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1st Trimester 2012 - Articles Amendments & Repeals; Texas Constitution
Topic Started: Dec 16 2011, 01:36 PM (737 Views)
NewTexas
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:tx Texas Constitution - New Articles, Amendments & Repeals :tx

December 16, 2011

Alright Texas! Y'all have been hopping lately on new stuff, so, in a first, we are opening this thread 3+ months early so y'all can start kibitzing.

This is your opportunity to propose new Articles to the Texas Constitution, or, to suggest Amendments to the Texas Constitution, or, to repeal previously passed Articles to the Texas Constitution. Whichever action you choose should clearly state reasons for your submission. New Articles should be written up in a manner similar to current Articles. Repeals should cite which Article is to be repealed and why. And, Amendments can be for any part, from a point or a phrase to the entire Article, please cite the portion you would like amended and the suggested new wording.

No need to hurry too much unless you are reading this less than 2 weeks before Elections! Texans will debate the merits of all proposed changes and should they be deemed worthy, will appear on the ballot on April 8th. There several months to think up things, debate things and polish things. Do not wait until the eleventh hour to post a surprise change. Those will not be placed on the ballot unless there is some mitigating circumstance.

The Constitution was written by Texans, for Texans - all Texans. This is your document and it is a living document that is up for change quarterly. Feel free to express your opinions on how it should be changed and the majority of Texas will vote on your suggestions provided there is some level of support in the discussion of the change prior to the current Election.

We strongly urge all Texans to consider taking part in helping mold Texas into the region they would like it to be. Feel free to post on this thread without fear of rebuke. All submissions will be considered.

:study

Thank you very much!

Big Tex
President of Texas
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Amandil
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Quote:
 
Article XIX: Texas Crisis Prevention:

1. If the President and/or the WA Delegate are unable to perform their duties due to losing access to their controls, the Vice President temporarily assumes the Presidency or WA Delegacy by endeavoring to gain access to the relevant controls instead. In the event of multiple Vice Presidents, the Vice President with the most endorsements assumes this role. In the absence of a Vice President to fulfill the role as President, the Secretary of State will then assume the Presidency, with the Secretary of Defense to provide assistance as necessary. Once the President’s or WA Delegate's position can be restored everything will then return to its natural order.

2. The line of succession will only apply to the position of President. No Cabinet member may assume the title, roles or responsibilities of another cabinet position.


I thought I would throw out a revised amendment to this article so that we can come up with some ideas well before the next election.

Article XIX: Texas Crisis Prevention:

1. If the President and/or the WA Delegate are unable to perform their duties due to losing access to their controls, the Vice President temporarily assumes the Presidency or WA Delegacy by endeavoring to gain access to the relevant controls instead. In the event of multiple Vice Presidents, the Vice President with the most endorsements assumes this role. In the absence of a Vice President to fulfill the role as President, a member of the Texas Cabinet, in the order prescribed by section 2 of this article, shall assume the role of President and/or WA Delegate. Once the President’s or WA Delegate's position can be restored everything will then return to its natural order.

2. The order of succession of Cabinet members shall be:
a. Secretary of State
b. Secretary of Defense
c. Secretary of WA Affairs

3.
The line of succession will only apply to the position of President. No Cabinet member may assume the title, roles or responsibilities of another cabinet position.


As you can see, I have only included 3 Cabinet members - if you think we should add more, just suggest your list. I am open to any suggestions, just wanted to give everyone plenty of time to comment so we can come up with something everyone will agree upon.
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Amandil
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I am not sure exactly how to offer this amendment since it effects most articles of the Constitution, but here it goes:



The office of President of Texas shall be changed to Governor of Texas and the office of Vice President of Texas shall be changed to Lt. Governor of Texas.
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No TV and No Beer
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Do we really need to go that far down the line when in eight years we haven't had a situation involving the absence of the president, let alone a VP?

