORE the Ziu resolves to

Hire pro-bono former Witthoster Marti-Pair Furxheir to do a technical analysis of the quality of the exports of the professional version of the current Wittenberg's hosting company and present a technical report of the feasibility of a migration AND

Prepare to set aside in a future budget 60$ or so to pay for the professional version should the technical report prove promising AND

To subsequently decide by law whether to move forward with the migration and find an acceptable new company to host the next Wittenberg

This is bill id#1081 (this information has no legal importance and is technical in nature.

Hopper Thread

Whereas, currently there is alot of tension between the parties.

Whereas, tension leads to anger.

Whereas, anger between parties can lead to battles and hatred. 

Whereas, hatred can lead to suffering, via someone renouncing, which is suffering for all involved. 

Therefore, we propose an extension of the role of the Speaker (Túischac'h) within the Cosa. 

Currently Article XII Section 9 of Organic Law which currently reads :

"The King shall appoint a Member of the Cosâ to serve as Speaker of the Cosâ (Talossan: el Túischac'h), on the advice of the Seneschál for the upcoming term. The Speaker shall preside, direct and maintain order at Living Cosâs in an unbiased fashion. He is considered the honourable President of the Cosâ and shall be awarded all due veneration when serving as such."

Article XII Section 9 shall be replaced by: 

"The King shall appoint a Member of the Cosa to serve as Speaker of the Cosa (Talossan: el Túischac'h), on the advice of a simple majority vote in the Cosa for the upcoming term. The Speaker shall preside, direct and maintain order during Living Cosas, in an unbiased fashion. Otherwise, his function will be to advise Members of Cosa of appropriate decorum. He is considered the honourable President of the Cosâ and shall be awarded all due veneration when serving as such."

This is bill id#1082 (this information has no legal importance and is technical in nature.

Hopper Thread

WHEREAS, John le Carre was probably right when he said that once you start leading the "inside-out world of espionage, you never shed it", and

WHEREAS, unlike our larger state counterparts we should never need to employ such illicit tactics, and

WHEREAS, it makes me uncomfortable that government spies could be among us now, unbeknownst to the general public, unaccountable to the people, and sanctioned by one individual, and

WHEREAS, Talossa is a country that should be built on trust and friendship, and

WHEREAS, these particular tactics of espionage hark back to the days of King Robert I, and

WHEREAS, it has never been known for us to implement such tactics in modern Talossa before, and we have still managed to effectively catch fraudsters, now

THEREFORE, be it enacted by the Ziu that subsection A.17 of el Lexhatx, which reads
 

17. Charges brought under A.16 shall be heard in the Magistrate's Court, subject to appeal to the Uppermost Cort.

This is bill id#1083 (this information has no legal importance and is technical in nature.

Hopper Thread

Whereas the complex and crazy process of avoiding corruption and exposure with a secret ballot is not yet perfect, and

Whereas we want to give guidance on how the election should be conducted without being too rigid, since we have these people in place for the purpose of their good judgment, and

Whereas the best way to do that is probably to say how things should be done, generally speaking, but leave some wiggle room, and

Whereas we also need a way to finish up if there's a serious problem, 

Therefore el Lexhatx's Title B shall have appended to it an additional section 13, which shall read as follows:

13. The Election Commission and Secretary of State shall fulfill the duty of certifying election results, as specified in Org.VII.6, according to these guidelines.

13.1. The SoS will send them a reminder of their duties at the start of the election. They should notify the SoS that they are willing and able to verify ballots, while the election is still going on. If they fail to respond to a further reminder, the Secretary of State should notify the nation.

13.2. After the election is concluded, within one week the members of the Commission should go through the ballots and mark them as valid or invalid, by whatever procedure is established by the Chancery. Each ballot need only be validated by three members of the Commission unless there is a discrepancy, and after they have finished, they should notify the Secretary of State that they are done. This process should be completed within one week after the end of the election.

13.3. If there is any discrepancy, the Commission shall confer in private, and discuss the matter until they reach a consensus. It is suggested that a vote should be taken with regards to each disputed ballot, and majority opinion among the Commission should then govern the Commission's decision with respect to that ballot. The Commission should notify the Secretary of State when they have finished this process, so that he can declare the elections certified.

