City Reform Amendment

City Reform Amendment

Osolian law passed by Assembly
Osolian Assembly
Introduced by	tz_scion
Dates
Presented to the Assembly	31 October 2024
Commencement	1 November 2024
Other legislation
Amends	Osolian Constitution
Status: Current legislation
History of passage through the Assembly
Text of statute as originally enacted

The City Reform Amendment, also referred to as Constitutional Amendment 5, is a law and constitutional amendment in Osolia, passed by the Osolian Assembly with 100% approval. The amendment creates a more explicit definition of cities and the limits of their political power, such as stating that city governments only have jurisdiction in their territory, and not outside territories, allowing cities to create their own ordinances, and allowing Governors to establish their own city governments.

Background

On October 14, 2024, a discussion about a proposed second city, which would later become Beryzam, was taking place. One citizen, Josephine, proposed that Governors become an elected position. Chief Scion, who was set to become Chief a couple of days after this discussion, stated his belief that having to run for election scares many potential prospective officials from running.

Others joined the discussion, such as Speaker Michael Webb and former Chief TriforceComet. Triforce pushed for cities to have more autonomy by allowing governors to be elected once Osolia has a large enough population to support it, and this was generally agreed upon.

This led to discussing what cities can and cannot currently do in what was at the time the current setup for cities in the Constitution. A further debate broke out about the federal Chiefdom government's ability to stop city governors and what cities are actually allowed to do. Speaker Webb eventually concluded the discussion with that while it was not a high priority at that time, a City Reform Amendment would be needed.

A week later, on October 21, 2024, Chief Scion proposed a bill titled the Sahosam Transportation Act, which would rename the Streets and Roads Act and explicitly confine its regulations to Sahosam only. Speaker Webb responded that cities should be able to make their own laws to avoid city-specific legislation being a federal issue, and after some brief discussions, the City Reform Amendment was created.

Ten days later, on October 31, 2024, Speaker Webb started an Assembly vote to pass the City Reform Amendment, and it passed unanimously amongst those who voted on November 1, 2024.

Provisions

Changes to the legal definition of a city

There are multiple changes to Article 2, Section 3, Clause 2 of the Constitution that better define how a city works. Specifically, it more explicitly defines that cities are governed by a governor, that they can only be created by an approval vote from the Osolian Assembly, and removes a part of the clause that explicitly allowed the Chief to make decisions for a city, instead simply stating the city's governor is responsible for city decisions. It does, however, also add that the Chief or a Director may overrule a governor.

Creation of city ordinances

The amendment adds a Clause 5 to Article 2, Section 3, that states:

Cities may establish and enforce ordinances within their boundaries. Ordinances are local laws that apply specifically within the jurisdiction of a particular city. Establishing an ordinance requires a majority vote by the Assembly.

This explicitly allows cities to create and pass their own legislation, with majority approval from the Assembly. Their laws only apply within their jurisdiction, however, and not across the Chiefdom.

Allowing city governments

The amendment also adds a Clause 6 to Article 2, Section 3, that states:

Governors may establish their own administrative structure and selection system to help them manage their city. The Chief or a Director may overrule a governor in this regard.

Before, it was not clear whether the governor could establish their own structure for their city governments or not. This also explicitly allows the Chief or a Director to overrule the governor's administrative structure.