Based on their experiences, the framers shied away from giving any branch of the new government too much power.

The separation of powers provides a system of shared power known as Checks and Balances.

Three branches are created in the Constitution.

The United States Constitution is deliberately inefficient.

The Separation of Powers devised by the framers of the Constitution was designed to do one primary thing: to prevent the majority from ruling with an iron fist. Based on their experience, the framers shied away from giving any branch of the new government too much power. The separation of powers provides a system of shared power known as Checks and Balances.

Three branches are created in the Constitution. The Legislative, composed of the House and Senate, is set up in Article 1.

The Executive, composed of the President, Vice-President, and the Departments, is set up in Article 2.

The Judicial, composed of the federal courts and the Supreme Court, is set up in Article 3.

Each of these branches has certain powers, and each of these powers is limited, or checked, by another branch.

For example, the President appoints judges and departmental secretaries. But these appointments must be approved by the Senate. The Congress can pass a law, but the President can veto it. The Supreme Court can rule a law to be unconstitutional, but the Congress, with the States, can amend the Constitution.

All of these checks and balances, however, are inefficient. But that’s by design rather than by accident. By forcing the various branches to be accountable to the others, no one branch can usurp enough power to become dominant.

The following are the powers of the Executive: veto power over all bills; appointment of judges and other officials; makes treaties; ensures all laws are carried out; commander in chief of the military; pardon power. The checks can be found on the Checks and Balances Page.

The following are the powers of the Legislature: Passes all federal laws; establishes all lower federal courts; can override a Presidential veto; can impeach the President. The checks can be found on the Checks and Balances Page.

The following are the powers of the Judiciary: the power to try federal cases and interpret the laws of the nation in those cases; the power to declare any law or executive act unconstitutional. The checks can be found on the Checks and Balances Page.

Historical Examples

Historically, the concept of Separation of Powers dates back as far as ancient Greece. The concepts were refined by contemporaries of the Framers, and those refinements influenced the establishment of the three branches in the Constitution.

Aristotle favored a mixed government composed of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, seeing none as ideal, but a mix of the three useful by combining the best aspects of each. In his 1656 Oceana, James Harrington brought these ideas up-to-date and proposed systems based on the separation of power. John Locke, in his 1690 Civil Government, second treatise, separated the powers into an executive and a legislature. Montesquieu’s 1748 Spirit of the Laws expanded on Locke, adding a judiciary. The framers of the Constitution took all of these ideas and converted the theories into practical applications.

When discussing Separation of Power, is it helpful to contrast the American System to the governments of other nations. This list below is far from a representative sample of nations or systems. The United States, Britain, France, Canada, and Mexico are actually more similar than they are different, especially when the whole range of nations is taken into account. However, sometimes the smaller differences between similar systems can be interesting and illustrative. It is left to the reader to conduct studies of more disparate systems.

Conclusions

Is the American system superior to any of these, or to any other, system of government? That depends on where you sit. The French and the British might scoff at the fact that our head of state, the President, has no power to make laws. They might cringe at the thought that judges can render the will of the people, in the form of a duly passed law, null and void. Canadians might think that state powers ought to be enumerated; Mexicans might marvel at the longevity of some career American politicians.

Americans might look with amusement at the institution of the British monarchy, and its continued hold, if only on paper, on Canada. Americans might cringe at the British thought of majority rule with no written constitution to be used as a guide or rule book. We might worry that the French Presidency has the potential to turn tyrannical by the misuse of emergency powers. We might worry that a Mexican judiciary, without lifetime tenure or a solid stare decisis system might lead to incoherent judicial policy.

But recall that each of these nations, and the hundred others in this world, have political and social traditions that sometimes date back a thousand years. Despite what Americans might think are odd institutions and traditions in France, Britain, Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere, these are all prosperous nations. The systems work in the context of each nation, even if the details could not work in some others.

Primary sources for this topic page are Comparative Politics by Gregory Mahler (Schenkman Publishing, 1983) and Comparative Politics by Gregory Mahler (Prentice Hall, 2000). Individual pages from Wikipedia and Canada in the Making were also helpful in keeping this page up to date.

by Ian Smay

The turn of the decade will bring several new laws in Washington state, ranging from rules about smoking to minimum wage increases.
Four of the biggest new laws will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, while others will start later in the year.
The following are some of the biggest law changes coming to Washington state in 2020.
4 laws going into effect on Jan. 1

1. Minimum wage increases to $13.50 an hour
Washington voters passed Initiative 1433 in 2016, setting increases to the state’s minimum wage every year from 2017 to 2020, when it will reach $13.50 an hour.

