House of Burgesses (New Virginia)

House of Burgesses
House of Burgesses
Type
Type	Lower
History
Founded	20 August 2020
Leadership
Speaker	James Bornstein ; since 21 September 2021
Structure
Seats	12 burgesses 4 municipal burgesses; 8 at-large burgesses;
Political groups	Government Free Democrats (3); Greens (2); Official Opposition Nationals (4); Other Independent (2); Speaker (1);
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	7 February 2021
Next election	Must be held on or before 1 March 2022
Meeting place
	None de jure; New Virginian Discord server de facto

The House of Burgesses is the lower house of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of New Virginia. It is comprised of various burgesses (or BPs) elected to represent the municipalities (known as municipal burgesses) and the cantons at-large (known as at-large burgesses) by the first-past-the-post method in general elections held no sooner than four months and no longer than one year following the previous election. The House is presided over and represented by its Speaker. The House of Burgesses is currently in its second session following the 2021 general election.

Etymology

The New Virginian House of Burgesses is named for the defunct sole chamber of the Dominion Assembly of the Dominion of New Richmond, which is considered the direct predecessor of the defunct Duchy of New Virginia. The Dominion's House of Burgesses was the first legislature of a Austenasian Crown Dependency in the history of that nation, and marked a stark contrast from the contemporary status quo of governing commissioners ruling autocratically.

History

The House of Burgesses was established with the enactment of the Constitution of New Virginia on 31 July 2020, however it would not assemble until the first general election was held three weeks later on 22 August 2020.

Powers

The House of Burgesses is typically understood as the lower house of the New Virginian Parliament, with vast legislative authority and oversight of the Government. The House has various powers under the Constitution and law, including:

The power to enact bills by simple majority vote, which upon their promulgation by the President become Acts of Parliament.
The power to promulgate bills which the President has withheld their signature from by a vote of seventy-five percent.
The power to enact resolutions relating to the internal governance of the House.
The power to establish committees and sub-committees.
The power to impeach the President by a simple majority vote.
The power to nominate the Prime Minister for appointment by the President.
The power to demand the resignation of the Prime Minister, any minister or the Government as a whole through a motion of no confidence.
The power to grant consent to the appointment of ordinary senators.
The power to remove senators from office for misconduct by a vote of seventy-five percent.
The power to grant special dispensation for non-citizens to be appointed as ordinary senators.
The power to approve constitutional amendments by a vote of seventy-five percent.

Composition

The House of Burgesses is comprised of municipal and at-large burgesses, or BPs. Every city and town elects one municipal burgess, and every canton elects one at-large burgess for every eight citizens residing within the canton. At present, there are four municipal BPs and eight at-large BPs.

Portrait	Name	Constituency	Party	Other Offices
	The Hon. John Brown BP	Roanoke-at-Large	Free Democratic
	The Hon. James Bornstein BP	Vista	Alliance21- Green	Deputy Speaker of the House Environment Director
	The Hon. Cristian Dobrev BP	Roanoke-at-Large	National Party	Deputy Speaker of the House President of the National Bank Governor of Vlasia
	The Hon. Lord Ellsworth BP	New Highlands	National Party	Leader of the Opposition
	The Rt. Hon. James Frisch MSM	New Franklin-at-Large	Alliance21-Green	Deputy Prime Minister Home Secretary
	The Hon. Prince Edward KNVI	San Scoglio	Independent
	The Hon. Abrams Wiucki-Dunswed MSM	Roanoke-at-Large	National Party	Iconographer General
File:Leon Montan with Six Montan.jpg	The Hon. Leon Montan BP	New Franklin-at-Large	Free Democratic	Governor of New Arastraville
File:Samiliasregina.jpg	The Hon. Sammy Pike-Hegar BP	Veranderen	Independent
	The Hon. Sertor Valentinus BP	Roanoke-at-Large	National Party
File:Simon White.jpg	The Rt. Hon. Sir Simon White KCSM	New Franklin-at-Large	Free Democratic	Prime Minister Leader of the House Chancellor of the Treasury