Furthermore, the sixth section of the seventh article of the Organic Law, which currently reads:

Votes for the Cosa may be submitted either publicly or privately. Votes submitted privately shall be submitted to and available only to an Electoral Commission, consisting of the Secretary of State and the three Justices of the Uppermost Court. Should any Justice be unavailable to serve on the Commission, the King shall name a Magistrate judge of a subordinate court to replace that Justice, but should no Magistrate such judge likewise be available, the Commission shall serve as otherwise constituted. It shall be a criminal act, punishable as determined by law, for the contents of any such vote to be revealed by any member of the Commission to any other person. The members of the said Electoral Commission shall independently confirm the final tally and together shall certify the election.

shall be amended as follows:

Votes for the Cosa may be submitted either publicly or privately. Votes submitted privately shall be submitted to and available only to an Electoral Commission, consisting of the Secretary of State and the three Justices of the Uppermost Court. Should any Justice be unavailable to serve on the Commission, the King shall name a Magistrate judge of a subordinate court to replace that Justice, but should no such Magistrate judge likewise be available, the Commission shall serve as otherwise constituted. It shall be a criminal act, punishable as determined by law, for the contents of any such vote to be revealed by any member of the Commission to any other person. The members of the said Electoral Commission shall independently confirm the final tally and together shall certify the election. No member of the Commission may, whilst the Commission is engaged in the process of ballot validation, simultaneously serve as a leader of a political party. If at any point in the certification process, three of the members of the Electoral Commission agree that one of the members has become unresponsive, they shall notify the King, who shall in turn remove the named individual and appoint as replacement a Magistrate judge of a subordinate court or, should no such Magistrate judge be available, the Commission shall serve as otherwise constituted.
 

This is bill id#1084 (this information has no legal importance and is technical in nature.

Hopper Thread

WHEREAS, as per Lex.D.2.1.5,

The Seneschal shall be required to submit to the Ziu, in time for consideration by the the second Clark of the Cosa, a government bill approved by the whole Cabinet which shall contain the following: (38RZ15)

2.1.5.1. a detailed budget listing all planned expenses of the State through the current Cosa, specifying the amounts to be requisitioned for each Cabinet Ministry or Officer of the Royal Household and the purpose of each such expense;

2.1.5.2. any amount of the Treasury to be set aside for investment as directed by the Finance Minister and the investment policy that will be pursued;

2.1.5.3. the total amount in louise of any planned currency minting and printing, and postage issuance to be executed by the Royal Bank & Post during the term of the current Cosa.

and WHEREAS this bill has been approved by all members of the Cabinet; and

WHEREAS the latest Treasury financial report by the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue can be found here: talossa.proboards.com/thread/9790/burgermeister-report-july-5-2014 ; so

THEREFORE be it enacted by the Ziu that the Government shall be allocated the following budget for the duration of the 47th Cosa:

1) The Ministry of Stuff shall be allocated a budget, not to exceed ℓ40 ($60) for the purchase of a Proboards Pro account to backup Wittenberg.

2) The Ministry of Finance shall be allocated a budget as follows:

- All funds that the ministry may raise through Kickstarter or similar funding methods, to be used in the production of 5,000 Talossan coins with a face value of ℓ1 each, for a total face value of ℓ5,000 ($7,500). 

- An amount, not to exceed ℓ320 ($480) in supplemental funding for the production of 5000 Talossan coins, as mentioned above. Costs for the production of coins could be lower depending on both which deal the Government will go for and on public giving.

- 33¤20 ($50) to support requests by other ministries and/or offices of the Royal Household for expenses not specifically budgeted.

3) The Ministry of Culture shall be allocated a budget, not to exceed 66¤40 ($100) for the production of Talossan language material.

4) Details of any project on which monies from the above allocations will be spent will be publicly published, along with estimated costs, no less than two weeks before the actual purchase is made. Monies not allocated above shall be retained in the central fund. For security andadministration purposes, all allocated monies shall remain in the central fund and, subject to approval by the Minister of Finance and provisions in this Act, may be drawn down on a case by case basis by each Minister. 

5) The investment policy of Talossa for this Cosa is to leave funds in the interest-bearing bank account that serves as the central fund. 

6) In accordance with el Lexhatx, the Government may later in this Cosa submit supplemental budgeting legislation for the approval of the Ziu.
 

This is bill id#1085 (this information has no legal importance and is technical in nature.