In 2019, the minimum wage raised to $12.00 an hour from $11.50 an hour in 2018. After 2020, the Washington Department of Labor and Industries is required to make an adjustment to minimum wage based on cost-of-living figures provided by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, for short.

Before Initiative 1433 was passed in 2016, minimum wage in Washington was $9.47 an hour, which it stood at for 2015 and 2016. The last time before 2016 that minimum wage didn’t rise each year in Washington was between 2009 and 2010, when it stayed at $8.55 an hour.

The last time the Washington minimum wage was the same the federal minimum wage was 1997, when it was $5.15 an hour.
In Washington, there are a few types of employees that employers can pay less than minimum wage.
According to Labor and Industries, these exceptions include:
Workers with Disabilities
However, beginning in July 2020, state agencies cannot pay workers with disabilities less than minimum wage
Learners
This includes people learning while on the job, but the employer must prove that certain conditions are met and that there are no experienced workers available

Student Learners
Includes students working in part-time vocational training programs or job training programs that correspond with the worker’s education
Student Workers
Includes students working part-time at a “qualified educational institutional” to help pay for school costs. This worker cannot have been hired in place of an experienced worker
Apprentices
Includes those working in jobs/vocations that require an apprenticeship

Employers must apply for certificates to pay employees they feel meet these requirements at less than minimum wage.

2. Smoking age rises to 21

The smoking and vaping age in Washington was set to rise from 18 to 21 on Jan. 1, 2020, but a new federal law recently implemented this change for all U.S. states.
Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation into law in April making it so those who want to buy tobacco, vaping products and/or e-cigarettes have to be 21 years old. Anyone who sells to anyone under the age of 21 can be penalized under the new law.
The law only raises the age for tobacco and vaping sales, not possession.
According to the Washington Attorney General’s Office, those between the ages of 18-20 when the laws go into effect will not be grandfathered in, meaning it will again be illegal for them to buy tobacco products.
Washington joins at least eight states, including Oregon, in raising the smoking age to 21.
While smoking among youth is down, according to a statewide youth survey, the number of youth vaping has been on the rise in Washington.
The bill, which was 2017-18 House Bill 1054, was passed by the Washington State Legislature by a vote of 63-35.

3. Family leave

The rules for family leave for workers in Washington state are also changing in 2020.
Starting at the new year, a new insurance program called Paid Family Medical Leave is going into effect, and any person who worked at least 820 hours in the last 12 months and had a qualifying life event can take advantage of the policy. This equals about 20.5 weeks at 40 hours a week.

Workers can receive between 12 and 18 weeks of paid leave depending on circumstances for the following qualifying life events:

• Birth or adoption of a child
• Serious illness or health condition, including mental health or addiction illnesses
• Serious illness or health condition of a qualifying family member
• Certain military events involving family, including the return of a deployed family member

insurance premiums that cover the family leave are split between the employer (one-third) and the employees (two-thirds) for most employers, according to Washington Labor and Industries. Many Washington workers have already seen a few dollars come out of each paycheck in 2019 to fund the program.

Federal employers and employees, federally recognized tribes and the self-employed are exempt from the new state family leave rules. However, the latter two can decide to opt-in.
RELATED: Paid medical and family leave starts in Washington in January

4. Car seat rules

Changes to Washington state’s car seat laws will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
According to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, changes to the law include:
Children up to 2 years old must be in a rear-facing car seat
Children 2-4 years old must be in a car seat with a harness, front or back facing
Children 4 years old or older and under 4-foot 9-inches tall must be in a booster seat with a seat belt or in a harness seat
Children over 4-foot 9-inches tall can be seated with a properly fitted seat belt
Children up to 13 years old must ride in the back seat when possible
The penalty for breaking the new car seat rules is a traffic ticket.
This means that some kids as old as middle-school aged could be riding in a car seat.

