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National Resilience Fund Establishment Act, 1758

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National Resilience Fund Establishment Act, 1758

13th Cortes Federales
Long title An Act to establish the National Resilience Fund pursuant to the binding national referendum of 24.XII.1757; to provide for its capitalization, ceiling, governance, and disbursement; to affirm the primary responsibility of the Regions of the Federation in disaster preparedness and recovery; to delineate the Fund from the existing National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund and from the Federal Sovereign Wealth Fund; among other purposes.
Introduced by Council of State (Government of Premier José Manuel Montero)
Extent Entire Federation of Nouvelle Alexandrie
Dates
Royal Assent 15.XI.1758 AN
Commencement 15.XI.1758 AN
Other legislation
Amendments None
Related legislation

The National Resilience Fund Establishment Act, 1758 (Alexandrian: Loi portant création du Fonds national de résilience, 1758; Martino: Ley de Establecimiento del Fondo Nacional de Resiliencia, 1758; Wechua: Sinchi Qullqi Paqarichiy Kamachiy, 1758) is legislation of Nouvelle Alexandrie that establishes the National Resilience Fund, the standing disaster reserve mandated by the national referendum of 24.XII.1757. Registered as bill FA-1758-04, the Government measure was brought forward by the Council of State of Premier José Manuel Montero on 8.IV.1758 AN, six days after the Leader of the Opposition, Marcos Ferreira Gonçalves, tabled the rival National Resilience Fund Act, 1758. It provides for the Fund's capitalization, ceiling, governance, and disbursement; affirms the primary responsibility of the Regions in disaster preparedness; and fixes the terms on which federal money is committed.

The Federal Assembly passed the bill on 14.XI.1758 AN by 515 votes to 234, with no abstentions. The Federal Humanist Party and Federal Consensus Party voted in favor, joined by twenty-four independents. The Democratic Socialist Party, Wakara People's Party, and Civic Governance Alliance voted against, joined by eight independents. The Chamber of Peers passed it without amendment and without division later that day. King Sinchi Roca II granted Royal Assent on 15.XI.1758 AN; the Act came into force and was published in the Federal Gazette the same day.[1]

The Act builds the Fund from money the Federation already holds, with no new tax and no borrowing. It caps the Fund at NAX€50 billion, requires each Region to hold its own reserve and bear a capacity-weighted share before drawing on it, leaves ordinary emergencies to the existing National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund, places the Fund under an independently audited board on which serving ministers and political appointees may not form a majority, and requires a separate vote of the Cortes Federales for each disbursement beyond the first emergency tranche.

The Federal Humanist Party and the Government had opposed the Fund in the referendum campaign. Obliged by the binding result to build a Fund it had opposed, the Government styled its measure the Establishment Act and presented it as an implementing statute on fiscally conservative lines: it adds no new borrowing, draws nothing from the defense of the Federation, cannot grow without limit, and cannot be drawn upon without legislative control. The referendum had settled that the Fund should exist while leaving its size, financing, and governance to the Cortes. The Act answers those questions while incorporating the independent audit, regional representation, and per-disbursement controls sought by the Fund's conditional supporters.

Background

Main article: New Alexandrian National Resilience Fund referendum, 1757

The National Resilience Fund referendum of 24.XII.1757 AN asked the citizens of the Federation whether to establish a permanent national fund to protect every Region against future disasters. It followed the 1757 Cajamarca micrasquake and the contested passage of the Cajamarca Reconstruction Act, 1757, each disaster having so far been met from a standing start with an emergency appropriation argued out after the event. The referendum passed narrowly, 51.4 percent to 48.6 percent on a turnout of 41.8 percent, and was binding. It obliged the Government to establish the Fund and to send its design to the Cortes, which would legislate how large the Fund should be, how it would be financed, and who would control it.

The Government of Premier José Manuel Montero and the Federal Humanist Party had opposed the Fund. Vice-Premier Fred Strong held that the Regions should make their own preparations, that every écu placed in the Fund would add to the national debt and divert spending from defense and security, and that a permanent reserve was an overreaction to a single local misfortune. The Government, drawn out at question time, called the proposal a "blank check" open to abuse and invoked subsidiarity, holding that recovery from disaster was first the responsibility of the Region it struck. The Aldurian independent Piti Gándara led the no campaign on the ground that a fund with no ceiling and no end date laid an open-ended claim on every future budget at a poor fiscal moment, with NAX€100 billion already committed to Cajamarca and Alexandrium receipts softening.

With the result binding, the task of writing the enabling law fell to the side that had argued against the Fund. The Act is the product of that position: it builds the Fund the nation voted for, but on terms that answer each objection raised against it during the campaign, and it writes in the independent audit, regional representation, and per-disbursement votes that the Fund's conditional supporters had demanded.

