The Pied Piper Provincial Pruning Proposal

[Mic’haglh Autófil, O.Be]

WHEREAS, eight provinces is at least three too many; and

WHEREAS, arranging provincial mergers in both a top-down and bottom-up fashion has proven difficult in the past; and

WHEREAS, coordinating things in a "middle-out" fashion covers the weaknesses of the unidirectional approaches; then

BE IT RESOLVED, that the following be enacted:

(1): The creation of a "Royal Commission on Provincial Realignment" for no more than twelve months following passage of this bill. This duration may be extended prior to its expiration by future acts of the Ziu.

(2): This commission shall be composed of one member appointed by the Tuischac'h, one member appointed by the Mencei, one member by the Seneschal, one member by the Secretary of State, and one member by the King. The same may appoint replacement commission members should incumbent appointees fail to participate in commission business on a reasonable timeline, or should they engage in gross misconduct.

(3): The commission shall be tasked with determining sensible recommendations for provincial mergers, taking into account factors including but not limited to reasonable geographic shapes, provincial populations (both active and total), local sentiment, provincial history, and preferred provincial constitutional structures.

(4): The commission may not take into account concerns of a partisan political nature, including but not limited to likely voting trends for Senators.

(5): The commission may not recommend solutions involving mergers of governments between provinces that remain otherwise separate, as such solutions would violate Org.IX.1.

(6): The commission may choose to bring tentative recommendations before the provinces to gauge the likelihood of success if multiple courses of action are deemed feasible, and to negotiate a best course of action.

(7): It is the sense of the Ziu that four or five provinces is a more manageable situation, and suggests that the commission attempt to arrive at such a result.

(8): It is the wish of the Ziu that individual provinces and future sessions of the Ziu give due consideration to the recommendations made by the commission.

Uréu q'estadra så:
Mic'haglh Autófil MC

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

What could such a commission do that a dozen Zius past haven't been able to do?

[Sir Lüc]

Ok, I'm also skeptical about commissions in general, but to be fair, I don't think a post-Reunision Ziu ever directly debated, examined or voted on the issue of provincial mergers, except for the passage of 53RZ01 almost six years ago.

[Munditenens Tresplet]

Maricopa and our Cabana constitute a unique provincial culture. We do not need a top down commission to push us towards actions that are not in our best interest. And how is 4-5 provinces any better than our current number?

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

Ok, I'm also skeptical about commissions in general, but to be fair, I don't think a post-Reunision Ziu ever directly debated, examined or voted on the issue of provincial mergers, except for the passage of 53RZ01 almost six years ago.

53RZ1 was successfully derailed by a grassroots effort from people who were motivated mainly by retaining a reliable "conservative" Senäts seat. The big question is stopping that from happening again (short of going full unicameral, which opens another huge can of worms)

[Sir Lüc]

Ok, I'm also skeptical about commissions in general, but to be fair, I don't think a post-Reunision Ziu ever directly debated, examined or voted on the issue of provincial mergers, except for the passage of 53RZ01 almost six years ago.

53RZ1 was successfully derailed by a grassroots effort from people who were motivated mainly by retaining a reliable "conservative" Senäts seat. The big question is stopping that from happening again (short of going full unicameral, which opens another huge can of worms)

I mean, my proposal for a nationwide Senate* is still on the table, even if the other proposals on the table have received more attention.

*: 8 seats with 4 elected at each GE, with each citizen having 4 votes and the top 4 vote-getters getting elected.

[King Txec]

This is a four-member commission. It's usually a good idea to make commissions and committees odd numbers so you don't risk ties. Perhaps add in a fifth member, or a chair with tie-breaking abilities.

-Txec R

[Mic’haglh Autófil, O.Be]

Ok, I'm also skeptical about commissions in general, but to be fair, I don't think a post-Reunision Ziu ever directly debated, examined or voted on the issue of provincial mergers, except for the passage of 53RZ01 almost six years ago.

What is the last time we've even had a commission? There's precious little history available on them, so I'm curious to know what your skepticism is based around.

Maricopa and our Cabana constitute a unique provincial culture. We do not need a top down commission to push us towards actions that are not in our best interest. And how is 4-5 provinces any better than our current number?

Would you mind enlightening me on this claimed culture? Claiming one's province is the best is hardly unique, nor are citizen's assembly legislatures. For reference, this is not intended to be a slight towards Maricopa -- but we hear talk of "unique provincial culture" all the time; scant few examples appear to exist.

This is a four-member commission. It's usually a good idea to make commissions and committees odd numbers so you don't risk ties. Perhaps add in a fifth member, or a chair with tie-breaking abilities.

A fair concern; I have added a fifth member nominated by the King.

As a few extra-Talossan affairs (whirlwind of a new job interview process) and fatigă à c'hauçă dels obstruziunistaes have caused a bit of a delay on my end, I recognize this bill is unlikely to be clarkable in time for this Cosa, but I intend to keep discussing it here in preparation for the next.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

What is the last time we've even had a commission?

Organic Law commission in the last Cosa. That was more or less a bust.