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{{Legislature_infobox
''This article is about the legislative body as a whole. For the current meeting, see the [[17th Legislature of Cascadia]].''{{Legislature_infobox
|color=black
|color=black
|title1=Legislature of Cascadia
|title1=Legislature of Cascadia
|session=2nd Legislature
|session=27th Legislature
|image1=[[File:Seal of the Cascadia Legislature.png|175px]]
|image1=[[File:Seal of the Cascadia Legislature.png|175px]]
|type=Unicameral
|type=Unicameral
|houses=House of Representatives
|houses=House of Representatives
|LowerHouse=House of Representatives
|LowerHouse=House of Representatives
|leader1title=President of the Legislature
|leader1title=[[Speaker of the Cascadia House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]]
|leader1=[[SayerQT]]<br>since 17 September 2022
|leader1=[[Milgorn123]]<br>since October 22nd, 2024
|leader2title=Chair of the Apportionment Committee
|leader2title=Clerk
|leader2=[[Falcoeur]]<br>since 4 October 2022
|leader2=Iceisdangerous<br>since October 22nd, 2024
|seats=12
|leader3title=Dean
|lowerimage=[[File:12 seat Cascadian House.png|220px]]
|leader3=[[Milgorn123]]<br>since November 19, 2023
|lower_political_groups=Nonpartisan (12)
|seats=15
|lower_voting_system=Single transferable vote
|lowerimage=[[File:15 Seat Cascadian House Seating Chart (1).png|220px]]
|lower_last_election=[[September 2022 Cascadia general election|September 17, 2022]]
|lower_political_groups={{Color box|#CCCCCC||}} '''Nonpartisan (15)'''
|lower_next_election=[[October 2022 Cascadia general election|October 17, 2022]]
|lower_voting_system=[[Nonpartisan proportionality|Single transferable vote]]
|lower_last_election=[[November 2024 Cascadia general election|October 20th, 2024]]
|lower_next_election=[[December 2024 Cascadia general election|November 24th, 2024]]
}}
}}
The '''Legislature of Cascadia''' is the unicameral legislature of [[Cascadia]], consisting of the '''Cascadia House of Representatives'''. It is has continuously operated since August 17, 2022, and is one of the only several directly elected legislative bodies on the server.
The '''Legislature of Cascadia''' is the unicameral legislature of [[Cascadia (Aurora)|Cascadia]], consisting of the '''Cascadia House of Representatives'''. It is has continuously operated since August 17, 2022, and is one of only several directly elected legislative bodies on the server.


The House of Representatives normally consists of 12 representatives, however can be lowered or raised if it is deemed adequate by the legislature. All representatives are elected directly by the people in multi-member geographic electorates, each electing either 3 or 4 members to the House of Representatives, on the basis of Proportional Representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote. Political parties, while not banned, do not exist in Cascadia, and therefore the Legislature has a lot more of a collegial attitude than many other legislatures that have political parties or groups. Elections are held once a month, alongside elections for the President of Cascadia.  
The House of Representatives consists of 15 representatives, however the total number can be lowered or raised by law, and has been on several occasions. All representatives are elected directly by the people in multi-member geographic constituencies, each electing three to six members to the House of Representatives, on the basis of Proportional Representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote. Political parties, while not banned, do not exist in Cascadia, and thus the House has a more nonpartisan attitude compared to legislatures that have organized caucuses or groups. Elections are held once a month, alongside elections for the President of Cascadia.  


== Powers and Duties ==
== Powers and Duties ==
The House of Representatives's powers derive from its ability to to change the country's laws, and to amend the constitution (which requires a majority of two-thirds). In addition to these key powers, the constitution grants to the House extensive legislative powers and substantial control over the treasury, defense, the sole power to ratify treaties and other kinds of international agreements, and the duty to approve or reject decisions by the President to declare war and make peace. The legislature also has the sole authority over confirming the Ppesident's picks for all civil officers of the government, including their Cabinet, and has the sole power of Impeachment.
The House of Representatives's powers derive from its ability to to change the country's laws, and to amend the constitution (which requires a majority of two-thirds, alongside public referendum). In addition to these key powers, the constitution grants to the House extensive legislative powers and substantial control over the treasury, defense, the sole power to ratify treaties and other kinds of international agreements, and the duty to approve or reject decisions by the President to declare war and make peace. The legislature also has the sole authority over confirming the president's picks for all civil officers of the government, including their cabinet, and has the sole power of Impeachment, along with the prerogative to try impeachments.


