Bills

WHEREAS, Article VIII, Section 5 of the Organic Law reads, "Each MC will represent, for ceremonial purposes, a particular geographical "constituency." The exact procedure will be determined by law.", and

WHEREAS, Why do we need to take so many steps to circumvent such a relatively simple clause?, and

WHEREAS, The territory of Péngöpäts only holds representation through one particularly handsome Member of the Cosa as it cannot hold a seat in the Senate, and

WHEREAS, Other than to serve as a vehicle for the representation of Péngöpäts, this clause could simply be a way of subtle entertainment based on what particular constituency one chooses to represent (for example, 144 E. Juneau Ave.), and

WHEREAS, Others may choose to simply ignore the clause and continue to represent the obvious un-codified default, Talossa, and

WHEREAS, The OrgLaw does not specify any exact procedure to "adopt" a location, other than it will be determined by law, and

WHEREAS, For at least eight years after this OrgLaw was put into place, there are several examples of such ceremonial usage, but no law to specify any exact procedure, and

WHEREAS, Some want to take steps to end everyones fun by making "Talossa" the only constituency that is to be represented, and

WHEREAS, I don't believe in killing fun, and I do not believe the other bill, the name of which shall not be mentioned, is what the crafters of the OrgLaw thought of would happen when they added the clause "The exact procedure will be determined by law.", and

WHEREAS, It is my intention to make this bill as long as possible to distinguish it from the other unmentionable bill, and

WHEREAS, I believe I have accomplished such a goal, NOW,

THEREFORE, We, the Ziu, hereby prescribe that all Members of Cosa shall be free to represent any constituency within the geographic boundaries of the Kingdom of Talossa including any and all of its territories and overseas colonies; and,

FURTHERMORE, a Member wishing to represent a constituency simply needs to publicly declare such representation; and,

FURTHER-FURTHERMORE, any Member that does not wish to or fails to choose a particular constituency to represent shall be deemed to be representing The Kingdom of Talossa and its citizens as a whole; and,

FINALLY, subsequent legislation to amend or change how ceremonial representation is prescribed need only be passed by a Resolution of the Cosa.

WHEREAS maximum financial disclosure is without a doubt important in Talossa, and

WHEREAS accountability is also important, and

WHEREAS it'll be easier for everyone if all the financial business is dealt with at the same time, now

THEREFORE we, the Ziu hereby amend Section 1.4 of 35RZ24 “The Royal Household Cleaning Act” to read as follows:

The Royal Treasury, headed by the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue. The function of the treasury is to:

i. collect all revenues due to the King, ii. maintain and report to the Finance Minister and the Government on the fiduciary health of the Kingdom, iii. disburse from the treasury all funds legitimately appropriated by the Ziu, iv. keep a record of all changes in the account balances of the Royal Treasury.

FURTHERMORE, Section 2 of 35RZ24 “The Royal Household Cleaning Act” 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 Cosâ. The Officers of the Royal Household are appointed and removed by the King on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The three exceptions to this are:

i. that the Secretary of State shall be appointed by the Seneschal acting alone and may be removed by law, ii. the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue shall be appointed and may be removed by the Seneschal on the recommendation of the Finance Minister, iii. the Chancellor of the Royal Talossan Bar shall be appointed and removed by the King on the recommendation of a resolution of the Senäts.

FURTHERMORE, Section 14 of 36RZ2 “The Newer Numismatic Naming Act” is amended to read as follows:

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.

FURTHERMORE, Section 2.8 of 36RZ17 “The Cabinet Refinishing Act” is amended to read as follows:

The Finance Minister, heading the Ministry of Finance. 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 Ministrà dal Finançù (Ministry of Finance) is responsible for:

i. 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); ii. design, minting, printing, valuation, distribution, and redemption of all national currency, postage, and commemoratives; iii. keeping a balance sheet of all funds legitimately appropriated by the Ziu.

