National Governor's Alliance Proposed

Pacific Governor John Ford today proposed that a more formal setting for the Governors of Atlasia's five Regions to discuss matters of mutual national concern that fall outside the purview of the Senate.

Governor-Elect Afleitch, due to be sworn in today, and Governor Jas have both expressed strong interest in the group, as have all declared candidates for the Northeast and Southeast Senate races that occur within the next month. The structure of how such a group would operate will likely be fleshed out in the coming days and weeks.

Governor Ford has already expressed an interest in discussing both the minimum wage and sex crime legislation. Noting that the federal minimum wage was struck down in Bono v. Atlasia II, Ford called on all Regions to pass minimum wage legislation. Research indicates that three of the five Regions (Pacific, Mideast, Southeast) have minimum wage Laws on their books, whilst the Midwest has not yet considered the issue, and the Northeast rejected a minimum wage in September 2005.

Governor Ford also called for a mandatory minimum jail term for those convicted of sex crimes against those under 12 years old. He claims there is already a minimum 35 year jail term for the Pacific, but we have no way to actually check this given that there is no reliable source for Pacific statutes. The Mideast has instituted a maximum life term for crimes of this nature in the majority of circumstances; The Southeast statutes seem to indicate that conviction on two counts of this crime would result in a fifty year jail term. Research indicates that neither the Northeast nor the Midwest have considered similar initiatives.