Also, you should keep in mind that the office of president is probably going to be changed to "Governor" during the next election. No guarantee the proposal will pass, of course, but keep it in mind.
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NewTexas
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Hmm, we are not opposed to this. We are not really planning on disappearing any time soon. We only play two online games - NS and KOL. We like them both.

However, if anyone has checked our Death Clock on any of the 5 Death Calculators in the Quizzes forum, we are not going to be around too much longer. Actually, we think one already has us dead...

So, maybe we should get things in order...

:death

j/k

:lol:

Well, not about the Calculators...

:bananadead
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Amandil
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My main motivation in proposing this amendment last quarter was not that I thought that we would need it, but it stemmed from the fact that the SoS was listed as the only person in succession after the VP and there was no SoS at that time. I thought it would be best to have something spelled out for the instance of not having a SoS in the future.

I would think that if BT ever decided to step down, there would be an orderly transition, he wouldn't just disappear and create a crisis (you wouldn't do that to us BT, would you :( ). I see this as more of a precaution against BT's computer exploding and taking out the internet in a 250 mile radius from his house, preventing him to access the site for a month.
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NewTexas
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Amandil,Jan 11 2012
09:47 PM
I see this as more of a precaution against BT's computer exploding and taking out the internet in a 250 mile radius from his house, preventing him to access the site for a month.

Don't forget:

Posted Image

:harhar
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No TV and No Beer
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Yeah, the simple solution to there not being a Secretary of State: make sure there always is one. If no one runs for the office, Big Tex can always appoint somebody using executive powers he already has. We don't need an amendment identifying the WA Affairs Secretary as the emergency officer in a crisis. That's just ridiculous. The WA Affairs Secretary barely does anything, and now they're supposed to run the region in a crisis? (Presumably, a crisis wherein four cabinet officers have been taken out by an extremely vengeful sniper from a raider region? Posted Image)

edit: The current crisis provisions are fine, in my view. Maybe tweak the wording to specify what "restored" means, or add language requiring the president to appoint a SOS if one doesn't qualify in an election.
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No TV and No Beer
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AMENDMENT PROPOSAL: CHANGING THE TITLE OF THE TEXAS PRESIDENT

While I'm here, may as well flesh out the proposal I made during the last election. Basically it entails changing the title of President of Texas to Governor of Texas, without affecting any duties or powers of the office. This is being undertaken for three main reasons:

  1. The current President/Governor of Texas seems to like the idea.
  2. It comports better with the theme of the region as an homage to the Greatest State in the Union.
  3. It's just cooler, dammit.
This would affect multiple articles of the Texas Constitution (including the contentious crisis prevention article), so it would require amending all of them. The Vice Presidency would be affected as well, as the VP will now be referred to as "Lieutenant Governor." Instances of "Presidency" in the Constitution will be changed to "Governorship." Please read and advise if I have missed anything, or to offer additional suggestions:

Quote:
 
Article XII: Texas Elections

Cabinet Members: On a quarterly basis Texas shall hold elections for new Cabinet Members. The election process for Cabinet Members shall include a one week period for nominations, a one week period for campaigning followed by a one week period for voting. Nominations and voting shall be open to all actively registered citizens of Texas as of the first day of nominations.

Texas Constitution: On a quarterly basis Texas shall hold a vote on Texas Constitutional matters. These include Amendments as well as new Articles. The voting process for the Texas Constitution shall include a one week period for additional Article submissions, a one week period for commenting and rewording, followed by a one week period for voting. New Articles may be submitted any time between voting sessions and will be open to all actively registered citizens of Texas (as of the date of submission).  All proposals to add, amend or repeal any Article(s) must receive at least one endorsement before going up for vote. Voting will be limited to actively registered citizens of Texas as of the first day of the additional Article submission period.

Texas Representative Council: On a quarterly basis Texas shall hold elections for new members of the Texas Representative Council (per Article X:  Texas Representative Council). The election process for Representative Council shall include a one week period for nominations, a one week period for campaigning followed by a one week period for voting. Nominations and voting shall be open to all actively registered citizens of Texas as of the first day of nominations. Incumbents are not guaranteed their position and must be re-elected.

