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Standing Senate Rules
Topic Started: Apr 3 2012, 06:17 PM (99 Views)
Tyler
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Permanent Standing Senate Rules

I. Session

1. The President of the Senate shall gavel the United States Senate on the appointed day to convene.
2. The President shall adjourn the United States Senate three days prior to Roll Call.
3. The Vice President shall serve as President of the Senate.

II. President of the Senate

1. The Vice President of the United States shall serve as President of the United States Senate.
2. When the Vice President is absent from the Senate, the President Pro Tempore (PPY) will serve as the President.
3. The Vice President has the power to surrender or take the gavel at any time.

III. President Pro Tempore

1. The President Pro Tempore is the Deputy President of the United States Senate and serves in the President's absence.
2. The President Pro Tempore is selected by the majority party, and is voted on internally.
3. The PPT shall appoint a deputy to serve in his place, if no deputy is selected, the majority leader will become the PPT until a new deputy can be selected.
4. The PPT may select bills they wish to push forward, however it is advised they follow a docket put forward by the Senate Majority Leader.
5. If the PPT must transfer the gavel, it must be announced publicly.

IV. Roll Call

1. Before a session of the Senate can begin, the Senate Parliamentarian will initiate a roll call to determine the majority.
2. Each Senator must reply with their Formal Name, the State they represent, and their political party.
3. If a senator is sworn in after roll call ends, they shall not count towards the majority.
4. At the conclusion, the Parliamentarian will post the results of roll call. If a motion is passed in the Senate with a 2/3 majority, the roll call shall be recounted. It may not be recounted after the second recount.

V. Leadership

1. The Majority Party shall select a leader to serve as the Senate Majority Leader, who may either take on the roll of the whip or the Majority Party may designate a Senate Majority Whip. The Majority Party also selects a President Pro Tempore and Deputy President Pro Tempores.
2. The Minority Party shall select a leader to serve as the Senate Minority Leader, who may either take on the roll of the whip or the Minority Party may designate a Senate Minority Whip
3. The Senate Majority Leader is responsible for updating the official Senate Docket.

VI. Hoppers

1. Bills will be submitted to a central Hopper; where the President Pro Tempore will copy and paste three pieces of legislation, or four when it is an urgent matter, to the Senate Floor.
2. While in the Hopper, members of the Senate may co-sponsor legislation.
3. No debate may occur in the Hopper, but technical questions may be asked.
4. Amendments may also be offered and accepted in the hopper.
5.A Plain English Summary is required for a bill, to clarify the purpose of the bill.
6. If a bill is a THOMAS Bill, or from other legislation sources, you must name the real life sponsor and give a link to the bill.
7. A bill may remain in the hopper as long as possible.
8. If the sponsor is no longer a player, the bill is orphaned and must be adopted by another player.

VII. Debate and Voting

1. There is a minimum of 48 hours for debate and a maximum of 120 hours.
2. Votes shall be a minimum of 24 hours, and a maximum of 72 hours.
3. The President Pro Tempore has jurisdiction over all legislation, if they are absent or need to debate, they shall hand gavel to the Deputy President Pro Tempore.
4. Respect will be in the Senate at all times. They must formally address the Presiding Officer (Mr./Madam President) and address other senators by their state (The Gentleman/Gentlelady from Arizona)
5. No Senator may self-nominate, or self-second legislation or nominations.
6. In tied votes or motions, the President of the Senate will make the tie-breaking vote. If the President does not vote in 72 hours, the motion or bill is deemed to fail.

VIII. Filibuster

1. Any member of the Senate may filibuster any legislation at any time by announcing their intent and not yielding the floor.
2. A Filibuster is when a Senator deliberately halts the operation of the Senate to stop a bill from passing.
3. A filibuster stops all business before the Senate but does not affect committees.
4. A Senator filibustering must remain on the senate floor at all times and not take part in any official senate business. Nor can he post in any forums for media (press releases, etc), social media, or any in character forums in the game.
5. A Filibuster will follow the following schedule:
a. Once every 8 hour day one
b. Once every 6 hours on day two
c. Once every 4 hours for the rest of the Filibuster.
d. If this schedule is broken the filibuster is ended and cannot be brought up again.
5. The filibuster may end through a cloture vote. A 3/5 majority is needed to invoke cloture. A cloture motion receiving 59.49% of votes fails while a cloture motion receiving 59.50% of votes succeeds. Cloture may be invoked in a case where a Senator feels that too many motions have been made; if properly seconded and passed in accordance with the requirement for cloture, all motions currently pending on the legislation fails, debate shall end, and the main motion shall proceed to a vote.
6. A senator may friendly yield to another Senator without breaking the filibuster.

