Article I - Legislative Operations

Section I - Establishment of Congress

1. All legislative powers granted herein shall be vested in a Congress of the State of Firestone, the sole state legislature.

2. Congress shall be a bicameral legislature, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

3. Congress shall have legislative jurisdiction over the entire State of Firestone and its subordinate entities, including counties and municipalities.

Section II - The House of Representatives

1. The House of Representatives shall be recognized as the lower chamber of Congress and shall consist of nine citizens elected by the people of the State of Firestone.

2. Representatives admitted during a regular election shall serve a term of three months simultaneously. If there are below seven members within the House of Representatives, the Speaker of the House (or in the absence, failure, or neglect of the Speaker of the House, the Speaker pro tempore) shall be mandated to hold a special election to fill the vacant seats. Before the beginning of each term, the Governor of the State of Firestone will be obligated to host new elections to replace all nine representatives. Representatives shall not be limited in the number of terms of office they may serve unless barred from said office.

3. The House of Representatives, under an election hosted by the Governor of the State of Firestone, will choose a Speaker of the House of Representatives from their membership who shall act as the presiding officer of regular legislative meetings of the House of Representatives. The Speaker of the House may be removed with a simple majority vote through an internal resolution

4. Each representative shall be afforded one vote in legislative sessions with the exception of the presiding officer of the session unless the votes are equally divided.

5. A Speaker pro tempore may be freely chosen from the current Representatives at the time of selection by the Speaker of the House, and shall serve a term at the pleasure of the Speaker of the House, but may be removed at any time by the House of Representatives by a simple majority. The Speaker pro tempore shall exercise the duties of the Speaker of the House in the case of their absence.

6. The House of Representatives may draft and ratify its own standing rules and procedures with an internal resolution with a simple majority vote of its members.

7. The terms of Representatives shall begin on the 1st of January, the 1st of April, the 1st of July, and the 1st of October.

Section III - The Senate

1. The Senate shall be recognized as the upper chamber of Congress and shall consist of eight citizens elected by the people of the State of Firestone.

2. Senators admitted during a regular election shall serve a term of six months in a staggered form, consisting of an election every two months. If there are below six members within the Senate, the President of the Senate (or in the absence, failure, or neglect of the President of the Senate, the President pro tempore) shall be mandated to hold a special election to fill the vacant seat. Before the beginning of each term, the President of the Senate will be obligated to host new elections to replace three members of the chamber, decreasing to two members every third election. Senators shall not be limited in the number of terms of office they may serve unless barred from said office.

3. The Lieutenant Governor of the State of Firestone shall be recognized as the President of the Senate and shall preside over the Senate during regular legislative meetings of the Senate.

4. Each Senator shall be afforded one vote in legislative sessions with the exception of the presiding officer of the session unless the votes are equally divided.

5. A President pro tempore may be freely chosen from the current senators at the time of selection by the President of the Senate but may be removed with a simple majority vote through an internal resolution. It shall be the job of the President pro tempore to exercise the duties of the President of the Senate in their absence.

6. The Senate may draft and ratify its own standing rules and procedures with an internal resolution with a simple majority vote of its members.

7. The Senate shall hold the sole power of confirming executive nominations through a simple majority vote.

8. The Senate shall hold the sole power of ratifying or nullifying treaties through a supermajority vote and may nullify executive agreements through a supermajority vote.

9. If the Lieutenant Governor and President Pro Tempore positions are both vacant, the most Senior Senator shall perform the duties of the presiding officer, however, shall only preside over the confirmation of a new Lieutenant Governor. Seniority shall be determined by the greatest consecutive number of terms served by said Senator. The Senate may determine further measures of seniority by internal resolution.

10. The terms of Senators shall begin on the 1st of January, the 1st of March, the 1st of May, the 1st of July, the 1st of September, and the 1st of November.

Section IV - The Powers of Congress

1. The House of Representatives and the Senate shall be vested with the power to pass legislation and to establish minimum and maximum sentences or punishments for the violation thereof. Congress shall not pass any bill of attainder.

2. Each bill which shall have passed by majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Governor of the State of Firestone. If they approve they shall sign it, if not they shall return it, with their objections to the chamber in which it shall have originated, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration a supermajority of that chamber assembled shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent to the other chamber, who will likewise reconsider it, and if approved by a supermajority of that chamber assembled, it shall become law. Congress shall also be vested with the power to nullify an executive order, or nullify sections thereof, with a supermajority vote from both chambers.

