STATE OF MATTAQUOT: STATE ASSEMBLY STANDING RULES

The Standing Rules has been submitted on the 29th March, 2021, by PhosilioQuinnley. These rules shall be subject to change by resolutions passed by the State Assembly.

ARTICLE I: LEGISLATIVE ORGANIZATION

The Assembly shall consist of eleven duly elected Representatives, elected through a fair election by the people of Mattaquot. There shall be, at maximum, one Speaker, one Speaker pro Tempore, one Clerk of the Assembly, one Sergeant at Arms, three Assistant Clerk(s).

ASSEMBLY GENERAL OFFICERS

a) The general officers for the Assembly are the following:
    (1) Speaker;
    (2) Speaker pro Tempore;
    (3) Secretary of State
    (4) Parliamentarian
    (5) Clerk of the Assembly
    (6) Sergeant at Arms; and
    (7) Assistant Clerk of the Assembly.

b) The Sergeant at Arms, and the Parliamentarian shall be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly with the consent of the Assembly, and shall serve at the pleasure of the Speaker. The Clerk of the Assembly shall serve at the pleasure of the Secretary of State (3).

THE SPEAKER

The Speaker shall be elected by $^{2} /_{3}$ of the Assembly assembled, upon the beginning of each term and shall serve at the pleasure of the Assembly. The Speaker of the Assembly shall be the chairperson of the sessions of the Assembly. The Speaker may issue a letter to the Speaker Pro Tempore declaring their temporary absence or inability to conduct their duties and therefore temporarily grant the powers and duties of the Speaker to the Speaker Pro Tempore.

DUTIES OF THE SPEAKER

The Speaker possesses the following powers and shall carry out the prescribed responsibilities as follows:
  (1)   To decide all questions of order subject to appeal to the Assembly by any member. For any appeal made, the Speaker reserves the entitlement to ascribe the grounds for the Speaker's decision;
  (2)   The Speaker is obligated to preserve order whereby it is stipulated in these Standing Rules;
  (3)   To have general direction over the Assembly Chamber and rooms set aside for use by the Assembly;
  (4)   To appoint, with the consent of the Assembly, Representatives of the Assembly to standing committees through resolution;
  (5)   To appoint a Member of the Assembly to serve as the Speaker Pro Tempore;
  (6)  To appoint, with the consent of the Assembly, the Parliamentarian and the Sergeant at Arms; and
  (7)   To have access, along with the Secretary of State and Clerk of the Assembly, to the Journals, papers, bills, and other information located in the Assembly's Trello board.

SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE

The Speaker Pro Tempore shall perform duties delegated by the Speaker, including the duty of presiding over sessions and apprising Members on parliamentary procedures. When the Speaker has issued the Speaker Pro Tempore a letter declaring temporary absence or inability to conduct their duties in accordance with Section 3 within this Article, the powers and duties of the Speaker will fall onto the Speaker Pro Tempore until such time where the Speaker is able to assume the duties of their office once again.

PRESIDING OFFICER

a) The Speaker of the Assembly shall be the primary Presiding Officer within the Mattaquot State Assembly. When the Speaker is unable to attend the scheduled session, the Speaker Pro Tempore shall deputise as the Presiding Officer. The Presiding Officer, unless the Lieutenant Governor, are at liberty to vote.
b) Speaker Elections shall be conducted at the start of Congress by the Lieutenant Governor, or during the removal, expulsion or resignation of the Speaker which shall be conducted by the Speaker Pro Tempore.
c) The Presiding Officer shall have control over the business of the Assembly, enforcing these standing rules, and preserve order within the Assembly.

SECRETARY OF STATE

a) The Secretary of State shall be the de jure Clerk of the Assembly, and shall have control over Journals, papers, bills, and other information located in the Assembly’s Trello board.
b) The Secretary of State shall appoint a Resident of the State to serve as the de facto Clerk of the Assembly, who will serve at the pleasure of the Secretary of State.
c) During such time when there are an absence of clerk(s) at a scheduled session to carry out their duties, the Secretary of State may deputise in their absence.