The Government did not move first. On 2.IV.1758 AN the Leader of the Opposition, Marcos Ferreira Gonçalves, tabled the National Resilience Fund Act, 1758 with Wakara People's Party and Civic Governance Alliance support, built around a published capitalization target of not less than NAX€75 billion, a guaranteed minimum annual appropriation, and a temporary advance authority for disasters that strike before the Fund is built. The Government's bill followed six days later, presenting the Federal Assembly with rival designs for the same Fund.

Key provisions

The Act establishes the National Resilience Fund as a standing reserve of last resort, engaged only after a qualifying national disaster and only behind the Region's own response and the federal services already charged with first response. It is not a first responder and not a new agency.

The Fund is capitalized without any new tax or borrowing, drawing only on money the Federation already holds: a share of fifteen percent of any certified year-end surplus, appropriations left unspent at the close of the year, and one-off windfalls such as asset sales and fines. No contribution is made in a year the Treasury does not certify in surplus, and nothing may be drawn from any defense or security appropriation. The Fund's assets are capped at NAX€50 billion and no single disbursement may exceed NAX€15 billion. The Fund itself is permanent, as the referendum requires, but its financing and limits are reviewed by the Cortes every five years, and contributions pause if the chamber does not renew them.

Each Region must hold its own resilience reserve as a condition of access, and the Fund meets only that part of a recovery cost above a regional deductible of two percent of the Region's annual revenue. Above the deductible the Fund meets three-quarters of the cost, rising to nine-tenths for Regions of low fiscal capacity, with a full waiver of the deductible and the regional share for the smallest, so that the federal share is greatest where regional capacity is least. The Act draws a clear boundary with the existing National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund, which continues to meet ordinary emergencies below the disaster threshold, and leaves the Federal Sovereign Wealth Fund untouched.

The Fund is administered within the Treasury and held by a board of seven trustees, of whom serving ministers and political appointees may not form a majority, with two trustees representing the Regions and one nominated by the Federal Audit Office, which audits the Fund each year. A public register records every contribution and disbursement. No money leaves the Fund except on a specific resolution of the Cortes, for a named disaster and a named recipient, released in capped tranches; the declaring instrument may release a first emergency tranche of up to NAX€2 billion within seventy-two hours, reported to the Cortes at its next sitting.

Legislative progress

Legislative progress of the National Resilience Fund Establishment Act, 1758
Stage Date Chamber Action Votes (Y-N-A) Details
1 8.IV.1758 AN Federal Assembly Introduction - Introduced by the Council of State (Government of Premier José Manuel Montero)
2 14.XI.1758 AN Federal Assembly Final division 515-234-0 Passed; sent to the Chamber of Peers[1]
3 14.XI.1758 AN Chamber of Peers Passage - Passed without amendment and without division
4 15.XI.1758 AN - Royal Assent, commencement, and publication - Assented to by King Sinchi Roca II; came into force and was published in the Federal Gazette

Bill text

National Resilience Fund Establishment Act, 1758

THE READING OF
A
BILL
TO
establish the National Resilience Fund pursuant to the binding national referendum of 24.XII.1757; to provide for its capitalization, ceiling, governance, and disbursement; to affirm the primary responsibility of the Regions of the Federation in disaster preparedness and recovery; to delineate the Fund from the existing National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund and from the Federal Sovereign Wealth Fund; among other purposes.

National Resilience Fund Establishment Act, 1758

Presented by the Council of State (Government of Premier José Manuel Montero)
Ordered, by the Cortes Federales of Nouvelle Alexandrie,
to be Printed, 8.IV.1758 AN.

BE IT ENACTED by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Cortes Federales, in this present session assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-


PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1: Citation.

  1. This Act may be cited as the "National Resilience Fund Establishment Act, 1758".

Article 2: Definitions.

  1. In this Act:
    1. "the Fund" means the National Resilience Fund established under Article 4;
    2. "qualifying national disaster" means an event meeting the threshold and declared under Article 5;
    3. "the Treasury" means the Department of Treasury;
    4. "the Council of State" means the Council of State of the Federation;
    5. "Region" means a Region of the Federation;
    6. "the National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund" means the existing reserve of the Federation for emergencies and contingencies.

Article 3: Purpose.

  1. The purposes of this Act are:
    1. to establish the National Resilience Fund as required by the national referendum of 24.XII.1757;
    2. to provide for recovery from national disasters without recourse to any new tax or borrowing;
    3. to preserve the primary responsibility of each Region for its own preparedness and first response; and
    4. to ensure that no sum leaves the Fund without the authority of the Cortes Federales.
PART II
THE FUND AND ITS TRIGGER

Article 4: Establishment and character of the Fund.