These individual electoral processes will run concurrently. Schedules will be maintained by the Governor of Texas and published publicly on the Regional Offsite Forum Calendar well in advance of any proceedings.

The elections will begin on the last Sunday of February, May, August and November of each year.


Article XIII: The Basis of Power:

The position of Governor of Texas will be held by the Founder of Texas until such time as Governor steps down from that position, or until such time as a majority vote calls on the Governor to resign. In case of a resignation, the Governorship of Texas is transferred to the Lieutenant Governor of Texas until a new Governor is elected.

Quote:
 
Article XV: Texas Cabinet

1. The Governor of Texas makes overall decisions determining the course of Texas activities and alliances, the defense of the region and provides general stewardship. The policies of the Governor shall not impinge upon any nation of Texas's sovereign rights. The Governor will also be held responsible for making and keeping Texas great. The position of Governor will not be elected but will inherit the position by virtue of being Founder of Texas. The Governor will handle all requests for Texas opinions on WA matters.

2.  All other Cabinet positions and associated duties shall be determined by the then existing Cabinet and the Texas Representative Council and elected (excepting the positions of Texas Land Commissioner and Lieutenant Governor, which may be either an elected or appointed position, as decided by the Governor of Texas) in the manner so stated in Article XII: Texas Elections.

Quote:
 
Article XVII: Expulsion of Cabinet Members

1. The Governor of Texas may dismiss any Cabinet or Texas Representative Council member for the following reasons:

a. prolonged inactivity without warning (defined as 28 days on NationStates or the offsite forum)
b. gross misconduct
c. non-compliance with the Texas Constitution
d. The Cabinet Member voluntarily moves out of the Region of Texas (for any reason other than military or diplomatic missions as approved by the Cabinet) and takes up residence in another region for a period of 5 consecutive days or a period of 10 days total out of any two-week period.
e. ceasing to exist

2.   Any nation, for the reasons stated in section 1, may request the dismissal of any Cabinet or Texas Representative Council member, with the exception of the Governor of Texas. This request must be approved by a simple majority (greater than 50%) of the members of the Texas Representative Council.

3. In the event of the dismissal of a Cabinet or Texas Representative Council member as mentioned in section 1 or by request as mentioned in section 2, or resignation, the Governor may appoint a replacement Cabinet or Texas Representative Council member until the next regularly scheduled Election. See Article XXI: Texas Cabinet Assistants) for ascension rules.

Quote:
 
Article XIX: Texas Crisis Prevention:

1. If the Governor and/or the WA Delegate are unable to perform their duties due to losing access to their controls, the Lieutenant Governor temporarily assumes the Governorship or WA Delegacy by endeavoring to gain access to the relevant controls instead. In the event of multiple Lieutenant Governors, the Lieutenant Governor with the most endorsements assumes this role. In the absence of a Lieutenant Governor to fulfill the role as Governor, the Secretary of State will then assume the Governorship, with the Secretary of Defense to provide assistance as necessary. Once the Governor’s or WA Delegate's position can be restored everything will then return to its natural order.

2. The line of succession will only apply to the position of Governor. No Cabinet member may assume the title, roles or responsibilities of another cabinet position.

Quote:
 
Article XXI: Texas Cabinet Assistants

All Texas Cabinet Members shall have the ability to appoint an assistant. In the event of the dismissal or resignation of the Secretary or Commissioner, the assistant shall immediately accede to the vacated post, absent any objection from a member of the Texas Cabinet or the Texas Representative Council. In the event of an objection, the Governor of Texas shall exercise his powers under Article XVII: Expulsion of Cabinet Members to resolve the appointment, either in favor of the assistant or another nominee. This Article shall not apply to the office of the Governor.