New laws going into effect later in the year

Overtime rules
For the first time since the 1970s, Washington is overhauling its overtime rules.
The Department of Labor and Industries announced the rule changes on Dec. 11, which will go in effect on July 1, 2020.
The new rules will make an estimated 259,000 additional workers eligible for overtime pay by the time the rules are fully implemented in 2028, with another 235,000 workers having protections strengthened.
Starting on July 1, the minimum salary threshold needed for a company to not pay a worker overtime rates increases from $250 a week to $675 a week, which places the new threshold to 1.5 times Washington’s minimum wage.
The minimum salary threshold will continue to increase yearly until 2028, when it will reach a rate of about $1,603 a week, or $83,356 a year.
In the years after 2028, the threshold will increase to match minimum wage increases caused by inflation.
The new rules also change the criteria for when an employer is exempt from paying an employee overtime. The exemptions will stipulate that workers must have a fixed salary, perform a certain list of duties and make more money than the threshold.
This puts Washington’s rules more in-line with federal regulations.

New rules regarding gift card expiration dates
Have you ever received a gift certificate for a birthday or other occasion, only to forget about it and have it expire before you use it?
Well, starting July 1, 2020, this will no longer be an issue in Washington.
Thanks to House Bill 1727, businesses in Washington can no longer give out gift certificates that have an expiration date, fee or dormancy charge. This includes for gift certificates given as part of a purchase of “personal property or services.”
However, an expiration date can be issued still if it is part of a rewards or loyalty program, or if it is given to a charitable organization without being exchanged for anything.

for more … krem.com

image from the internet

 

 

In passing the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, Congress explained: “Any disruption occasioned by the transfer of the executive power could produce results detrimental to the safety and well-being of the United States and its people.” To promote the orderly transfer of power, Congress established a framework for the federal government to prepare for a transition from one president to another.

With strong bipartisan support, the Act has been amended over the years to recognize the increasing complexities of presidential transitions.[1] The law requires the General Services Administration to provide office space and other core support services to presidents-elect and vice Presidents-elect, as well as pre-election space and support to major candidates. The Act also requires the White House and agencies to begin transition planning well before a presidential election, benefitting both first and second-term administrations.

What are Agency and Inter-Agency Transition Planning requirements?

The Act establishes an early and organized cadence for the federal government’s transition planning:

Before the election, each agency must designate a senior career official who will be in charge of transition planning, prepare transition briefing materials, and ensure that succession plans are in place so that as political appointees depart, career officials are prepared to step in place until new political appointees arrive.
Six months before an election, the President must establish a White House Transition Coordinating Council, chaired by a senior employee of the Executive Office of the President and consisting of other high-level officials, such as cabinet officers; the Directors of the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management, the Office of Government Ethics; the Administrator of GSA; and the Archivist of the United States. A transition representative of the major candidates also sits on the council. The council provides guidance to agencies on transition and facilitates communications between the administration and the transition teams.
The Act requires a standing Agency Transition Directors Council, co-chaired by GSA’s Federal Transition Coordinator and the Office of Management and Budget’s Deputy Director for Management, and including agency senior career officials responsible for transition activities as well as transition representative of the major candidates. This working-level council works toward an integrated, government-wide approach to transition and ensures that briefing materials are prepared.
What is the Role of the General Services Administration?

The Act requires GSA to provide office space and administrative support (such as information technology and communications capabilities) to a president-elect and vice president-elect and, recognizing a growing need for transition activities to start well before election day, the Act also requires GSA to offer office space and support to major candidates in the months preceding the election, following the political conventions. In the post-election period, GSA is also authorized to pay expenses for staff, experts, postage, and travel for the transition team of the president-elect, if the president-elect is not a president who has been re-elected. Use of government aircraft also may be provided on a reimbursable basis.

GSA also serves a liaison between transition teams and the federal government, helping, for example, to ensure that a president-elect’s “beach-head” team is cleared to enter each agency and be on the job immediately after inauguration of the new president. The law requires the GSA Administrator to designate a senior career official to serve as the Federal Transition Coordinator, who coordinates transition planning across agencies. GSA is also required to compile a report on modern transitions and develop a transition directory with comprehensive information on the officers, organization, and responsibilities of each federal agency. GSA also provides support to help outgoing presidents as they depart the White House.

Also, recognizing that incoming political appointees face unique challenges and requirements coming into federal service, the Act allows GSA to expend funds of training for new appointees during the entire duration of a president’s term, not just during transition or at the beginning of the term. GSA also provides support to help outgoing presidents as they depart the White House.

