ARTICLE I - LEGISLATIVE OPERATIONS
SECTION I.
All legislative powers shall be vested in a Legislative Branch: the State Legislature, otherwise known as Congress, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. The Senate shall be composed of eleven (11) members, known as Senators. The House of Representatives shall be composed of thirteen (13) members, known as Representatives. The Senate and House of Representatives shall be known as the two houses, or chambers, of the State of Firestone Congress. The House of Representatives shall be obligated to elect a Speaker among them, in a special election held by the Governor; the elected Representative shall be known as the Speaker of the House, and shall remain a member of the House of Representatives despite the title, subject to the same to that of Representatives.
SECTION II.
Senators and Representatives shall serve four (4) month terms simultaneously, with mandated elections at the end of a term, though are obligated to remain in office until a new House of Representatives and/or Senate is elected by the citizens. There shall be no limit to how many terms a person can be apart of the Senate or House of Representatives. Senators and Representatives are to leave office should they resign, be expelled, or be successfully impeached by the House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate.
SECTION III.
Only citizens of the State of Firestone may hold a position within the State of Firestone Government, be it any branch: Executive, Legislative, or Judicial. No person shall, if holding a position in the State of Firestone Government, hold any other government office in the State of Firestone, nor in any Ro-Nation, Ro-State, or other entity that seeks to harm the State of Firestone, or harbor enemies thereof.
SECTION IV.
A session of either chamber of Congress may only occur with 1/2 of that chamber online on ROBLOX and 2/3 of the online members be present. However, the presiding officer of a session will not under any circumstances be considered apart of quorum and the online requirements. It shall be that a simple-majority is more than half (1/2) of a chamber of Congress members votes, whereas a supermajority shall be more than two-thirds (2/3) of a chamber of Congress members votes; though in both cases, those that do not vote, vote “Abstain”, or are not present for voting, shall not count towards the threshold required for a particular proposal to pass. An “Aye” or “Yea” vote shall be regarded as voting in favor of a proposal or motion, in favor of its passage; whereas a “Nay” vote shall be regarded as voting against a proposal or motion, being in favor of it not passing.
SECTION V.
Proposals (bills, amendments, resolutions, expulsions, etc) may only be presented if sponsored by a member of their respective chamber within the State of Firestone House of Representatives or Senate. The proposal shall take part within the chamber the said sponsoring member is apart in. Both the Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be able to sponsor a proposal and to decide which chamber the proposal shall start in. The Governor shall not be authorized to propose an expulsion on a member within the Firestone House of Representatives nor the Senate. The Lieutenant Governor shall not be authorized to propose an expulsion on a member within the House of Representatives but may propose one on a member within the Senate. The Governor shall not be able to propose a resolution within the Firestone House of Representative nor the Senate unless deemed plausible by the Lieutenant Governor or Speaker of the House for their respective chamber.
SECTION VI.
Bills, etc. must pass both chambers of Congress by a simple-majority of each before being brought to the Governor for it to be signed or vetoed. House Resolutions must pertain only to the House of Representatives, and shall require the simple-majority passage of the House of Representatives before going into effect. Senate Resolutions must pertain only to the Senate, and shall require the simple-majority passage of the Senate before going into effect. Joint Resolutions must pertain only to Congress as a whole and must pass both chambers by a simple-majority before going into effect. Amendments to the Constitution and/or Bill of Rights can only pass with a supermajority by both chambers of Congress, and shall go into effect upon its passage of both chambers.
SECTION VII.
The Lieutenant Governor shall be permitted to call a Senate session and is able to preside over the Senate; the President Pro Tempore may do the same with the permission of the Lieutenant Governor. The Speaker of the House shall be permitted to call a House of Representatives session and is able to preside over the House; the Speaker Pro Tempore may do the same with the permission of the Speaker of the House. The individual presiding over a respective chamber of Congress during a session shall be known as the Presiding Officer of said session. The Presiding Officer of a session has the power to temporarily designate a member of the chamber of Congress in session to preside, and shall serve until removed per the order by the original Presiding Officer.
SECTION VIII.
The Presiding Officer of a session shall have the authority to decide who is recognized, who has the floor, who may speak, whether or not a motion is recognized, and so forth; though this may be regulated through appropriate resolutions to do so.
SECTION IX.
All Congressional motions can be found here:
SECTION X.
The Lieutenant Governor is obligated to, with the advice of the Senate, appoint a Senator to be the President Pro Tempore; whereas the Speaker of the House is obligated to, with the advice of the House of Representatives, appoint a Representative to be the Speaker Pro Tempore. Both The Lieutenant Governor And Speaker of
The House have full authority to vacate the office of their respective Pro-Tempore.
SECTION XI.
The Congress shall have the power, by a supermajority vote of both chambers, to override a veto issued by the Governor; or, nullify an executive order, or nullify sections thereof.
SECTION XII.