IX. Motions

1. The United States Senate runs on motions and seconds. The following are acceptable motions:
a. Motion to Amend-The amendment may either be accepted as friendly, or it may be seconded and voted upon.
b. Motion to extend or limit debate-this motion must be seconded and voted on, if it is passed it adds 24 hours to debate.
c. Motion to invoke cloture-invokes cloture in case of a filibuster. It requires a second and is voted on.

X. Incidental Motions

1. Point of Order- A Senator may raise a point of order regarding these rules.
2. Appeal- if the Presiding officer makes a ruling that is unsatisfactory, a senator may appeal this ruling. If a majority vote for the appeal, the ruling is overturned.
3. Suspend the Rules- A senator may motion to suspend the rules and bring an item to debate immediately. The motion is non-debatable and requires a 2/3 majority to pass.
4. Objection- A senator may object to motion of unanimous consent on the passage of legislation, this does not interrupt debate or stop passage of legislation. This only works for unanimous consent.
5. Unanimous Consent- A senator may ask for unanimous consent, which requires a second and a 24 hour period for objections.
6. Point of information- Any Senator may make a point of information asking the presiding officer about the details of a bill.
7.Parliamentarian Intervention-should an appeal be denied by a simple majority, the Senator should accept the ruling. However, if the situation is urgent, he may ask the Parliamentarian to review the situation. The Parliamentarian has the final say in the issue.
8. Table- Any Senator may motion to table legislation, this motion requires a second and must be voted on by a 3/5 majority. If the motion passes, the bill is taken from consideration and must be reintroduced into the hopper to be considered again.

XI. Ruling Motions Dilatory

1. The Presiding officer may not rule motions dilatory, however, the Presiding Officer may ask for Parliamentarian intervention, in which case it may or may not be ruled out of order.

XII. Treaties and Amendments

1. Treaties are presented to the Senate by the President of the United States and are treated like legislation. They require a 2/3 majority of those voting to pass.
2. Constitutional amendments shall be treated like legislation and requires a 2/3 majority of those voting to pass.

XIII. Impeachment

1. Should the President be impeached by the United States House of Representatives, the Senate will suspend all business and hold a trial to remove the President.
2.The Senate may acquit or convict the President. The President Pro Tempore temporarily takes the position of Chief Justice of the United States and will preside over the trial. A 2/3 majority is required to remove the President.

XIV. Sanctions

1. Any Presiding Officer may call a Senator out of order, ad if these rules or the games rules are violates 3 or more times, the Presiding Officer may suspend them from the Senate.
2. A senator may appeal to the Senate Parliamentarian, and he/she may overrule the suspension if it was made unfairly.

XV. Censure/Expulsion

1. Any senator who breaks the laws of the United States, or the Standing Senate Rules, may be censured by a simple majority.
2. If the violation is severe enough, a 2/3 majority is required to send a request to the Parliamentarian to expel the senator. If approved, the Senator becomes a private citizen.

XVI. Nominations

1. All presidential nominations are sent to the Senate floor for consideration.
2. They require a simple majority for approval.

XVII. Parties

1. The Senate of the United States recognized the Democratic and Republican parties.
2. Independent members are not required to caucus, but caucusing will benefit them.
3. No other organized parties are recognized in the United States Senate.

XVIII. Parliamentarian

1. The Parliamentarian has the sole authority over the Senate and may reverse any decision of the Presiding Officer.
2. The Parliamentarian's interpretation of these rules are final.

XIX. Amending Senate Rules

1. The Senate shall not have the power to amend these rules.
2. Members of the Senate may, however, send requests to the Parliamentarian, who shall consider the rule change.
3. IF approved, the Parliamentarian shall announce the rule and it shall come into effect immediately.
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