PARLIAMENTARIAN

The Parliamentarian is well-versed in parliamentary procedure and has a duty to provide expert advice to the Speaker and other Members whom request it.

CLERK OF THE ASSEMBLY

a) The Clerk of the Assembly, officially the de facto Clerk of the Assembly, shall have control over Journals, papers, bills and other information located in the Assembly's Trello board.
b) Up to three Assistant Clerks may be appointed, with the consent of the Secretary of State, by the Clerk of the Assembly or the Secretary of State.

SERGEANT AT ARMS

The Sergeant at Arms has the following powers:
  a)   To attend the Assembly during its session, preserve order, appoint all official deputies for each scheduled session, and serve all process issued by authority of the Assembly and directed by the Speaker;
  b)   To see that no person is admitted into the Assembly Chamber, except in accordance with these rules;
  c)   To have general supervision over present deputies and hold accountability for their official acts and the performance of their duties;
  d)   To execute all commands made by the Assembly; and
  e)   To perform all other duties pertaining to the Sergeant at Arms’ office as prescribed by law or Assembly Rule.

REMOVAL OF ASSEMBLY OFFICERS

ARTICLE II: JOURNAL OF RECORD

The Journal of Record shall be an official record of the State Assembly's legislative actions. In accordance with Article XXII Chapter I Article II of the Mattaquot State Constitution, a Journal of Record shall be maintained by the Secretary of State.

In the name of the Secretary of State, the Clerk of the Assembly and their Assistant Clerks shall maintain the Journal of Record.
  The Journal of Record shall contain:
a)   the date and time of sessions at the time when the assembly is called to order and at the time of adjournment;
b)   record attendance of Representatives;
c)   session order;
d)   votes; and
e)   gubernatorial veto(es) messages & governor's information.

ARTICLE III: ORGANIZATION OF COMMITTEES

STANDING COMMITTEES

Four standing committees of the State Assembly are hereby created, upon the several subjects, and titled respectively, as follows:
a)   Labor and Employment;
b)   Governmental Organization;
c)   Judiciary; and
d)   Public Safety and Military.

COMMITTEES EXPLAINED

The standing committees' titles shall be held pursuant to section 1. of this article, and shall have jurisdiction over the following subjects:
a)   The Labor and Employment committee shall have jurisdiction over employment regulations, employer regulations, and other relative matters;
b)   The Governmental Organization committee shall have jurisdiction over misconduct of government officials, reviewal of the executive and legislative branch, the impeachment of any government official, expulsion hearings, and matters involving the Executive Council;
c)   The Judiciary committee shall have jurisdiction over judicial proceedings, district and circuit court judges, supreme court justices, the Department of Justice, criminal charges, civic freedoms and the judicial branch; and
d)   The Public Safety and Military committee shall have jurisdiction over law enforcement, the National Guard, fire thwarting, operations and administration of the Mattaquot State Police, operations and administration over the Mattaquot National Guard.

OPEN SESSIONS

a) Except where provided by this rule, all sessions of the Assembly and committees thereof shall be open and public, and all safe persons, determined by the Sergeant At Arms, shall be allowed to attend the sessions. As stipulated recurringly in this Rule, "session" refers to the gathering of a quorum of the Members of the Assembly or a committee for the purpose of discussing legislative or other matters within the jurisdiction of the Assembly or committee thereof.
b) The Assembly or a committee thereof may hold a closed session for any of the following purposes:
(1) To consider matters affecting the safety and security of the State Assembly's Representatives or its employees, or the safety and security of the buildings and grounds used by the State Assembly; and
(2) To consider matters whereby, in public, would violate any law(s) of the State.
c) Prior to holding a closed session pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), the Presiding Officer of the Assembly or the chairperson of the committee, as appropriate, shall identify the real property that the negotiations may concern and the person with whom the negotiations may take place.

MEMBERSHIP OF STANDING COMMITTEES

The Speaker shall determine the membership, of all standing committees. In appointing Representatives to serve on committees, the Speaker shall reflect the preferences of the Members in their decision.
Committee members of each standing committee shall elect someone to serve as the committee's chairperson.
A standing committee may not exceed more than five Representatives at a given time.
By virtue of the State Assembly, the Speaker shall not serve on a standing committee.