Hopper Thread

BE IT ENACTED by the Ziu of Talossa that:

1. Title D, Section 2.3 of El Lexhátx shall be replaced in its entirety by the following text:

2.3 The Interior Minister, who shall combine the roles of Defence and Immigration Minister as set forth in Organic Law XII.4 and XII.5, and shall head the following Bureaus. The Minister may appoint Deputy Ministers to be in charge of each Büreu, and the Civil Service Commission may appoint Permanent Secretaries to each Büreu, to work under the direction of the Minister and any Deputy Ministries.

a) El Büreu dels Afáes Înphätseschti (Bureau of Home Affairs) which shall be responsible for the order and well-being of the homeland and its environs. This Bureau shall provide a public presence in or near the Greater Talossan Area, shall assist in the organization of Living Cosâs, shall provide governmental assistance to the organizers of an annual TalossaFest celebration, and to all citizens making the Haxh, and shall take care to guide the Seneschal and other ministers in ever maintaining the connection and bond of Talossans worldwide to their homeland.

b) The Büreu dels Afáes Cestoûreschti (Bureau of Cestour Affairs), led by the 'Piaçatéir Naziunál' and assisted by bureaucrats known as C'huescoûrs (or "Binkies"), who shall see to it that the interests of Cestours within the homeland receive the proper attention of the government.

c) El Büreu dal Zefençù (Ministry of Defence), which shall marshal and provide the Invincible Moral Support of the nation to the good and right side of any international conflict, as determined by the government, conveying to the combatants our proud "we would stand with you, but it's safer to stand behind you" stance. 

c) i) No action of the Minister or the Bureau of Defence shall infringe on the King's organic role as Leader of the Armed Forces.

d) El Büreu dàl Înmigraziun (the Bureau of Immigration), which shall be responsible for the execution of the nation's laws appertaining to immigration of new citizens into the realm. This Ministry shall work closely with the Chancery and its Bureau of the Census to ensure that all incoming citizens are properly processed through immigration as provided by law. 

2.3.1. The Interior Minister shall also be the liaison between the Kingdom Government and the provincial governments.

3. Title D, Section 5 shall be replaced in its entirety by the following:

For all purposes of protocol, seniority, and precedence, the cabinet ministries shall be ordered as follows: Prime Ministry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Stuff, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Justice.

5. All references in this Lexhátx to the Minister, Ministry or Deputy Minister of Immigration, Defence or Home Affairs shall be replaced by references to the Interior Ministry. For convenience, a list of reference to these follows:

Laws of the Lexhatx, where "Minister/Ministry of Defence" is referred to:

A.9.8.
A.17.4.
D.2.4.
D.5.
F.11.17.
G.3.3.
I.1.
I.1.1.6 to I.1.1.10.
I.1.2.4.
I.3. and I.5. and I.6. and I.7. and I.8.2. and I.8.3. and I.10 and I.11.

Mention of the Ministry of Home Affairs is made in:

D.2.3.
D.5.

Mention of the Immigration Ministry is made in
A.9.4.
A.16.1.
D.2.11.
D.5.
E.1. to E.7., also E.7.13., E.10.7., E.11., E.11.1., (E.11.2. as "Deputy Minister of Immigration"), and E.11.3.

This is bill id#1086 (this information has no legal importance and is technical in nature.

Hopper Thread

BE IT ENACTED by the Ziu of Talossa that El Lexhátx shall be amended thus:

1. Title B, Section 9, on party registration fees for Cosâ elections, is hereby replaced by the following text:

9. The Secretary of State, or his appointed agent, may charge, as prescribed by the Organic Law and if directed to by the Government in the Budget, a registration fee of no greater than 13¤20 (thirteen louise and twenty bence, equivalent to $20US) to each political party in forthcoming elections. Any Party or Parties which fail or refuse to pay such a fee shall be deemed not registered. (42RZ14)

2. Title C, Section 1, Section 4.2, on the Royal Treasury, is amended as follows:

maintain and report to the Finance Minister and the Government on the fiduciary health of the Kingdom, at least once in every calendar month and whenever else requested

3. Title C, Section 6-8 on the Royal Bank and Post, are hereby DELETED in their entirety.

4. Title C, Section 2, is amended to read as follows::

The Officers of the Royal Household shall have no fixed terms of office, and shall not be removed from office by the dissolution of the Cosa. The Officers of the Royal Household are appointed and removed by the King on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The four exceptions to this are that the Secretary of State shall be appointed by the Prime Minister acting alone and may be removed by law; the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue shall be named in the same way as the Secretary of State; the Chancellor of the Royal Talossan Bar shall be appointed and removed by the King on the recommendation of a resolution of the Senäts; and the Commissioner of the Civil Service, who shall be appointed by the King, for a two year renewable term, after being recommended by a legislative civil service committee and approved by a two-thirds majority vote in the Cosa and a majority vote of the Senäts in favor of appointment. The Chancellor may be removed by the King on the recommendation of the Senäts.