== Structure and Electoral System ==
== Structure and Electoral System ==


=== President of the Legislature ===
=== Speaker of the House ===
The Vice President of Cascadia serves as President of the Legislature as its presiding officer, and presides over meetings of the legislature, and if need be, may break a tie, if that may arise. They are the chief executive officer of the body as a whole, and represents the Legislature in that capacity, separate from the position of the Vice President. The legislature is constitutionally entitled to choose other officers as they may establish that could theoretically act in the absence of the Legislature President, however that has not been done.
''For a main article: [[Speaker of the Cascadia House of Representatives]]''
 
One member of the House is elected by the other representatives to serve as the Speaker of the House of Representatives to serve as its presiding officer, and presides over meetings of the legislature. They are the chief executive officer of the body as a whole, and represents the Legislature in that capacity. Pursuant to law, the Clerk and Dean have been vested with authority to deputize the Speaker if necessary. Before a successful constitutional amendment passed during the [[December 2022 Cascadia general election|December 2022 general election]], the Vice President previously served as the President of the Legislature prior to the creation of the Speaker's office.


=== Apportionment ===
=== Apportionment ===
The House of Representatives does not have a constitutionally mandated number of seats in the House, and is decided by statute. The constitution, in Article III, Section 2, states that "the House of Representatives must be elected in a fair and proportional manner, however such specific manner may be determined by law.'''"''' As of the latest election, and the number set for the upcoming election, the number of seats in the House of Representatives is 12, with several members elected from several geographic multi-member divisions, which are redrawn every so often to account for activity and population changes necessary to alter the boundaries. The Legislature's sole standing committee, the House Standing Committee on Apportionment, often called the Apportionment Committee, is responsible for making these changes and proposing them to the house prior to general elections, which to be approved must receive two-thirds of votes in the House. The Committee is made up of the Vice President and 2 other members, chosen by the House as a whole mid-way through its legislative term, with the member receiving the most votes to be on the Committee becoming its Chair.
The House of Representatives does not have a constitutionally mandated number of seats in the House, and is decided by statute. The constitution, in Article III, Section 2, states that "the House of Representatives must be elected in a fair and proportional manner, however such specific manner may be determined by law.'''"''' As of the latest election, and the number set for the upcoming election, the number of seats in the House of Representatives is 15, with several members elected from several geographic multi-member divisions, which are redrawn every so often to account for activity and population changes necessary to alter the boundaries.  
 
The '''Electoral Commission of Cascadia''', a constitutional body established for the sole purpose of revising electoral boundaries before each election, oversees this process, consisting of the Chief Justice, Vice President, Public Advocate, Speaker of the House, and a final commissioner chosen by and from the House's members.
 
Prior to the creation of the Electoral Commission in the National Constitution ratified on January 1, 2023, the Legislature had redistricting authority, and exercised such powers through the House Standing Committee on Apportionment, often called the Apportionment Committee, which was responsible for making these changes and proposing them to the house prior to general elections, with approval of a two-thirds votes in the House. The Committee was made up of 5 members, chosen by the House as a whole, with the member receiving the most votes to be on the Committee becoming its Chair.


=== Electoral System ===
=== Electoral System ===
Under the Representation of the People Act, passed on September 3, 2022, each multi-member division, sometimes referred to as ''Electorates, Districts'', or ''Constituencies'', will return an equal number of members to the House of Representatives, and will as best as possible represent the activity and population of the nation. Prior to the Representation of the People Act, the election system under the provisional electoral law enacted by the Chief Councillor prior to the first election was a version of Score voting, in which each voter in their constituency ranked each candidate on a scale of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, with 5 being the greatest, and the scores of each candidate are tallied up, and the candidates receiving the most votes were elected to represent that Electoral division. That electoral system was used in the inaugural August 2022 elections; however under the Representation of the People act, that was altered for the upcoming September elections and all elections after, to a form of Nonpartisan Proportional Representation, by the means of the Single Transferable Vote, instead of the Plurality score system used earlier.
Under the National Constitution, the House is to be elected by single transferable vote in multi-member constituencies, with no constituency allowed to have less than three seats, unless one constituency is deemed necessary to have two seats under the Electoral Commission's proposal. There is no maximum number of seats for a constituency, and as such, as was done in the [[June 2023 Cascadia general election|June 2023 elections]], it is possible to create a single national constituency to be allocated every seat in the House. The electoral system for the House balances local representation and the link between legislator and constituency, while also creating proportional representation and ensuring all major groups are proportionally represented in the Legislature.


