The Tidying Up Our Finances (And Seneschalsqåb) Bill

Started by Miestră Schivă, UrN, September 22, 2020, 03:55:39 PM

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Miestră Schivă, UrN

WHEREAS as the incoming Minister of Finance it is my duty to review the sections of law that relate to my office;

AND WHEREAS in doing so, I found the whole thing is something of a mess;

AND WHEREAS the current law provides that the Financial Report from the Burgermeister of Internal Revenue is due at "the end of each Cosa term" (Lex D.2.8.1.2), and that is not what has been happening, and that needs to be cleared up;

AND WHEREAS for some reason it's the Seneschál's job to write the Budget rather than the Finance Minister's, in which case what do we have a Finance Minister for anyway,

AND WHEREAS of course the Seneschál can step in to do any Cabinet Minister's job anyway (Lex D.1.1.3);

AND WHEREAS Lex D.2.9., the Corporations Law, has never, ever been used and would be better replaced by something simple and effective;

AND WHEREAS, as I have mentioned elsewhere, I oppose compulsory Seneschál's reports as a waste of time and energy, and an excuse for inactivity by the Opposition who should be getting this information via Terpelaziuns;

AND WHEREAS, once again, a shorter Lexhatx is a better Lexhatx;


BE IT ENACTED by the King, Cosa and Senäts of Talossa in Ziu assembled that:

1. El Lexhatx Sections D.2.1.1-D.2.1.3, which currently read as follows:

Quote2.1.1. The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Talossa is directed to issue a report every two months, detailing actions taken by his or her office and appointed Ministers. The first report of a new Prime Minister will be delivered within the first month of taking office, and subsequent reports will be issued no less often than every two months thereafter. If possible reports will be posted in the primary forum, rather virtual or physical, however, they must emailed to all citizens immediately after their completion. (39RZ16)

        2.1.2. A blog may be set up for the Prime Minister to post the report on instead of, or in addition to, the other requirements for distribution stated above

        2.1.3. Each report must be issued no sooner than the first day of the month in which it is due to be filed, and no later than the last day of said month. If the Prime Minister is unable to file such a report by the deadlines specified above, he or she may delegate the task to the Distain or other member of the government, provided that their signature, as well as that of the Prime Minister, are affixed to the report.

are deleted in their enterity.

2. El Lexhatx Sections D.2.1.5-D.2.1.11, which give the Seneschál responsibility for presenting the Budget, are deleted in their entirety, to be re-inserted (with some amendments) as provided below.

3. El Lexhatx Section D.2.1.4:

QuoteThe Ziu strongly urges the current and future Prime Ministers of Talossa to use the power of the Prime Dictate with caution and respect, limiting its usage to memorials, congratulatory notices, internal Government organization, executive policy clarification, and other appropriate and limited governmental matters, and leave legislation solely for democratic consideration by the whole Ziu.

is retained, and renumbered Section D.2.1.1.

4. El Lexhatx D.2.8.1.2 is amended to read as follows, in its entirety:

QuoteThe Finance Minister with the assistance of the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue shall deliver a Financial Report at the same time as the Budget for each Cosa. This Report shall be required to contain the following information:

                2.8.1.2.1. the amount, location, liquidity, and availability of all funds held by or for the Royal Treasury,

                2.8.1.2.2. a detailed list of all changes in the account balances of the Royal Treasury since the last Report,

                2.8.1.2.3. a balance sheet which clearly lists all expenses linking them to the relative sheet items in the budget bills approved in the Cosa,

                2.8.1.2.4. the total amount of louise and postal items in circulation.


5. The following new sections of El Lexhatx are added:

Quote2.8.3. The Minister of Finance (or, if the Minister of Finance is not a Member of the Cosa, an MC designated by the Minister of Finance) shall be required to submit to the Ziu, in time for consideration by the second Clark of the Cosa, a government bill approved by the whole Cabinet, to be entitled the Budget and Financial Planning Bill for the (X)th Cosa, which shall contain the following:
   2.8.3.1. the Financial Report as required in D.2.8.1.1;
   2.8.3.2. a detailed Budget of the Kingdom of Talossa, listing all planned expenses of the State through the current Cosa, specifying the amounts to be requisitioned for each Cabinet Ministry or Officer of the Royal Household and the purpose of each such expense, sufficient to provide for all expenses of the Kingdom of Talossa until the next budget shall be presented, during the subsequent Cosa;
   2.8.3.3. any amount of the Treasury to be set aside for investment, and the investment policy that will be pursued;
   2.8.3.4. the total amount in louise of any planned currency minting and printing, and postage issuance to be executed by the Royal Bank & Post during the term of the current Cosa;
   2.8.3.5. the total amount in louise of any planned donations proposed to be requested from Talossan citizens towards the upkeep of the State. Neither this nor any other section of el Lexhatx shall be interpreted in such a way as to require compulsory taxation or mandatory donations of any kind.

2.8.4. The Budget of the Kingdom of Talossa shall always include funds for re-imbursing the Talossan Web Registrant and others for any payments towards domain registration and hosting on talossa.com and other government run websites made during the previous Cosa term that were not re-imbursed during the previous Cosa term, provided that the government or the previous government has been informed about these payments properly and on time.

2.8.5 All withdrawals from the Royal Treasury (except as provided for by D.2.8.6, below) must be authorized by action of the Ziu approving the expense for which the withdrawal is made, either in the Budget and Financial Planning Bill required by D.2.8.3 above, or by supplemental budgeting legislation. In accordance with such authorized budgeted expenses, the Government of the day is empowered to requisition such funds from the Royal Treasury (said withdrawal to be performed in fact only by the Burgermeister of Internal Revenue or an authorised deputy).

2.8.6. Emergency Spending. During times when any budgeted funds have been exhausted, when no budget has been approved due to rejection by the Ziu, lack of the Financial Report or dissolution of the Cosa without action on a budget; the Prime Minister may issue a Prime Dictate to provide only for emergency spending, but may not act to cause withdrawal of funds from the Royal Treasury to fulfill the terms of any Prime Dictate unless and until the King has explicitly assented to the Prime Dictate.

2.8.7. Spending Authority Removal. At any time before an allocation is disbursed by the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue, members representing at least one-third of the Cosâ by seats may petition the government that such spending shall not be incurred until such issuance shall be ordered by an act of the Ziu. The Burgermeister of Inland Revenue shall be required to grant all such petitions until such time as an act of the Ziu restores the funding.

2.8.8. The Minister of Finance may take such actions as might be necessary to create, manage, and promote a voluntary fundraising campaign to the citizens of Talossa and other interested parties each year. The targeted amount for this campaign shall be the amount given in D.2.8.3.5. Unless otherwise authorized by the Ziu, the fundraising campaign will be concluded in a given term once that targeted amount is reached. Unless otherwise authorized by the Ziu, no more than one fundraising campaign per term will be conducted.

2.8.9. The Minister of Finance shall publish information as to the value of the Talossan louis against other currencies as and when necessary, desired or requested.


6. El Lexhatx D.2.9. is replaced in its entirety as follows:

QuoteThe Finance Minister shall create a Register of Talossan Enterprises, available to all Talossan citizens. Any Talossan who produces goods and services, whether commercially or as a hobby, may provide a description, no longer than 100 words, of their enterprise together with their contact details, for the purposes of advertisement and information. An enterprise shall be removed from the register at the request of the registrant; or by a determination by the Finance Minister that the enterprise is no longer active, or not of a character with which the Kingdom of Talossa wishes to be associated. Such determinations shall be subject to judicial review.

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