by Max Barry

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Region: The Thaecian Senate

Titanne wrote:
Ministerial Hearings Act - H.B. 001
Author: Rayekka
Sponsor: Rayekka

To further the checks & balances purpose of Congress. Hereby enacts the following.

The purpose of Ministerial Hearings is for Congress to submit questions to a specific Minister in the executive government, to make sure progress and competence is being carried out by the executive branch. All members of the Government are subject to Ministerial Hearings. Members of the Government are defined as the Prime Minister, the Minister for Home Affairs, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Justice Minister, the Cultural/Entertainment Minister, and the Roleplay Minister. The President is not subject to Ministerial Hearings. Ministerial Hearings will be held on that Houses RMB.

Every Monday, the House of Commons business will stop and the Speaker will call upon a Minister to speak in the House of Commons (what Minister is called is set out in Section 4). Throughout the week Members of Parliament will be able to submit questions to the Speaker. On Monday, the Speaker will then select and submit 5 questions to the Minister that must be answered that day.
When the Prime Minister is called to a hearing. The Speaker can select and submit 8 questions to the Prime Minister.
Ministers may also make statements to the House as separate to answering questions.

Every Friday, Senate business will stop and the Senate President will call upon a Minister to speak in the Senate (what Minister is called is set out in Section 4). Throughout the week Senators will be able to submit questions to the Senate President. On Friday, the Senate President will then select and submit 5 questions to the Minister that must be answered that day.
When the Prime Minister is called to a hearing. The Senate President can select and submit 8 questions to the Prime Minister.
Ministers may also make statements to the Senate as separate to answering questions.

Ministerial Hearings are ran on a 6 week schedule. The House of Commons & Senate schedules will be different.
House of Commons Schedule:
Week 1: The Prime Minister
Week 2: The Culture/Entertainment Minister
Week 3: The Foreign Affairs Minister
Week 4: The Justice Minister
Week 5: The Home Affairs Minister
Week 6: The Roleplay Minister
Senate Schedule:
Week 1: The Justice Minister
Week 2: The Home Affairs Minister
Week 3: The Roleplay Minister
Week 4: The Prime Minister
Week 5: The Culture/Entertainment Minister
Week 6: The Foreign Affairs Minister

Urgent Ministerial Hearings are un-scheduled hearings that will be held if a group of Members of Parliament or Senators believe one is required.
In order for an Urgent Ministerial Hearing to be held, a proposal must be put to the floor of that chamber and passed with a simple majority. If the proposal passes, the Urgent Ministerial Hearing must be held within 3 days of the proposal being passed, not including Mondays and Fridays.
In the event of an Urgent Ministerial Hearing, members of the chamber holding the Hearing may submit questions as they please in which the Minister must answer all of them that day.
Urgent Ministerial Hearings will be held in that chambers RMB.

This law shall come into effect the next Monday after this law is passed.

I support this bill at it's current state, I am sure it will do a good job at helping the government and the region as a whole to understand the performance of the cabinet (if it has any problems which the Parliament could possibly adress through legislation for example). Not sure what exactly Developing has planned for his amendment, however I am unsure if the Senate is technically allowed to amend legislation. Our constitution states:

"Any bill drafted and proposed to the House must achieve 50% of the chamber's support. If it meets this threshold, it shall be passed to the Senate where it also must achieve 50% support. If it fails to reach 50% support in the Senate, it may be sent back to the Commons to be amended or scrapped. If it does command a half of the Senate's support, it will become law. The same process will be applied for bills originating in the Senate, which will be sent to the House upon passage."

So judging by my interpretation, if we were to amend the bill on the Senate we would require for it to be sent back to the House once again to be voted there, considering that if the bill was amended it's version approved in the Senate technically wasn't approved by the House, and it seems as if a proposal requires 50% of both chambers to become law. At the same time the Constitution is technically not being fully enforced yet, so I am not sure if that really matters, either way I believe it's an issue which should be brought up on our constitutional convention.

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