With the September Legislative Electoral Redistribution Order recommended by the Apportionment Committee, the Northwest division was abolished, and the others were renamed, and all electorates had their number of seats increased from 3 to 4. The Southwest division was renamed to Rainier, and was redrawn to include Seattle; the Salish division was redrawn to no longer have Seattle yet include Vancouver Island; and the Eastern division was greatly redrawn to include most of the north of Cascadia as well, being renamed to Frontier. These divisions will be firstly be contested in the upcoming elections.
== Membership ==
''For full article, see [[List of current members of the Cascadia House of Representatives]]. For former members, see [[List of former members of the Cascadia House of Representatives]]''
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!District
!Members
|-
!Great North
|
# atlanta0
# Akirarocks
# [[SergioTheCrafter]]
# Timeline_Yt_
|-
!Frontier
|
# [[Akeboun]]
# ColtonSuperGame
# Iceisdangerous (Clerk)
|-
!Metropolitan
|
# Setrus
# Paper1emur
# [[Milgorn123]] (Dean and Speaker)
# BlueBlock88
# whatok_
|-
!Southern
|
# BarackOtamatone
# Capitanfra
# John_By
|}
[[Category:Legislature of Cascadia]]
[[Category:Cascadia (Aurora)]]
{{Republic of Cascadia (Aurora)}}

Latest revision as of 16:00, 3 November 2024

This article is about the legislative body as a whole. For the current meeting, see the 17th Legislature of Cascadia.

Legislature of Cascadia
27th Legislature
Seal of the Cascadia Legislature.png
Type
Type Unicameral
Houses House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House Milgorn123
since October 22nd, 2024
Clerk Iceisdangerous
since October 22nd, 2024
Dean Milgorn123
since November 19, 2023
'
'
Structure
Seats 15
{{{UpperHouse}}}
Political Groups
15 Seat Cascadian House Seating Chart (1).png
House of Representatives
Political Groups
Nonpartisan (15)
Elections
Term Limits
{{{UpperHouse}}}
Voting System
House of Representatives
Voting System
Single transferable vote
{{{UpperHouse}}}
last election
House of Representatives
last election
October 20th, 2024
{{{UpperHouse}}}
next election
House of Representatives
next election
November 24th, 2024
Voting System
Last Election
Next Election

The Legislature of Cascadia is the unicameral legislature of Cascadia, consisting of the Cascadia House of Representatives. It is has continuously operated since August 17, 2022, and is one of only several directly elected legislative bodies on the server.

The House of Representatives consists of 15 representatives, however the total number can be lowered or raised by law, and has been on several occasions. All representatives are elected directly by the people in multi-member geographic constituencies, each electing three to six members to the House of Representatives, on the basis of Proportional Representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote. Political parties, while not banned, do not exist in Cascadia, and thus the House has a more nonpartisan attitude compared to legislatures that have organized caucuses or groups. Elections are held once a month, alongside elections for the President of Cascadia.

Powers and Duties

The House of Representatives's powers derive from its ability to to change the country's laws, and to amend the constitution (which requires a majority of two-thirds, alongside public referendum). In addition to these key powers, the constitution grants to the House extensive legislative powers and substantial control over the treasury, defense, the sole power to ratify treaties and other kinds of international agreements, and the duty to approve or reject decisions by the President to declare war and make peace. The legislature also has the sole authority over confirming the president's picks for all civil officers of the government, including their cabinet, and has the sole power of Impeachment, along with the prerogative to try impeachments.

Structure and Electoral System

Speaker of the House

For a main article: Speaker of the Cascadia House of Representatives

One member of the House is elected by the other representatives to serve as the Speaker of the House of Representatives to serve as its presiding officer, and presides over meetings of the legislature. They are the chief executive officer of the body as a whole, and represents the Legislature in that capacity. Pursuant to law, the Clerk and Dean have been vested with authority to deputize the Speaker if necessary. Before a successful constitutional amendment passed during the December 2022 general election, the Vice President previously served as the President of the Legislature prior to the creation of the Speaker's office.