POWERS OF THE COMMITTEE

Standing committees shall have the power to:
a)   introduce bills to the Assembly;
b)   pass resolutions or reports;
c)   issue a subpoena to appear before a relative standing committee; and
d)   debate bills passed to the relative committee by the Assembly.
Standing committees may convene, when these conditions remain true that:
a) a clerk is present and is able to update the Journal of Record; and
b) a vote has passed a simple majority within the committee.
Standing committees may ratify, by a simple majority from the respective committee, their own standing rules, that must be in accordance of the State Assembly's standing rules.

ARTICLE IV: ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS

SPEAKER ELECTIONS

The Speaker shall be elected by $^{2} /_{3}$ of the Assembly assembled upon the beginning of each term or when a vacancy for the role has occurred and shall serve at the pleasure of the Assembly.
The official procedure for Speaker elections are established as the following:
  a) The Presiding Officer will be charged with the responsibility of conducting Speaker elections. In the case where the Presiding Officer intends on running for Speaker, they may decide to select a Member to conduct Speaker elections on their behalf;
  b) To participate in the Speaker election, a member must nominate themselves onto the Speaker voting list, and by which the Clerk will record and validate their name thereof;
  c) Once all nominations have been received, the candidates will be allocated two minutes each to convince to other Members how they are best suited to the Speakership;
  d) Upon closure of the speeches, the Presiding Officer, will conduct a roll call vote as defined in Article V, by which the Member will specify their preference for Speaker. The Clerk of the Assembly will tally the votes while they are being casted; and
  e) Once all votes have been casted and tallied, the Clerk will read the candidates and their results in alphabetical order, and thereafter the Presiding Officer will announce the Speaker of the Assembly. The Speaker-elect shall fulfil their duties as Speaker following their oath, which will be administered in accordance with the Mattaquot State Constitution.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL ELECTIONS

The Executive Council shall be filled by three Representatives within the State Assembly, which will be selected therein, as declared in Chapter II Section III Article II of the Mattaquot State Constitution. Any vacancies that occur will result in an Executive Council Elections for the amount of vacancies made open.
The Speaker, may not participate or qualify for Executive Council elections.
Executive Council Elections require $^{2} /_{3}$ of Representatives in attendance.
Each Representative shall vote as many times as there are vacancies towards the Assembly's Executive Council elections.
A representative may only vote once per candidate, and must vote differently per vote when there is an opportunity to cast a vote more than once.
The official procedure for Executive Council Elections are established as the following:
  a) The Speaker, who may not participate or qualify for Executive Council Elections, shall be responsible for chairing during this occasion;
  b) To participate in the Executive Council election, a member must nominate themselves onto the Executive Council voting list, and by which the Clerk will record and validate their name thereof;
  c) Once all nominations have been received, the candidates will be allocated two minutes each to convince to other Representatives how they are best suited to a place on the Executive Council;
  d) Upon closure of the speeches, the Speaker, will conduct a roll call vote as defined in Article V, by which the Representative will specify their preference(s) for the Executive Council. The Clerk of the Assembly will tally the votes while they are being casted; and
  e) Once all votes have been casted and tallied, the Clerk will read the candidates and their results in alphabetical order, and thereafter the Speaker will announce the Executive Council nominee(s). The Executive Council nominee(s) shall fulfil their duties in the Executive Council following their oath, which will be administered in accordance with the Mattaquot State Constitution.

ARTICLE V: VOTING

ROLL CALL VOTE

VOICE VOTE

ARTICLE VI: RULES OF DEBATE

ARTICLE VII: CONVENING OF THE ASSEMBLY

ARTICLE VIII: MOTIONS

Motion	Second?	Vote Needed	Motion Type	Debate?	Appeal?	May interupt?
Fix the Time to which to Adjourn: Set the time for another meeting to continue the business of the session.	Yes	Majority	Privileged	No	Yes	No
Adjourn Sine Die: Dismiss the session without assigning a day for a further meeting or hearing.	Yes	Majority	Privileged	No	Yes	No
		Text			test