How to be Involved in the Congress

How to Take Part

Any player may take part in Congress, providing they follow the rules and have not been banned from the server. Players may join via the Discord channel. Ordinary players may submit suggestions for legislation, follow the business of congress and even run for election.

Running for Election

The election cycle takes place twice yearly, in June and in December, with each session of congress starting at the beginning of the following month. During each election all Representatives, Senators and the President and Vice President are all appointed.

A notice of election and the rules are usually posted on the HM website in the forums.

Senate seats are usually appointed by the owner(s) of a nation or group of cities equivalent to the size of a nation. Each nation is free to run their own elections or appoint someone during the election cycle or when someone resigns. Contact an owner/mayor of a city or government city if you are interested in being a Senator.

Congressional Business

Submitting Motions

Any Congressperson may submit a motion to the floor of the chamber they sit. These are standard procedures to make it clear the intention and help with the running of either the House/Senate. Types of motions are listed in the rules of that chamber.

Legislation

Drafting Legislation

In order to allow the most voices to contribute to the Congress, any player may submit draft legislation. The House Leader may review draft legislation or ask a committee to review it and get it ready to be voted on. Once a committee recommends this, the Leader liaises with the Speaker to bring it to the floor to be voted on.

Passing Legislation

Once draft legislation is ready, a bill is presented to the floor to be voted on, the Speaker of the House will host a vote and each representative will give their approval or not.

This will then be submitted to the Senate to approve. If they vote to amend, it will be sent back to the House in its new form.

This process is reversed if the legislation is proposed by the Senate first. Only the House may instigate legislation relating to budgets and revenue.

Once both chambers have approved text, the bills is sent to the President to sign into law.

Presidential Veto

A President may choose to veto legislation, however congress may choose to overturn this by two-thirds majority. The last chamber to pass the legislation usually votes first.

Resolutions

From time to time each chamber may submit a resolution to give their opinion, change the way their chamber works or to make a suggestion for change to the server. Only the Senate may vote on resolutions to appoint players to cabinet/judiciary positions.

It may sometimes be preferable or required for congress to pass a Joint Resolution of both houses i.e. to change the constitution. This can even be a way to give an opinion more weight.

Officers of Congress

Appointing a Speaker/President Pro tempore

The first business of the House and Senate is usually to appoint a presiding officer who remains impartial. This person makes sure the rules are being adhered to and everything is running correctly. The Vice President of the Executive Branch may act as the presiding officer in the Senate, and should let the Senate know if so. The House usually has its own Speaker and the Senate will elect a President Pro tempore for when the Vice President is not present.

Any member may submit a motion to elect a speaker.

Appointing a House/Senate Leader

The second business of the House and Senate is to appoint a Leader. This person is usually the representative of a party or alliance of parties with the largest majority. Alternatively this person should be able to command the majority of the House or Senate and be separate to the presiding officer. Each chamber may decide its own rules in the absence of a leader.

Sergeant at Arms

The Sergeant at Arms is responsible for the safety of Representatives and Senators as well as keeping order and ensuring players are active when needed.

Committees

A Committee may be created using a motion as and when required. Committees can be used to do a number of things including finalise legislation, subpoena players to testify or, investigate issues.

Constitution

This is the ultimate set of rules by which Congress runs. No law passed or action may contradict this.

Constitutional Amendments

A constitutional amendment may be passed by two-thirds majority of both chambers.

Judiciary

The Judiciary allows for players to receive justice if they feel they have been wronged in some way. They may submit their case via the Congress discord or ask a player on their behalf to represent them as their lawyer.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court may only try matters relating to constitutional issues or the rights of players in accordance with the laws of congress. The Chief Justice and Associate Justices oversee these cases.

Circuit Court

The circuit courts deal with matters relating to laws being broken. Each month a different courthouse is used to host trials on a rotating basis and a circuit court judge oversee these cases. For serious cases, it may be requested by both the defendant and prosecution team for a trial by jury.

City owners may request their courthouse be added by submitting a ticket on the Congress discord.