5. Title D, Section 2.8, is replaced in its entirety by the following:

2.8. The Finance Minister, heading the Ministry of Finance. The Ministrà dal Finançù (Ministry of Finance) is responsible for: 
2.8.1. setting and implementing the economic policies of the Kingdom, and directing the investment of that portion of the Royal Treasury set aside by authorized budgeting act of the Ziu (all of which said investments shall be executed in fact by the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue, an Officer of the Royal Household); 
2.8.1.1. The Finance Minister with the assistance of the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue shall deliver a Financial Report at the end of each Cosa term. This Report shall be required to contain the following information: (38RZ15) 
2.8.1.1.1. the amount, location, liquidity, and availability of all funds held by or for the Royal Treasury, 
2.8.1.1.2. a detailed list of all changes in the account balances of the Royal Treasury since the last Report, 
2.8.1.1.3. a balance sheet which clearly lists all expenses linking them to the relative sheet items in the budget bills approved in the Cosa, 
2.8.1.1.4. the investment policy that is will be pursued by the Ministry of Finance for any amount of the Treasury that has been budgeted by the Ziu for use in investment, 
2.8.1.1.5. the current valuation of the louis with respect to other foreign currency, 
2.8.1.1.6. the total amount of louise and postal items in circulation. 
2.8.2. design, minting, printing, valuation, distribution, and redemption of all national currency, postage, and commemoratives; 
2.8.3. keeping a balance sheet of all funds legitimately appropriated by the Ziu
2.8.4. requesting such donations from citizens towards the upkeep of the State as may be approved by the Ziu in the Budget.

2.8A The Finance Minister also serves as the Chairman of the Banqeu es Post Rexhital (Royal Bank & Post) unless he gets too lazy and appoints a Chairman. The Royal Bank and Post is responsible for issuing and regulating the currencyand postal paraphernalia of the Kingdom.

2.8A.1. Base Unit of Account. The base unit of account for the Kingdom of Talossa is hereby established and styled the "BENT." The plural of the bent is "BENCE." Convenient shortenings such as "tubbence" and "thrubbence" shall be understood and recognised by the government, and may appear on collectable tokens (colloquially "coinage", though they shall not constitute current money). This unit of account is fixed to $0.025 in the currency of the United States of America. (36RZ2, 46RZ20) 
2.8A.2. Second Unit of Account. A second unit of account, which shall have the fixed denomination of sixty (60) bence, is hereby established and styled the "LOUIS," which shall also be officially recognised by the shortened name "LOU." The plural of the lou is "LOUISE." Convenient colloqualisms for the denominations of louise are encouraged, specifically "Brock" for a single lou, "Costello" for five louise, "Ferrigno" for ten louise, "Rawls" for twenty louise, and so forth. 
2.8A.2.1. The commonly-used symbols ℓ and ¤ shall be officially adopted for the louis and bent, respectively, and these symbols shall be used in accordance with common practice: ¤ to be used as a separator of the two denominations, with louise on the left of the symbol and bence on the right; ℓ may also be used to indicate amounts in whole louise, by placing the symbol to the left of the amount. 
2.8A.3. Creation and Issuance of Collectable Tokens. The Royal Bank & Post is exclusively authorised to design, cause to be created, issue, and distribute collectable tokens (colloquially "coinage", though they shall not constitute current money) in any denomination of whole bence. The Royal Bank & Post is authorised to imprint the denomination of any coinage with its price in louise, rather than in bence, as it sees fit. 
2.8A.3.1 Current Token Design. The first issue of Talossan collectable tokens ("coins") shall have, on the obverse, the Chinese character "ben" upon a shield, with a crown above the shield; above the crown shall be the curved inscription "REGIPÄTS TALOSSÁN", and below the shield shall be the curved inscription of the year of issue (both the Common Era in Arabic numerals and the year of the Kingdom of Talossa in Roman numerals). On the reverse shall be an image of a dandelion, a large "ℓ1", and the inscription "VIENS LUÏÇ". 
2.8A.4 Creation and Sale of Postal Paraphernalia. The Royal Bank & Post may design, create, issue, and sell postage items, such as stamps and imprinted envelopes, in any demonination, and sell the same at a cost exceeding that expended for their creation. Postal items may be purchased by private individuals or organizations (such as those established to provide postal delivery services) and may be re-sold to the public in exchange for postal delivery or other services. The Royal Bank & Post is empowered to print denominations on postal items which are above the original sale value of postal items charged to a private organization purchasing the same, so to ease any resale of these items by the private organization to the general public, by providing on the face of the item the intended retail purchase price. 
2.8A.5. Redemption of Postal Items Forbidden. Postal items may never be redeemed to the Royal Bank & Post for their face value or any other value. 
2.8A.6 Creation and Sale of Commemorative Items. The Royal Bank & Post shall design, create, issue, and sell any commemorative items of the Kingdom of Talossa. Such items may be purchased by the general public at a cost at or above that expended for their manufacture, such valuation to be determined by the Royal Bank & Post. 
2.8A.7 Disposition of Profit. All profit in the form of foreign currency which is realized from the sale of currency, postal items, and commemoratives or by donations from citizens shall be duly tendered by the Royal Bank & Post to the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue for deposit and safe-keeping within the Royal Treasury.
2.8A.8 Economic Policy and Investment of Royal Funds. The Royal Bank & Post is responsible for determining and enacting economic policy of the Kingdom of Talossa. Funds kept in the Royal Treasury shall be made available by the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue to the Royal Bank & Post for the purpose of making foreign investments calculated to wisely augment the value of the said Treasury. The Minister of Finance shall be responsible to the Prime Minister and the nation for the policies implemented. 
2.8A.9 Royal Audit. The Burgermeister of Inland Revenue shall be permitted, as a Servant of His Majesty's Household, to audit the reported financial condition of His Majesty's investments at any time. 
2.8A.10 Governmental Expenses. Except when forbidden or restricted by legislation, the government of the day is empowered to requisition funds from the Royal Treasury to provide for the operation of the Royal Bank & Post, the other Cabinet Ministries, and the Prime Ministry. The amount requisitioned for the operation of each such ministry shall not in any way or for any reason increase during such time as the sitting government continues in office following having lost the confidence of the Cosâ, except it be by royal fiat and to provide for the necessary defence and preservation of the realm. 
2.8A.11 Banking Operations. The Royal Bank & Post is empowered to act as a banking facility to serve citizens of the Kingdom of Talossa. The deposit and lending policies of the Bank shall be freely established by the Royal Bank & Post but may be modified by law by action of the Ziu. The safety of all funds deposited with the Royal Bank & Post shall be guaranteed by the government.