3. If any bill shall not be signed or returned with objections by the Governor within five days after it has been passed by Congress, the bill shall become law in the same manner if they had signed it.

4. Both chambers may pass internal resolutions for their respective chambers by majority vote to govern the operations of their chamber or for other purposes as prescribed by state law. Both chambers may pass joint internal resolutions by majority vote in both chambers to govern the operations of both chambers or for other purposes as prescribed by state law.

5. Both chambers may expel members from their respective chamber through an internal resolution, which must pass with a super-majority vote, for reasons of ineptitude, misconduct, or any other plausible reason as decided by the respective chamber. Congress shall have the power to bar from genuine government office (such as Cabinet and Subcabinet, Representative/Senator, the executives and legislators of inferior governments, and Judge), elected or appointed, with an Act of Congress; such act must pass both chambers with a supermajority vote in favor, be for genuine misconduct (including, but not limited to, the commission of insurrection or treason), state how acts committed by the person constitute genuine misconduct, and include evidence that shows on the standard of clear and convincing the commission of said misconduct. Persons barred under this procedure may not stand in election, be nominated for, or otherwise enter any positions of which they are barred from. Bars under this procedure may be repealed by an act of congress passing with a simple majority. No entity except the State or Inferior Government Executive Branch, which must act in line with employment law and other appropriate statute, may bar any named person from employment in a recognised department except for where positions as a department head or deputy department head constitute government office and such person is barred from government office in line with this section. Inferior governments may establish procedures to bar individuals from their own government offices.

6. The Governor, President of the Senate, and Speaker of the House shall be permitted to call a Joint-Congressional session, with the Speaker of the House or President of the Senate presiding over both chambers, for a reason deemed plausible, with a matter that requires attention to the extent that it cannot wait until the next session of the respective chambers

7. With a declaration of war being announced by the Governor, Congress shall be vested with the power to either provide legitimacy to this declaration of war or dismiss it with a simple majority vote from both chambers in either case. In accordance with Article IV, the Governor may deploy soldiers for twenty-four hours without congressional approval.

8. For the purposes of this article, a majority vote (or simple majority vote) shall be reached when one-half (rounded down to the nearest whole person as needed) plus one of the chamber members assembled and voting have voted in favor of the legislative action. Likewise for the purposes of this article, a supermajority vote shall be reached when two-thirds rounded up to the nearest whole person of the chamber members assembled and voting have voted in favor of the legislative action. The Speaker Pro Tempore and the President Pro Tempore shall not count as members assembled for the purposes of determining a vote majority if they are presiding over their respective chamber. For the purposes of this section, an abstention or other failure to vote affirmatively or negatively upon voting concluding will not count as “members assembled and voting” as required herein.

Section V - The Convening of Congress

1. Each chamber shall convene regularly at the State Capitol to hear legislation and deal with official business unless there is no legislation or business to be dealt with, and may meet sooner than obligated if the presiding officer of their respective chamber deems it necessary.

2. If required, each chamber may hold a meeting through the use of alternate venues to hear legislation and deal with official business provided Congress is unable to convene at the State Capitol in a prompt enough manner. For an alternate venue, all sitting members of the chamber shall be considered in attendance and assembled for the purposes of voting and quorum. Any legislation submitted to a chamber in an alternate venue must pass by its constitutionally required majority or supermajority vote in favor.

3. For legislation to be heard and business dealt with, each chamber must be quorate before any action can be taken. A quorum shall consist of one-half of a chamber’s current membership being present at the meeting of the legislature. Presiding officers of either chamber shall not be counted towards the total quorum. If action has been taken at a session found to be held without proper quorum, any and all actions taken at said session are to be considered null and void.

4. During a meeting of the legislature, the Presiding Officer shall maintain the order and decorum of the chamber in which they are presiding, and may remove any person from said chamber insofar as they are not participating in the meeting of the legislature. This power may be concurrently vested in a law enforcement officer for the duration of the meeting of the legislature and any action taken by the Presiding Officer or a designated law enforcement officer may be repealed through a simple majority vote of the present members of the convening chamber.

Section VI - Impeachment

1. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment and the Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments.

2. Those who may be impeached shall be the holders of the positions of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Supreme Court justice, District Court judge, Representative, Senator, positions in the cabinet and sub-cabinet, positions which require executive nomination and confirmation by the Senate, and any other positions designated by law as impeachable.

3. Judgement in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than removal from the impeachable office. Conviction or acquital by the Senate shall not disqualify the impeached from being subject to other punishments according to law.

