Senate News Update
Nyman D.C.
The TVA Privatisation Bill was roundly defeated last night, with 9 Senators voting against it. The Bill had been widely criticised for being badly written, "butchered with ammendments"[sic] or simply making bad economic sense. In the end, an overriding sense that the short term impact of a $100 billion windfall could not outweigh the long term economic drawbacks such as loss of revenue. Whilst some might considered it 17 wasted days, it was good to see the body actually debate the issues for once.
The Species Act of 2005 has also been successfully amended, thus reducing the fines that it imposes on potential offenders. Passage was achieved without any significant controversy as much of the substance had been debated previously by the Senate.
With little debate, Senator Jake's Comprehensive Engergy Plan Bill has gone to a vote, which has already emerged as closer than might have been expected. Senators Texasgurl, CheeseWhiz and Bono have all opposed the legislation, with Senators Wixted and DanielX abstaining, without raising so much as a finger to signal their dissent when debate was open. If anything, the TVA debate showed that good debate could create informed consensus, hopefully the Senate will heed that lesson in future.
Presently on the floor is the Public Interest Amendment, proposed by Senator Al under the general auspisces of allowing the Senate to legislate on public interest grounds. However, it has no formal language as yet, and despite some suggestions offered by the editor of this paper, it looks likely to fall into abeyance, especially as Senator Al has indicated that he will soon retire from the Senate.
The TVA Privatisation Bill was roundly defeated last night, with 9 Senators voting against it. The Bill had been widely criticised for being badly written, "butchered with ammendments"[sic] or simply making bad economic sense. In the end, an overriding sense that the short term impact of a $100 billion windfall could not outweigh the long term economic drawbacks such as loss of revenue. Whilst some might considered it 17 wasted days, it was good to see the body actually debate the issues for once.
The Species Act of 2005 has also been successfully amended, thus reducing the fines that it imposes on potential offenders. Passage was achieved without any significant controversy as much of the substance had been debated previously by the Senate.
With little debate, Senator Jake's Comprehensive Engergy Plan Bill has gone to a vote, which has already emerged as closer than might have been expected. Senators Texasgurl, CheeseWhiz and Bono have all opposed the legislation, with Senators Wixted and DanielX abstaining, without raising so much as a finger to signal their dissent when debate was open. If anything, the TVA debate showed that good debate could create informed consensus, hopefully the Senate will heed that lesson in future.
Presently on the floor is the Public Interest Amendment, proposed by Senator Al under the general auspisces of allowing the Senate to legislate on public interest grounds. However, it has no formal language as yet, and despite some suggestions offered by the editor of this paper, it looks likely to fall into abeyance, especially as Senator Al has indicated that he will soon retire from the Senate.
posted by Peter at 7:55 am
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