6. Article D, Section 2.1.5, shall be amended by the addition of the following:

2.1.5.4. the total amount in louise of any planned donations proposed to be requested from Talossan citizens towards the upkeep of the State. This section shall not entitle any budget to impose compulsory taxation or mandatory donations of any kind.

This is bill id#1087 (this information has no legal importance and is technical in nature.

Hopper Thread

BE IT ENACTED by the Ziu of Talossa and ratified by the nation in referendum that the Organic Law be amended as follows:

Article IX, Section 1, which currently reads:

The Seneschál shall appoint a Secretary of State to an indefinite term. He may be removed and replaced by law.

to be replaced in its entirety by:

A Secretary of State shall be appointed by law, on the nomination of the King with the advice and consent of the Seneschál.

This is bill id#1088 (this information has no legal importance and is technical in nature.

Hopper Thread

BE IT ENACTED by the Ziu of Talossa that el Lexhátx be amended as follows:

a) Two new sections be added to Title C, Section 1.1, as follows:

C1.1.2 The Secretary of State shall give a report at least once every Cosâ term on the operation of the Chancery to the Ziu, and be available for questioning as to that report from MZs. Additional reports of this nature may be requested by the Government from time to time.

C1.1.3 If the office of the Secretary of State becomes vacant at any time, the King on the advice of the Seneschál may appoint an Acting Secretary of State until a permanent replacement shall be chosen as provided in the Organic Law.

b) Title C, Section 2 be amended by the replacement of the following:

the Secretary of State shall be appointed by the Prime Minister acting alone and may be removed by law

with:

the Secretary of State shall be appointed as provided in the Organic Law

This is bill id#1089 (this information has no legal importance and is technical in nature.

Hopper Thread

BE IT ENACTED by the Ziu of Talossa that el Lexhátx shall be amended by the addition of the following clause as Title F, Section 39:

The Milwaukee Wave indoor soccer team shall be Talossa's Official fútbol sachéir/soccer team, and it will remain so until such time as the nation is able to field its own Association football team to compete with Greenland, Sealand, Kurdistan and other nations unjustly excluded from FIFA. The Ziu officially authorises loyal Talossan citizens to refer to the team, heretofore known as the "Milwaukee Wave" as the "Fiôvâ Wave".