PLEASE NOTE: The implementation of this article should be applied retroactively to the current (upcoming) elections. i.e., in the election for Vice President, if the amendment passes, the person elected Vice President will be considered to have been elected "Lieutenant Governor," and so forth.
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Richard
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No TV and No Beer,Jan 12 2012
02:11 PM
AMENDMENT PROPOSAL: CHANGING THE TITLE OF THE TEXAS PRESIDENT

While I'm here, may as well flesh out the proposal I made during the last election. Basically it entails changing the title of President of Texas to Governor of Texas, without affecting any duties or powers of the office. This is being undertaken for three main reasons:


  1. That should be all of 'em.

    I could be wrong but I was thinking BT was looking for some type of new article / official declaration that would change the title of the delegate from President to Governor as of the last day of the next elections (for historical purposes). I'll let BT respond. :cowboy



    As for changing each article that says president, I think we already have an article for this.

    Quote:
     
    Article XXII: Minor Constitutional Revision Amendment

    By a simple majority Cabinet Vote, spelling, grammatical, typographical, style and punctuation errors may be amended in the Texas Constitution.


    According to this article, we would need a majority cabinet vote. And in the past, BT would just correct the errors w/o a vote. So I'm proposing the following.

    Quote:
     
    Article XXII: Minor Constitutional Revision Amendment

    By a simple majority Cabinet Vote, Spelling, grammatical, typographical, style and punctuation errors may be amended in the Texas Constitution.
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NewTexas
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BT is all :wiggle on this.

There are greater legal scholars in matters of jurisprudence and legislative modi operandi than us.

We really don't know what it would take to change it. We do suspect that it could not casually be done with a sweeping "grammatical" change.

:wiggle
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Richard
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NTNB's proposal would do it then. But I'm still proposing my amendment to make minor revisions less complicated.
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Trecdom
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Cabinet
Work it into the resolution.

"In addition, all references to the President, be changed to read Governor, Lt. Governor, etc..."


Honestly, I don't think Texans are that picky that we need anything more formal.
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NewTexas
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Trecdom,Jan 13 2012
02:03 PM
Work it into the resolution.

:wow

Dude, that is exactly the pork barrel politics that is ruining the US!

Shall we just tack on a couple of these recent US gems while we are at it?

Quote:
 
$107,000 to study the sex life of the Japanese quail. 
$1.2 million to study the breeding habits of the woodchuck. 
$150,000 to study the Hatfield-McCoy feud. 
$84,000 to find out why people fall in love. 
$1 million to study why people don't ride bikes to work. 
$19 million to examine gas emissions from cow flatulence. 
$144,000 to see if pigeons follow human economic laws. 
Funds to study the cause of rudeness on tennis courts and examine smiling patterns in bowling alleys. 
$219,000 to teach college students how to watch television. 
$2 million to construct an ancient Hawaiian canoe. 
$20 million for a demonstration project to build wooden bridges. 
$160,000 to study if you can hex an opponent by drawing an X on his chest. 
$800,000 for a restroom on Mt. McKinley. 
$100,000 to study how to avoid falling spacecraft. 
$16,000 to study the operation of the komungo, a Korean stringed instrument. 
$1 million to preserve a sewer in Trenton, NJ, as a historic monument. 
$6,000 for a document on Worcestershire sauce. 
$10,000 to study the effect of naval communications on a bull's potency. 
$100,000 to research soybean-based ink. 
$1 million for a Seafood Consumer Center. 
$57,000 spent by the Executive Branch for gold-embossed playing cards on Air Force Two. 


:bananadead
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Trecdom
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It seemed like common sense to me. It's just a title change, doesn't change any power. :aeh :aeh

The War Dept. became the Dept of Defense.



I don't see how that correlates to the US spending millions of dollars on what appear to be pointless studies. :tumble
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NewTexas
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Well, we were mostly referring to unrelated legislation piggybacking on other legislation versus standing on their own merits.

