Political Watch, 29th of November

In Breaking News: Representative Benning has Resigned after being arrested on the 28th. We will have more on this after this paragraph.

The Government has been very busy, passing a number of laws and writing a couple more. In the shadows the last two weeks of Impeachment news have finally come full circle, however as we now know, the impeachment was far from over with Representative Benning being arrested on other charges and then resigning. No one likes turbulent water, however that’s exactly what is flourishing as we barrel towards an election.

BREAKING: Representative Benning Resigns

You can watch the press conference by clicking here (twitch.tv)

In a verbal statement, Leader of the Legislature Rep. Endeavour Jackson announced that Representative William Benning resigned after being arrested on two misdemeanor charges. Weazel News understands that these charges were Uttering Threats and Evading Arrest.

The statement from Mr Jackson says:

Hello citizens,We have called this conference in order to keep the public in touch with the latest news. Mr. William Benning resigned his position on 28th of November. Mr. Benning was arrested the same day on misdemeanor charges, to which he had pled guilty and served his time. We intend to move forward with the impeachment hearing, and media will be allowed to sit in on the proceedings in order to keep the citizens of San Andreas informed. Governor Paxton will be announcing a replacement for Mr. Benning some time this week.

The timeline of events isn’t completely understood, what we don’t yet know is if the Arrest occurred before or after the Resignation, we are seeking further clarification on that.

The Impeachment hearing is still going ahead according to both Representatives Jackson and Lawson. CNT’s Travis Ray continually questioned the motives behind pursuing an impeachment when historically in the United States, if the person resigned, impeachment is typically discontinued. Lawson continued on to say that our laws and constitution are obviously different to United States federal politics, we don’t need to follow exactly how they perform impeachments.

This Press conference was extremely significant and you would expect that would be the only announcement, however in an almost political-spin like fashion, new bills were also talked about. More information on these bills is found below.

As reported the Criminal element of this impeachment has been dismissed, However the impeachment of the Representative is Continuing. The impeachment hearing was scheduled for the 28th however a last minute delay caused a rescheduling to occur, there is now no set day for the first impeachment hearing. It’s not yet clear if these recent events will impact how the trial runs or what the trial will be about. As far as we know, the impeachment still has the same charges.

A new ‘fill-in’ Representative will be nominated by the Governor soon, we will bring you more as soon as we know.

We have contacted the former representative for comment but have received no response.

The Winter Election:

We are under 40 days until the first election of 2022 takes place! The Regular Elections Act sets out the first Thursday of January as the day we all head to the polls. In this case that will be on the 6th of January 2022. Talk of who is running is already spreading fast with some representatives making it known that they might be considering the jump to the Governor’s Office. 

There are some concerns that no political parties have been made as of yet and some concerns on when they parties are made, what laws should govern their conduct. PolitiPoll is occurring again in a week’s time where we will be asking our views about Political Parties and what laws should govern them. Political parties are essential in politics as they allow consistency in policies for their members and help keep elections honest and fair with scrutiny. It will be interesting to see if any parties form before the election is called.

If you are planning on running, declare your interest with Weazel News and you can get ahead of the game with Advertising in both Video, GIF or image form. We do simple and informative advertising packages or you can provide your own graphics for an ever cheaper price! If you are interested or want to know more contact Harry Kennedy on 064-503-8519 or via Government Email.

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Legislation Watch:

H.R. 051,H.R. 052, H.R. 053, H.R. 054, H.R. 056, and H.R. 057, have all been voted on, here are the results;

		E. Jackson	B. Lawson	M. Nash	J. Nark
H.R. 051	Signed Into Law	✅	✅	✅	✅
H.R. 052	Signed Into Law	✅	✅	✅	❌
H.R. 053	Signed Into Law	✅	✅	✅	✅
H.R. 054	Vote Passed	✅	✅	✅	✅
H.R. 056	Signed Into Law	✅	✅	✅	✅
H.R. 057	Vote Passed	✅	✅	✅	✅

H.R. 055, has not progressed further.

H.R. 058, Amendment bill for H.R. 044 was introduced by Representative Lawson. It makes a minor amendment to maximum single issuing for a Final Restraining Order issuing, from 30 days to 6 months.

This bill has not been voted on.

H.R. 059, The Violation of Restraining Orders act was introduced by Representative Lawson. It adds a criminal penalty for someone violating a restraining order or any civil protection order. It includes a maximum penalty of one-hundred months on the first offence, and two-hundred months for subsequent charges following a first offence. 

This bill has not been voted on. 

H.R. 060, The Public Safe Act was introduced by Representative Lawson. The bill legislatures that if a safe is found on public property and is not inside a dwelling shall be disposed of. It also calls for the destruction and forfeiting of any property found inside the safe.

This bill has not been voted on.

H.R. 061, The Department of Humans Services Act was introduced by Representative Lawson. This bill establishes a ‘Human Services Department’ which will provide non-medical care for disabled and disordered people. It also aids veterans support services, homelessness services and resources and programs for the criminal justice system. The bill also sets out positions and pay grades for these staff members. 

H.R. 062, The Medical Protection Act was introduced by Representatives Nash and Lawson. The bill legisatues penalties for crimes committed in or arounds medical centers. It calls for a doubling of punishment for any crimes which are committed under the following conditions:

• the crime(s) have been committed within the confines of a medical center OR
• the crime(s) have been committed within 50 feet of the aforementioned medical centers

There are aggravating factors in application.

Cole Gordon is Resigning

State Attorney Cole Gordon has announced he will be stepping down from his position on the 12th of December. Cole Gordon has served in many capacities in the government, and in private practice at Gordon Law Firm. 

From civil cases to criminal defense and prosecution Mr. Gordon has provided a service in every aspect of this great state. One of his most prominent cases was his successful defense of Casandra Cohen during a very politically bumpy part of election history. Cole was also a part of the Constitutional Committee which wrote the state’s constitution. 

His tenure in the position of State Attorney has come under question recently, with the botched criminal trial against Representative William Benning, which was resolved with the case being dismissed with prejudice due to a rumored decision to use rangers to arrest the representative, instead of other law enforcement officers from the Police departments. Regardless of this setback, Mr. Gordon’s wisdom and guidance will be missed amongst the ranks of the Government, a familiar face moving on to future endeavours.

The decision comes on the eve of his alleged attackers’ court case which was going to be tried today however was delayed for a date after a setback. 

We wish the outgoing State Attorney all the best.

Executive Nominations and Orders

A new Executive nomination has been filed, we individually reported on the nomination of a new Chief Justice here.

New Nomination for the Circuit Court – Xavier Castillo has been nominated to the Circuit Court as a Judge for San Andreas. 

The nomination has not been voted on.

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