  1. There is established a permanent National Resilience Fund, being a standing reserve of the Federation held against the day of catastrophe, for the recapitalization of regional and federal recovery following a qualifying national disaster.
  2. The Fund is a reserve of last resort. It shall not be drawn upon for the immediate response to a disaster, which remains the responsibility of the affected Region and of the federal services charged with it, including the Regimental Corps of Engineers, the commissariat regiments, the Federal Guards Service, and the National Qullqa System.
  3. The Fund is a dedicated reserve, distinct in law and in account from the National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund and from the Federal Sovereign Wealth Fund, and is not a general fund of the Federation.

Article 5: Qualifying national disaster.

  1. The Fund may be drawn upon only in respect of a qualifying national disaster.
  2. A qualifying national disaster is an event that the Council of State, by instrument laid before the Cortes Federales, declares to be of national scale; being an event that has caused not fewer than two hundred and fifty deaths, or the displacement of not fewer than fifty thousand persons, or direct damage assessed at not less than ten percent (10%) of the affected Region's annual revenue or at not less than ten billion écu (NAX€10,000,000,000), whichever first applies.
  3. The Cortes Federales may by resolution affirm or annul a declaration under this Article. An event below the threshold is not a qualifying national disaster, and its recovery remains a matter for the affected Region and, where federal assistance is warranted, for the National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund under existing law.
PART III
CAPITALIZATION AND LIMITS

Article 6: Capitalization.

  1. The Fund shall be capitalized only from the following sources, and not by any new tax, levy, duty, or borrowing:
    1. appropriations voted by the Cortes Federales that remain unspent at the close of the fiscal year for which they were voted;
    2. such non-recurring receipts as the Treasury may direct, including the proceeds of asset sales, fines and penalties, and recovered funds;
    3. a share of fifteen percent (15%) of any surplus the Treasury certifies at the close of a fiscal year, after provision for debt service under existing law.
  2. No contribution shall be made to the Fund in respect of a fiscal year that the Treasury does not certify in surplus.
  3. No sum shall be transferred to or from the Fund and any appropriation for the defense or security of the Federation.

Article 7: Ceiling and caps.

  1. The total assets of the Fund shall not at any time exceed fifty billion écu (NAX€50,000,000,000), and a receipt that would carry the Fund above the ceiling shall instead be paid to the National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund.
  2. No single authorized disbursement shall exceed fifteen billion écu (NAX€15,000,000,000).

Article 8: Review.

  1. The Fund is permanent.
  2. The capitalization under Article 6 and the ceiling and caps under Article 7 shall be reviewed by the Cortes Federales not later than the close of the fifth fiscal year after commencement, and every fifth year thereafter.
  3. If at a review the Cortes Federales does not re-authorize the capitalization, no further contribution shall be made to the Fund until it does; the Fund and its assets shall continue in any event.
PART IV
REGIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

Article 9: Regional responsibility and co-funding.

  1. As a condition of access to the Fund, a Region shall maintain a resilience reserve of its own, of a size set by the Treasury by reference to the Region's fiscal capacity and its exposure to disaster; and the Treasury may reduce or waive this condition for a Region whose fiscal capacity falls below a level that the Treasury shall publish.
  2. The Fund shall meet only that part of the recovery cost of a qualifying national disaster that exceeds a regional deductible equal to two percent (2%) of the affected Region's annual revenue.
  3. Above the deductible, the Fund shall meet three parts in four (75%) of the recovery cost and the affected Region one part in four (25%); save that for a Region whose fiscal capacity falls below the published level the Fund shall meet nine parts in ten (90%), and for a Region of the lowest capacity the Treasury may waive the deductible and the regional share entirely.
  4. No Region shall be required to insure itself alone against a catastrophe beyond its means, and the federal share shall be greatest where regional capacity is least.
PART V
RELATION TO EXISTING RESERVES

Article 10: Relation to the National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund.

  1. Nothing in this Act affects the operation of the National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund, which shall continue under existing law to meet emergencies and contingencies below the threshold in Article 5.
  2. The Fund shall not replace, absorb, or supplement the National Fiscal Reserve and Emergency Fund, and the accounts of the two reserves shall be kept separately.

Article 11: Relation to other federal funds.

  1. The Federal Sovereign Wealth Fund is not affected by this Act.
  2. The Fund shall draw upon no other federal reserve for its capitalization, and shall pay into none save as provided in Article 7.
PART VI
GOVERNANCE AND DISBURSEMENT

Article 12: Administration.

  1. The Fund shall be administered by the Treasury.
  2. No new department, agency, or standing establishment is created by this Act for the administration of the Fund.

Article 13: Board of Trustees.