Apportionment

The House of Representatives does not have a constitutionally mandated number of seats in the House, and is decided by statute. The constitution, in Article III, Section 2, states that "the House of Representatives must be elected in a fair and proportional manner, however such specific manner may be determined by law." As of the latest election, and the number set for the upcoming election, the number of seats in the House of Representatives is 15, with several members elected from several geographic multi-member divisions, which are redrawn every so often to account for activity and population changes necessary to alter the boundaries.

The Electoral Commission of Cascadia, a constitutional body established for the sole purpose of revising electoral boundaries before each election, oversees this process, consisting of the Chief Justice, Vice President, Public Advocate, Speaker of the House, and a final commissioner chosen by and from the House's members.

Prior to the creation of the Electoral Commission in the National Constitution ratified on January 1, 2023, the Legislature had redistricting authority, and exercised such powers through the House Standing Committee on Apportionment, often called the Apportionment Committee, which was responsible for making these changes and proposing them to the house prior to general elections, with approval of a two-thirds votes in the House. The Committee was made up of 5 members, chosen by the House as a whole, with the member receiving the most votes to be on the Committee becoming its Chair.

Electoral System

Under the National Constitution, the House is to be elected by single transferable vote in multi-member constituencies, with no constituency allowed to have less than three seats, unless one constituency is deemed necessary to have two seats under the Electoral Commission's proposal. There is no maximum number of seats for a constituency, and as such, as was done in the June 2023 elections, it is possible to create a single national constituency to be allocated every seat in the House. The electoral system for the House balances local representation and the link between legislator and constituency, while also creating proportional representation and ensuring all major groups are proportionally represented in the Legislature.

Membership

For full article, see List of current members of the Cascadia House of Representatives. For former members, see List of former members of the Cascadia House of Representatives

District Members
Great North
  1. atlanta0
  2. Akirarocks
  3. SergioTheCrafter
  4. Timeline_Yt_
Frontier
  1. Akeboun
  2. ColtonSuperGame
  3. Iceisdangerous (Clerk)
Metropolitan
  1. Setrus
  2. Paper1emur
  3. Milgorn123 (Dean and Speaker)
  4. BlueBlock88
  5. whatok_
Southern
  1. BarackOtamatone
  2. Capitanfra
  3. John_By
Cascadia.png Republic of Cascadia (Aurora) Cascadia.png
Towns
Cascadia.png AvolaCascadia.png ChaeroneaCascadia.png EphrataCascadia.png Jericho RanchFlag of Olympia.png OlympiaNeahBayFlag.png Neah BayFlag of Phoenix, Arizona.png PhoenixPyramid Lake flag .png Pyramid LakeFlag-of-Seattle.png SeattleSpokane flag.png SpokaneNewlogo.png Spokane ValleyGravityFallsFlag(TownAurora).png Gravity FallsFRESNO FLAG - EMC CASCADIA.png Fresno
Wars & Conflicts
Cascadia-Oregon hostilitiesSix-Hour WarOperation DragonflameGrand Canyon controversyRMF War
Notable Citizens
AghastBlockAkebounArathorn52B1GB0ATBubba_TeacheeseballfluffyDaPigThatBigEmpressCorgoEstiQTFieldsofWheatFr0z3nW1nt3rIr0n__Jo_StarMilgorn123PaperLemur12140SayerQTTylenolECViolentVampireVorobyevitexBest_Name_Everx
Politics
Elections
Aug 2022Sep 2022Oct 2022Nov 2022Dec 2022Jan 2023Feb 2023Mar 2023Apr 2023May 2023Jun 2023Jul 2023Aug 2023Sep 2023Oct 2023Nov 2023Dec 2023Jan 2024Feb 2024Mar 2024April 2024May 2024Jun 2024Jul 2024Aug 2024Sep 2024Oct 2024Nov 2024
Executive branch
CabinetVice PresidentPresident
Legislative branch
House of Representatives (current membersformer membersClerkDeanSpeaker) • List of Legislatures (1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th) • Laws
Judicial branch
Supreme Court (ListChief Justice)
Major laws
National Constitution (2023)
Electoral divisions
Current: Great NorthMetropolitanSouthernFrontier
Obsolete: PacificWesternGreat NorthFrontierCentralSalish CoastOregonNorth Metropolitan (Salish)South Metropolitan (Rainier)OlympiaNorthwestEast