An impeachment is the process where an official may be removed from office should he/she be impeached and convicted of having committed a crime. It shall be the cabinet and sub-cabinet members of the executive branch who may face impeachment and conviction should they be accused of committing a crime. Elected officials of the legislative branch may also face impeachment and a conviction should they commit a crime. As of judges may face impeachment and a conviction should they commit a crime. The House of Representatives shall have the ability to propose an impeachment on a Senator. The Senator shall be convicted within the Senate should he/she be impeached in the House of Representatives. Representatives may not propose impeachments upon other Representatives but may propose an expulsion. Impeachments must be sponsored by a member of the House of Representatives, where all impeachments will initiate. The House of Representatives is to deliberate over what crime(s) have been committed, and what they are to charge the official under impeachment with. The House of Representatives must vote on a final set of charges for crimes committed to place on the official under impeachment, by a supermajority vote, in order to continue with the impeachment process; should they not come to a supermajority agreement, the impeachment shall fail. Should the impeachment pass the House of Representatives by a supermajority, the official in question shall be considered impeached by the House of Representatives, though not yet convicted of the charges pressed, so then the impeachment shall move forward to the Senate for trial. The Senate is to then deliberate over whether or not the official under impeachment is truly guilty of the charges pressed, and on whether or not to convict or acquit the official under impeachment. The Senate cannot vote on each charge separately, and must vote on whether or not to convict the official being impeached on the charges passed by the House of Representatives as a whole. The Senate must vote on the conviction, by a supermajority vote, in order to convict the official under impeachment and remove said official from his/her respective office; should they not come to a supermajority agreement on the conviction, the official under impeachment shall be considered
acquitted, and the impeachment shall fail. Should the impeachment pass the Senate by a supermajority, the impeachment process shall end, and the official that was under impeachment shall be considered officially impeached by the House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate of the crime he/she was accused of, and must be removed from his/her respective office in a timely manner. Should the individual being impeached be a member of either chamber of Congress, he/she shall not be permitted to vote on his/her impeachment in the House of Representatives nor on his/her conviction in the Senate.
SECTION XIV.
Both chambers of Congress may determine its own rules of it proceedings through appropriate resolutions. The House of Representatives and Senate may punish disorderly behavior and/or inactivity with the concurrence of a (2⁄3) supermajority vote of the present House, expel a member of their respective chamber for a plausible reason. Both chambers shall not be permitted to propose expulsions upon members within the opposite chamber. Members of the House of Representatives and Senate may only propose an expulsion on another member within their own respective chamber.
SECTION XV.
The Lieutenant Governor shall be considered as the President of the Senate and be recognized as the presiding officer for the Senate chamber. The Lieutenant Governor nor any presiding officer for the Senate chamber shall be able to vote for any legislation, amendment, resolution, or confirmation unless there is an event of a tie. The Lieutenant Governor shall not be considered as a member of the Senate as he/she is not an elected member in the Senate.
SECTION XVI.
The Senate shall be willing to give time to hear, and understand, the nominations of the Governor, and choose whether to confirm or not, by a simple-majority, the nominee.
SECTION XVII.
The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House shall be permitted to call a Joint-Congressional session, otherwise known as Joint Voting, presiding over both the Senate and House of Representatives, for a reason deemed plausible, with a matter that requires attention to the extent that it cannot wait until the next session of the respective chambers.
SECTION XVIII.
Should there be a vacancy, the Governor is permitted to appoint well qualified citizens to the Senate as well as the House of Representatives, with reason plausible and justifiable until an election can be held to fill the vacancy. These temporary placements can only hold the respective office until a citizen is elected to fill the vacancy, and are subject to the same impeachment and expulsion any other member of Congress would; no temporary placement in Congress may hold said office for more than seven (7) days, and no temporary placement may be re-appointed consecutively. This ability may be temporarily suspended by the Supreme Court in an emergent situation, through a supermajority (2/3) vote, with proper justification being made public information.
SECTION XIX.
Vacancies in the Senate shall be filled by a special election held by the Lieutenant Governor, whereas vacancies in the House of Representatives shall be filled by a special election held by the Speaker of the House; though these special elections are not mandated unless the amount of members falls below eight (8) in the respective chamber.
SECTION XX.
All newly elected members of congress shall be required to take an oath of office before being allowed to execute the duties within their respective chamber. Incumbent members within the Firestone House of Representatives and Senate shall not be required to retake the oath of office if re-elected in the same term they are elected. The Lieutenant Governor and President Pro Tempore shall administer the oath to the Senators. The Governor shall also administer the oath to the Senators should the Lieutenant Governor and President Pro Tempore be absent. The Speaker of the House and Speaker Pro Tempore shall administer the oath to the Representatives. The Governor shall also administer the oath to the Representatives should the Speaker of the House and Speaker Pro Tempore be absent. The oath of office shall read: "I [NAME] do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of Firestone against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God. The final line of the oath of office, “So help me God.”, shall be considered fully optional and does not have to be administered.