Republic Congress

Republic Congress
The republic congress is the main legal authority for the Republic. It is a tri-cameral legislature composed of the Federal Senate, the Confederate Representatives and the Ulm Council.

Membership and basic structure
The three different types of members are the Senators, the Representatives, and the Ulmsmen. The ulmsmen and representatives form the lower 2 houses known as the Duxtiers, aand the senators form the upper house known as the Senate.

Membership in the Ulm Council is determined by procedure of council election in Sigma as the council is also the city government. Federal Senators are chosen based on procedures in the different Federal States, with 2 senators being selected from each state. Represenatives come from the Confederate States in numbers of 1, 2, or 3 depending on how the state was admitted to the republic.

The two lower houses meet both seperately and collectively to discuss proposed legislation. The two houses must agree on a bill in order for it to be sent to the senate for them to pass the bill into law, but the head of the Ulm Council is also a member of the executive office and so maintains line item veto power.

The upper house recieves bills from the Duxtiers and votes to pass a bill into law or modify it to send it back to the lower houses. The Senate can also add Federal clauses to a bill which confederate Representatives are not permitted to modify.

Since the head of the Ulm Council is also one of the executives, he maintains line item veto power even for a law passed by the senate and his, plus the whole executive offices signature is required to make a bill paseed by all houses into law.

Duties and Responsibilities
The Republic Congress has broad legislative authority in the republic, including fiscal policy, health, distribution of welfare, and a few other areas. Bills passed by the comgress are binding accross the land... assuming the executive office signs off.

It is well known that the congress is ineffective. Each Federal state contributes an officer to the office of the executor, and Sigma contributes 2. A single executor veto makes any bill vetoed. As such, most bills are vetoed, or if lucky, the head of the Ulm Council line items it down to an extremely minimal bill that passes. This results in most duties and responsibilities of the council being in name only. Instead, the office of the executor and the military high command are the real legal authority in the land, though in the rare times the legislature manages to pass something, it is binding.

The one exception to the rule of ineffectiveness is the power of the purse. The republic congress does not require executive approval to raise or lower taxes, or to distribute funds to the executive departments. This is not a small check and can sometimes allow a united congress get what it wants.