:wiggle
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No TV and No Beer
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With regard to the Crisis Prevention article, do you mind if I ask what "restored" means?:

Quote:
 
Article XIX: Texas Crisis Prevention:

1. If the President and/or the WA Delegate are unable to perform their duties due to losing access to their controls, the Vice President temporarily assumes the Presidency or WA Delegacy by endeavoring to gain access to the relevant controls instead. In the event of multiple Vice Presidents, the Vice President with the most endorsements assumes this role. In the absence of a Vice President to fulfill the role as President, the Secretary of State will then assume the Presidency, with the Secretary of Defense to provide assistance as necessary. Once the President’s or WA Delegate's position can be restored everything will then return to its natural order.

2. The line of succession will only apply to the position of President. No Cabinet member may assume the title, roles or responsibilities of another cabinet position.

Does this mean "Once the original President/Delegate comes back", or "Once a new President/Delegate has been chosen"? I think it might be worth clarifying what exactly it is saying.

Also, add a provision somewhere (not sure which article) instructing the president to appoint a SoS if no one runs for the office. We won't need a "line of succession" if the constitution included just that.
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NewTexas
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Ok Peeps! This topic closes on April 8, 2012! :hyper

Get posting if you want to make changes or approve others changes! :yes2 :yes

:director
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Independent Planets
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We could have succession proceed by seniority...the Cabinet member with the longest current term would succeed first, then down the line. This way we wouldn't have to appoint a specific Cabinet position if we didn't have it. Tiebreakers would be decided by total lifetime time in office since passage of the amendment, or perhaps even nation size.

Also, I'd revise Richard's amendment of Article XXII to read
Quote:
 
Spelling, grammatical, typographical, style and punctuation errors in the Texas Constitution may be corrected as found without passage of legislation and/or with special permission from the President.

Formatting is to show possible wordings.
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Richard
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No TV and No Beer,Jan 12 2012
03:11 PM

Quote:
 
Article XII: Texas Elections

Cabinet Members: On a quarterly basis Texas shall hold elections for new Cabinet Members. The election process for Cabinet Members shall include a one week period for nominations, a one week period for campaigning followed by a one week period for voting. Nominations and voting shall be open to all actively registered citizens of Texas as of the first day of nominations.

Texas Constitution: On a quarterly basis Texas shall hold a vote on Texas Constitutional matters. These include Amendments as well as new Articles. The voting process for the Texas Constitution shall include a one week period for additional Article submissions, a one week period for commenting and rewording, followed by a one week period for voting. New Articles may be submitted any time between voting sessions and will be open to all actively registered citizens of Texas (as of the date of submission).  All proposals to add, amend or repeal any Article(s) must receive at least one endorsement before going up for vote. Voting will be limited to actively registered citizens of Texas as of the first day of the additional Article submission period.

Texas Representative Council: On a quarterly basis Texas shall hold elections for new members of the Texas Representative Council (per Article X:  Texas Representative Council). The election process for Representative Council shall include a one week period for nominations, a one week period for campaigning followed by a one week period for voting. Nominations and voting shall be open to all actively registered citizens of Texas as of the first day of nominations. Incumbents are not guaranteed their position and must be re-elected.

These individual electoral processes will run concurrently. Schedules will be maintained by the Governor of Texas and published publicly on the Regional Offsite Forum Calendar well in advance of any proceedings.

The elections will begin on the last Sunday of February, May, August and November of each year.


Article XIII: The Basis of Power:

The position of Governor of Texas will be held by the Founder of Texas until such time as Governor steps down from that position, or until such time as a majority vote calls on the Governor to resign. In case of a resignation, the Governorship of Texas is transferred to the Lieutenant Governor of Texas until a new Governor is elected.

Quote:
 
Article XV: Texas Cabinet

1. The Governor of Texas makes overall decisions determining the course of Texas activities and alliances, the defense of the region and provides general stewardship. The policies of the Governor shall not impinge upon any nation of Texas's sovereign rights. The Governor will also be held responsible for making and keeping Texas great. The position of Governor will not be elected but will inherit the position by virtue of being Founder of Texas. The Governor will handle all requests for Texas opinions on WA matters.