4. In order to impeach, a House resolution containing the charges must be submitted by a Representative and approved by the House by simple majority vote. The subject of the charges then shall be considered impeached. In drafting charges of impeachment, they may only extend to that of treason, bribery, gross misconduct, ineptitude, neglect of duty, or commission of a felony or misdemeanour as defined by law.

5. When trying impeachments, the Senate shall review the charges brought by the House of Representatives and any evidence or witnesses, with the presiding officer holding a vote to convict the impeached party with a supermajority vote. While sitting as triers of impeachment, Senators shall be administered an oath of impartiality. Should the chamber fail to convict the impeached party, they shall be considered acquitted of all charges before the Senate. Should the impeached party be convicted, they shall be immediately removed from the impeachable office.

6. If a member of Congress is subject to impeachment, they shall forego the privilege of voting on matters related to their impeachment and trial. If the Governor or Lieutenant Governor is the subject of impeachment, the Chief Justice of the State of Firestone shall preside over the trial proceedings.

7. If an impeachment resolution is approved by the House, the Senate shall not deliberate on other business until the trial has concluded unless the Senate tables the matter by simple majority vote.

8. If an impeachment resolution has been submitted and the person subject to impeachment resigns from their impeachable office, they may still be impeached and tried, but upon conviction no punishment shall be rendered by the Senate.

Section VII - The Oath of Office

1. At the start of every term, newly elected members of Congress shall take an oath or affirmation to support this Constitution before formally taking office. The Governor of the State of Firestone shall administer it to newly elected representatives and the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Firestone shall administer it to newly elected senators. Once appointed, the Speaker of the House, Speaker pro tempore, and President pro tempore may administer oaths to specially elected representatives and senators, respectively.

2. The oath of office shall read: “I [NAME] do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of Firestone against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God”. The plea “So help me God” may be included at the end of the oath of office if the congressperson so wishes.

Section VIII - Recalls

1. Any citizen of the State of Firestone may publish a recall petition. Such petition must be hosted on the official Firestone Forums and outline the member of Congress whom the petitioner wishes to be recalled. Citizens may freely sign a recall petition or retract their signature, this action must be done through the official Firestone Forums; signatures of a recall petition through any type of proxy shall not count.

2. For a recall petition to trigger a recall referendum, the following requirements must be met within 14 days of the recall petition being posted: the recall petition has attained a total of 50 signatures from citizens; the recall petition has attained a total of 3 signatures from state government officials, excluding congressional presiding officers and the Governor, these individuals may still sign personally but it will not count towards this additional requirement. If a recall petition does not meet these requirements within 14 days of posting, it shall be considered failed. Judges or justices may not sign or publish a recall petition; they may vote on recall referendums if ordinarily capable (i.e. not banned from the Firestone Forums).

3. Upon a recall petition passing and a recall referendum being triggered, the Governor (or in either absence or incapacity, the Lieutenant Governor) shall, at least three days but no longer than five days subsequent to the referendum being triggered, publish and advertise a poll on the official Firestone Forums, linking to the recall petition, and specifically asking if the member named is to be recalled from their congressional office. The poll must have only two options (in favour of recall, or opposed to recall) and must be set to automatically close between 71 and 73 hours after the posting of the publish; “show who voted” or any other similar mechanism must be disabled, there must be no restriction on those who can vote so long as they have a Firestone Forums account (which are vetted as citizens by the community administration), and votes must be private until the poll has closed. All votes must be cast through the official Firestone Forums and this vote will be considered an official election; the rigging or manipulation of such shall be a felony, as shall the act of threatening, bribing, or criminally intimidating any individual for the purposes of voting in a particular way. The Governor shall be prohibited to manually close the referendum unless they are removing the posting in favour of a newer posting (which will be considered a new referendum) for technical reasons or if the automatic closing mechanism has failed to operate correctly.

4. Upon the conclusion of a recall referendum, if the vote is at least 70% in favour of recall and there have been a minimum of 60 voters, the named member shall be immediately removed from office and be ineligible to run for or hold congressional office for a fixed 21 day period.

5. The same citizen may not create two recall petitions within 30 days. No member of congress may have more than one open (i.e. not failed or triggered) recall petition towards them. No member of congress may have a recall petition made against them if there is a pending or ongoing recall referendum against that member. Whereas a recall petition or referendum has failed, that same member may not be subject to an additional recall petition made against them for 14 days. A recall petition may not be created if a member is within their first 15 days of holding office. A recall petition may not be created against a member if articles of impeachment, conviction by senate, or expulsion against said member has failed within the past 14 days or was proposed (and has not yet been voted on) within the past 5 days.