FURTHERMORE, Section 3 of 38RZ15 “The Men in Black II Act” is amended to read as follows:

The Government's Financial Report. 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:

i. the amount, location, liquidity, and availability of all funds held by or for the Royal Treasury, ii. a detailed list of all changes in the account balances of the Royal Treasury since the last Report, iii. a balance sheet which clearly lists all expenses linking them to the relative sheet items in the budget bills approved in the Cosa, iv. 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, v. the current valuation of the louis with respect to other foreign currency, vi. the total amount of louise and postal items in circulation.

FURTHERMORE, Section 4 of 38RZ15 “The Men in Black II Act” is amended to read as follows:

The Government’s Budget and Financial Planning Bill. 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:

i. 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; ii. 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; iii. 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.

The Seneschal shall take care to ensure that the budget presented will be sufficient to provide for all expenses of the Kingdom of Talossa until the next budget shall be presented, during the subsequent Cosa. This Bill cannot be submitted to the Ziu without the presence of the Financial Report required in section 3 comprehensive of all its part.

FURTHERMORE, Section 5 of 38RZ15 “The Men in Black II Act” is amended to read as follows:

Legislative Authority Requirement. All withdrawals from the Royal Treasury (except as provided for by clause 6, below) must be authorized by action of the Ziu approving the expense for which the withdrawal is made, either in the omnibus Budget and Financial Planning Bill required by clause 4, above, or through approval of supplemental budgeting legislation. In accordance with such authorized budgeted expenses, the Government of the day is empowered to requisition such funds from the Royal Treasury (said withdrawal to be performed in fact only by the Royal Treasurer or an authorised deputy).

FURTHERMORE, Section 6 of 38RZ15 “The Men in Black II Act” is amended to read as follows:

Emergency Spending. During times when any budgeted funds have been exhausted, when no budget has been approved due to rejection by the Ziu, lack of the Financial Report or dissolution of the Cosa without action on a budget; the Prime Minister may issue a Prime Dictate to provide only for emergency spending, but may not act to cause withdrawal of funds from the Royal Treasury to fulfill the terms of any Prime Dictate unless and until the King has explicitly assented to the Prime Dictate.

WHEREAS a whole lot of to-do was to-done in the last Cosa to clear the judicial benches of nappers and fill it with others, and

WHEREAS now those others have just as much nothing to do as their predecessors had, and are just as busy doing absolutely none of it, and

WHEREAS without meaning to say "I told you so", but

WHEREAS I did, and

WHEREAS all of this re-benching has given us three Justices and two Magistrates, all called "active", but all content to twiddle their thumbs given the dearth of legal business that we enjoy and will continue to enjoy for any future I can foresee, and

WHEREAS somehow it was missed that, according to Article XVI Section 2 of the Organic Law, the Court of Magistrates must have an odd number of judges, and

WHEREAS it also must have "not less than two and no more than three" of them, and

WHEREAS unless my math is off, that means it must have three (3), and

WHEREAS like I say, it only has two (2), and

WHEREAS unless my math is off, that means we need to nominate one (1) more Magistrate to join Owen and Mag to say he's sitting with them helping them do their whole lot of nothing, and

WHEREAS we have four attorneys that I know of who are citizens and are not on the bench, so we should be able to find one to do this, and

WHEREAS one of them is Béneditsch Ardpresteir, and

WHEREAS he volunteered, and

WHEREAS that's good enough for me, now

THEREFORE the Ziu hereby nominates Béneditsch Ardpresteir to the Court of Magistrates, a position in which I am extremely confident that he will have precious little if anything to do.

WHEREAS there is some confusion about the way we should count AUS votes, and

WHEREAS voting AUSTANÉU is not the same as voting CONTRA, and

WHEREAS it shouldn't count as the same thing, and

WHEREAS article X, section 7 of the OrgLaw is empty at the moment, and

WHEREAS article X happens to be about passing legislation, now

THEREFORE Article X, Section 7 of the OrgLaw will be amended to read: "Except where otherwise provided in this Organic Law, when determining the outcome of a vote in either house of the Ziu, Austanéu votes will not be counted"