  1. The Fund shall be held in trust by a Board of seven Trustees: the Treasurer or the Treasurer's designate, as chair; two persons of competence in public finance, appointed for their expertise and holding no other public office; two representing the Regions, in rotation; one nominated by the Federal Audit Office; and one appointed by resolution of the Cortes Federales.
  2. A majority of the Board shall be persons who are neither serving ministers nor political appointees of the Government, and no such persons shall form a voting majority of the Board.

Article 14: Audit, accounts, and register.

  1. The accounts of the Fund shall be audited annually by the Federal Audit Office.
  2. The audit, with the accounts, shall be laid before the Budget and Finances Committee of the Cortes Federales and published for any citizen to read.
  3. The Board shall maintain a public register of every contribution to and disbursement from the Fund.

Article 15: Disbursement.

  1. No sum shall leave the Fund save on a resolution of the Cortes Federales authorizing a named disbursement, for a named qualifying national disaster, to a named recipient, in a stated amount.
  2. The instrument declaring a qualifying national disaster may authorize a first emergency tranche, not exceeding two billion écu (NAX€2,000,000,000), to be released within seventy-two (72) hours, which tranche shall be reported to the Cortes Federales at its next sitting.
  3. Every further disbursement shall be released in tranches, each tranche requiring a separate resolution of the Cortes Federales, and no authorization or tranche shall exceed the per-disbursement cap fixed under Article 7.
PART VII
CLOSING PROVISIONS

Article 16: Commencement and application.

  1. This Act extends to the whole of the Federation of Nouvelle Alexandrie.
  2. This Act shall not come into force until it has received the Royal Assent of H.M. King Sinchi Roca II.
  3. This Act shall be published in the Federal Gazette within seven (7) days of the Royal Assent.
  4. No contribution under Article 6 shall be assessed in respect of the fiscal years 1757 or 1758, and the first contribution shall be assessed in respect of the first surplus fiscal year following commencement.
  5. If any provision of this Act is held invalid or unenforceable, that provision alone, and not the whole Act, shall be inoperative.

Voting record

The National Resilience Fund Establishment Act passed the Federal Assembly on 14.XI.1758 AN by 515 votes to 234, with no abstentions.[1] The Federal Humanist Party and Federal Consensus Party voted in favor, as did twenty-four of the thirty-two independent deputies. The Democratic Socialist Party, Wakara People's Party, and Civic Governance Alliance voted against, joined by the other eight independents.

Federal Assembly final reading (14.XI.1758 AN)

Notable votes on the National Resilience Fund Establishment Act, 1758
Deputy Region Party Vote Signature Role/Notes
José Manuel Montero Wechua Wechua Nation FHP Yes J. M. Montero Premier
Fred Strong North Lyrica North Lyrica FHP Yes F. Strong Vice-Premier; Secretary of Defense
Sumaili Humahuaca Wechua Wechua Nation FHP Yes S. Humahuaca FHP deputy
Marcos Ferreira Gonçalves Santander Santander DSP No M. F. Gonçalves Leader of the Opposition; DSP leader
Pierre-Antoine Blaise Valencia Valencia DSP No P.-A. Blaise DSP deputy
Yuiza Bohi'o Boriquén Boriquén WPP No Y. Bohi'o WPP leader
Francisco Gabaza Alduria Alduria FCP Yes F. Gabaza FCP leader
Tomás Iñiguez North Lyrica North Lyrica CGA No T. Iñiguez CGA parliamentary group leader

Vote summary by party

Federal Assembly final division, 14.XI.1758 AN
Political party Yes No Abstain Total % Support
Federal Humanist Party (FHP) 372 0 0 372 100%
Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) 0 196 0 196 0%
Wakara People's Party (WPP) 0 20 0 20 0%
Federal Consensus Party (FCP) 119 0 0 119 100%
Civic Governance Alliance (CGA) 0 10 0 10 0%
Independent 24 8 0 32 75.0%
Total 515 234 0 749 68.8%

Chamber of Peers final reading (14.XI.1758 AN)

The Chamber of Peers passed the bill without amendment and without division on 14.XI.1758 AN. It proceeded to Royal Assent the following day.

Royal Assent

King Sinchi Roca II granted Royal Assent on 15.XI.1758 AN. The Act came into force and was published in the Federal Gazette that day.

Analysis

The Government carried the bill with the full support of the Federal Humanist Party and Federal Consensus Party and with twenty-four independent votes. The Democratic Socialist Party, Wakara People's Party, and Civic Governance Alliance opposed it, together with eight independents. The result enacted the Government's capped, surplus-funded design for the National Resilience Fund and displaced the rival National Resilience Fund Act, 1758, which had not reached a division.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Division results: National Resilience Fund Establishment Act, 1758", Cortes Federales, 14.XI.1758 AN, Nouvelle Alexandrie Discord server (members only).
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