2.  All other Cabinet positions and associated duties shall be determined by the then existing Cabinet and the Texas Representative Council and elected (excepting the positions of Texas Land Commissioner and Lieutenant Governor, which may be either an elected or appointed position, as decided by the Governor of Texas) in the manner so stated in Article XII: Texas Elections.

Quote:
 
Article XVII: Expulsion of Cabinet Members

1. The Governor of Texas may dismiss any Cabinet or Texas Representative Council member for the following reasons:

a. prolonged inactivity without warning (defined as 28 days on NationStates or the offsite forum)
b. gross misconduct
c. non-compliance with the Texas Constitution
d. The Cabinet Member voluntarily moves out of the Region of Texas (for any reason other than military or diplomatic missions as approved by the Cabinet) and takes up residence in another region for a period of 5 consecutive days or a period of 10 days total out of any two-week period.
e. ceasing to exist

2.   Any nation, for the reasons stated in section 1, may request the dismissal of any Cabinet or Texas Representative Council member, with the exception of the Governor of Texas. This request must be approved by a simple majority (greater than 50%) of the members of the Texas Representative Council.

3. In the event of the dismissal of a Cabinet or Texas Representative Council member as mentioned in section 1 or by request as mentioned in section 2, or resignation, the Governor may appoint a replacement Cabinet or Texas Representative Council member until the next regularly scheduled Election. See Article XXI: Texas Cabinet Assistants) for ascension rules.

Quote:
 
Article XIX: Texas Crisis Prevention:

1. If the Governor and/or the WA Delegate are unable to perform their duties due to losing access to their controls, the Lieutenant Governor temporarily assumes the Governorship or WA Delegacy by endeavoring to gain access to the relevant controls instead. In the event of multiple Lieutenant Governors, the Lieutenant Governor with the most endorsements assumes this role. In the absence of a Lieutenant Governor to fulfill the role as Governor, the Secretary of State will then assume the Governorship, with the Secretary of Defense to provide assistance as necessary. Once the Governor’s or WA Delegate's position can be restored everything will then return to its natural order.

2. The line of succession will only apply to the position of Governor. No Cabinet member may assume the title, roles or responsibilities of another cabinet position.

Quote:
 
Article XXI: Texas Cabinet Assistants

All Texas Cabinet Members shall have the ability to appoint an assistant. In the event of the dismissal or resignation of the Secretary or Commissioner, the assistant shall immediately accede to the vacated post, absent any objection from a member of the Texas Cabinet or the Texas Representative Council. In the event of an objection, the Governor of Texas shall exercise his powers under Article XVII: Expulsion of Cabinet Members to resolve the appointment, either in favor of the assistant or another nominee. This Article shall not apply to the office of the Governor.



Seeing as this change would only replace President with Governor, I'm going to endorse this/these amendment(s). Dealing with ex post facto legislation, I'm not sure you can make this retroactive unless you state it in a proposal for a new article similar to Amandil's second post on this thread.

I also don't think it will be necessary. The changes have been submitted in "Proposed Positions" so we can vote for a Governor this trimester. Having the Governor position up for election and with BT and everyone else endorsing this amendment on the actual voting thread, it's very likely that it will pass. It's just a matter of influencing public opinion. :diablo

Of course, I wouldn't know anything about it. :angel







I'll also propose the following changes.

Quote:
 
Article XXII: Minor Constitutional Revision Amendment

By a simple majority Cabinet Vote, spelling, grammatical, typographical, style and punctuation errors may be amended in the Texas Constitution.


Quote:
 
Article XXII: Minor Constitutional Revision

Spelling, grammatical, typographical, style and punctuation errors may be corrected in the Texas Constitution without passage of legislation with special permission from the President.


The amendment is already an article so it doesn't need the word amendment in it's title. And I included IP's changes, though I don't think it needs "and"/"or".
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