Difference between revisions of "Senate of Sarenium"

Revision as of 00:53, 13 May 2018

Senate of Sarenium
158th Parliament of Sarenium
Type
Type	Upper house of the Parliament of Sarenium
Term limits	None
Leadership
President of the Senate	Delores Vaughn, Independent Since 17 September 2022
Principal of The Senate	William Spades, Independent Since 10 February 2022
Structure
Seats	390
Political groups	Appointed: 180 Senators      Elected: 210 Senators
Length of term7	Various
Elections
Voting system	Preferential System
Last election	20 October 2018 (Half Senate)
Next election	Next
Redistricting	SEC

The Saren Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Sarenium, the lower house being the House of Commons. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter I, Article II of the Saren Constitution. There are a total of 105 senators: 7 from each of the states. Three of those seven are appointed by the President, on advice of the Prime Minister and the remaining four are elected by their respective constituents. The elected Senators are elected every six years (with half of them being elected every three years) and the appointed Senators serve either a single-non-renewable nine-year term or resign at an earlier stage, an appointed Senator can be dismissed if within 1 year of the conclusion of their tenure given that the House of Commons and half of the elected Senate is being simultaneously dismissed.

Powers

Any legislative items to be passed by Parliament are often brought up in the House unless a constitutional or protocol related item in which case the Senate is the only house able to be presented before. For a bill to become law or be appropriated, it requires an absolute majority in both houses of Parliament and the President's assent. If the Senate does not pass with an absolute majority (thus failing the bill) then the bill is brought back up within the last scheduled term of Parliament or in the fourteen day legislative cool-off if an early election is called at which time the House either passes the bill with Presidential Assent or the President refuses to provide 'House Prerogative'.

In other cases, where the House of Commons is expectant of a resilient Senate it has passed legislation with a larger majority (3/5) and thus weakened the Senate's resolve as the bill can be brought back up after the conclusion of that Parliamentary Term (between 2-8 months later) at which time either the House passes the bill on its own with Presidential Assent or once more the President refuses to provide 'house Prerogative'.

In cases where the Senate's expected to be greatly more hostile, and the House acquires a 2/3, the bill is passed through the House and brought up in the Senate but fails to garner over 1/3, it is delayed to the conclusion of that Parliamentary term at which time either the House passes the bill on its own with Presidential Assent or once more the President refuses to provide 'house Prerogative'. If the Senate does pass with over 1/3 then the bill is passed and proceeds to the President for Assent which (unless providing House Prerogative) can only be withheld if there is constitutional invalidity in the perception of the President.

The President's refusal to provide assent on regular bills (not 'supply' or House Prerogative) on constitutional grounds can either be taken up to the High Court to interpret or the Senate must pass the bill with 2/3 majority and the House with 4/5.

Blocking Supply

The Senate's application in the past for blocking supply was notable in the 1876 Constitutional Crisis where a 'money bill' was refused passage by the Senate and resulted in the eventual sacking of then Prime Minister Gough Reagan in favor of a double dissolution. Only supply bills can be used for triggering a double dissolution.

Limitations

With 45 seats of the Senate being appointees with little bedrock need for party affiliation, much debate occurs for the remaining eight needed votes which must come from the big parties assuming the appointed Senators are content. In most cases, the Senate does not block legislation or delay it, however, varying legislation has been forced through deadlock and has been used a trigger for a double dissolution election.

Double Dissolution

The dissolution of the Senate and House at once, such elections can only occur when the trigger is satisfied;

• The legislation must have originated in the House.
• The legislation must have been delayed by the Senate.
• The legislation must be a supply bill 'money bill' (thus exempt from being used for a House-Only bill).
• A second attempt has also failed to pass the legislation.

After satisfaction, the Prime Minister must request that the President dismiss the entirety of Parliament, exempt appointed Senators unless the President chooses to individually withdraw any of the Senators commission to the Senate, with consent of the House.

Empowerment

Empowerment is a term referred to in the constitution to deem the number of votes required from the House of Commons to ensure passage of a bill. There are 4 stages of empowerment for legislative passage; 1/2 in House and 1/2 in Senate = pass. 1/2 in House and under 1/2 in Senate = fail, until Session conclusion (customarily 2-3 years and only applicable for non-appropriation bills). 3/5 in House and under 1/2 in Senate = fail, but delayed by 2 terms of Parliament (usually 1 year and only applicable for non-appropriation bills). 2/3 in House and under 1/3 in Senate = fail, but delayed by 2 terms of Parliament (usually 1 year and only applicable for non-appropriation bills).

Appropriation Bills are not constitutionally relevant unless deemed so by the High Court. Should legislation be failed, then it must return for debate and a re-vote in the Senate after the time according to the empowerment quota. Should the quota be met the second time, legislation passes. However, if the quota fails a second time and legislation is failed then the President is unbound from the 'Veto-Clause' and can either refuse to allow the House a unicameral authority on the bill or provide consent through allowing the House to pass legislation without the Senate. Appropriation Bills are instead brought to the floor again automatically after a period of the remainder of the term.

A famous crisis was the 1807 Estates Tax which garnered 3/5 of the House but just under 1/2 of the Senate, it came back up for a vote six months later. It was refuted once again in a slightly narrower margin, the High Court then ruled that it was not an appropriating document and that no constitutional article referred to taxes on estates being unconstitutional in its 108 page report. This discouraged the President from vetoing the legislation and two weeks later the House passed the legislation on its own with a firm margin of 244 of the 390 House of Commons seats resulting in a passing majority implementing the legislation.

Membership

Under the provisions of Chapter 1 Article II of the Constitution, a Senator who is elected must;

• Not possess allegiance to a foreign power.
• Not hold assets out of Saren soil.
• Not be seen as a breach of the Crimes Against the State Act of 1965.
• Not be held responsible for any acts set forth in the Parliamentary Maintenance Act of 1889.
• Have lived in the state they wish to represent for the past five years.

Elected Senators

Currently, of the sixty elected Senators there are 20 Conservative Senators and 36 Labor Senators. There are also four Senators from Sarenium First. The Senators are elected using a preferential quota system. In which, (in a regular election) the quota of first preferences required is 34% of the vote. In a double-dissolution election, that quota is 20%.

Appointed Senators

Appointed Senators are nominated by the Prime Minister and are generally centrist/moderate candidates. Limited to singular 8-year terms, these Senators also elect the President of the Senate from among the elected Senators and counsel the President. Nomination by the Prime Minister is not a constitutional requirement. It is instead a general formality for the President to ensure that the PM is satisfied with the candidates and vice versa. The President can appoint whomever he wishes.

Benefits and Salaries

Senators receive $165,000 annually, the President of the Senate receives $205,000 and the Vice President of the Senate receives $180,000. The Principal of the Senate and Deputy Principal receive equal to the President and VP respectively. The NIA decides the amount of security bolstering required, highly controversial or popular Senators receive greater security allocations whilst newly elected or uncommonly heard of Senators receive somewhat less.