How does the Act help with transition related to national security?

The Act directs the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies responsible for conducting background investigations to conduct those investigations expeditiously, with the goal of providing appropriate security clearances before inauguration for the individuals that the President-elect has identified for high level national security positions, including secretaries and undersecretaries of cabinet-level agencies. The law also requires that the president-elect be given a classified summary as soon as possible after the election on threats to national security, covert military operations, and pending decisions on possible uses of military force. The White House Transition Coordinating Council is tasked with conducting interagency emergency preparedness and response exercises.

Separately, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004[2] allows each eligible candidate, before the election, to submit security clearance requests for prospective transition team members who will need access to classified information. The law directs that background investigations and security clearance determinations for these individuals be completed, to the fullest extent practicable, by the day after the date of the election.

What requirements are placed on recipients of transition assistance?

As a condition of receiving office space and related services, the president-elect and the vice president-elect are required to disclose to GSA all non-federal contributions received for transition activities. The transition teams must also disclose to the public the identities and sources of funding of individuals who enter federal agencies after the election as part of the President-elect’s transition team. Also, GSA, to the greatest extent practicable, must enter memoranda of understanding with each eligible candidate which includes the conditions for the services and facilities provided by GSA, designation of a transition representative to receive inquires related to transition team documents, conditions for access to agencies by the president-elect’s transition team, and agreement by transition teams to implement, enforce and publicly disclose ethics plans for transition team members.

How are presidential transitions funded?

Presidential transitions are funded through a combination of federally appropriated funds and private funds. Congress provided $9.62 million for transition activities in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, and the President has requested $9.9 million for activities in fiscal year 2021.

To accept private funding, an eligible candidate must establish an entity that is legally separate from the campaign and that qualifies under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. An eligible candidate may transfer into these entity contributions received for his or her general election campaign and may also solicit and accept donations directly into it. Contributions per person or organization may not exceed $5,000. As noted above, contributions must be disclosed to GSA.

What happens if a President is re-elected?

In the event that the president-elect is the incumbent or where the vice president-elect is the incumbent, federal transition funds for post-election transition activities are returned to the Treasury. The law does allow, though, for GSA to use funds for training of new political appointees throughout a president’s term.

What happens if the result of the election is unclear? The law provides that an eligible candidate has the right to the facilities and services provided to eligible candidates until the date on which the Administrator is able to determine the apparent successful candidates for the office of president and vice president.

Timeline of Requirements
Ongoing

GSA designates a Federal Transition Coordinator
GSA develops a transition directory with information on federal agencies
Agency Transition Directors Council meets (Not less than one meeting per year in off-election years)
Training for appointees (throughout a president’s term)
12 months before election

GSA produces report summarizing modern transition activities and relevant resources
6 months before election

President establishes a White House Transition Coordinating Council
Agency Transition Directors Council begins to meet on a regular basis
Each agency designates a senior career employee to oversee transition activities
The Federal Transition Coordinator reports to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on transition preparations
Post-Conventions through Election

3 months before the election, the Federal Transition Coordinator reports to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on transition preparations
Not later than September 1, GSA enters memorandums of understanding with eligible candidates regarding support services
Not later than September 15, heads of agencies ensure succession plans are in place for non-career positions
Not later than October 1, GSA negotiates memorandums of understanding with transition teams, including agreement by transition teams to implement and make public their ethics plans
Not later than November 1, the Agency Transition Directors Council ensures that transition briefing materials are prepared
Post-Election (if there is a change in administration)

On the day following the election, GSA begins to provide office space and support services to the president-elect and Vice President-elect, with support continuing up to 60 days after inauguration
A classified summary regarding national security is given to the president-elect as soon as possible after the election
30 days before the expiration of the term, GSA begins support to outgoing president and vice president, with support continuing for 7 months total
[1] 3 U.S.C. § 102 note. The Act has been updated in the last two decades by the Presidential Transition Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-293), the Pre-Election Presidential Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-283), the Edward “Ted” Kaufman and Michael Leavitt Presidential Transitions Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-136), and the Presidential Transition Enhancement Act of 2019 (P.L. 116-121).

[2] P.L. 108-458, as amended by the Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-283).

source: presidentialtransition.org

Publication Type: Research and Publications

Publication Tags: Laws and Regulations