Howdy fellow Legislators,

It's time to split up the Ministry of Regional Affairs into two ministries: one to be called the Ministry of Internal Affairs and one to be called the Minister of Cultural Affairs.

Before I go any further I want to make one thing abundantly clear: this is in no way an indictment or personal attack on any single member of the Ministry of Regional Affairs or the Minister. They do outstanding work and we are lucky to have them do as much as they do.

Here are my thoughts for the proposal:
Internal Affairs will be responsible for media (including graphics) and integration. These two mandates are similar in a very key way: the use of an active media service by our government helps to highlight activity (positive or negative) which in turn generates excitement to come to the forums and join the broader coalition outside the gameside. Integration then helps these arrivals to find a place where they can feel they contribute to the Coalition in a meaningful way, perhaps even in Media.

Cultural Affairs would be responsible for continuing to foster the roleplay community, TSP University, and plan and run festivals. As we have all seen as of late, role play is becoming a bigger and bigger part of the standard TSP festival, so it only makes sense to pair these two together. I put TSPU with this group as TSPU could be a place where the community really comes together, much like they do for festivals.

Allow me to take this time to answer some objections which I know are coming:
"We are doing our best we just don't have the people."
First off, thank you for working in RA. I am glad they have members such as yourself at their service. Here's the deal, by separating off integration it becomes a key part of a dual mandate as opposed to a forgotten part of a mandate that in the charter today includes at least four roles for the Ministry of Regional Affairs, and major projects like TSPU have been added to that workload. Similarly, there is no large program across the ministry to try and get new fellows to be able to produce what is needed beyond just trying to get them experience on projects that matter. I feel this last approach might be better than simply saying the people we have just aren't dedicated.

"Why do we need to split it up when we have senior fellows?"
Ah hello. When was the last time you saw an edition of the Souther Journal? Have you ever attended a lecture at TSPU? When was the last time you saw a region-wide push for integration directed by the MoRA? This is not an indictment against any senior fellow, it is an indictment against the senior fellow system. It simply doesn't work. Here's why: when you elect someone on a specific platform they will do everything they can to ensure that platform is achieved assuming they want to seek office again (and let's be honest, this is a political simulator.) By giving two ministers half the portfolio a single minister has today, it easier to hold that minister accountable while currently any shortfalls can simply be made up for by success in other departments. At the same time, there is nothing on the line for senior fellows who all they have to lose if their job if the MoRA fires them. Even then they can always be fellows because we need staff.

"Why not have three ministries?" 
Because there isn't enough for three ministers at this point with media in the state that it is and how well the roleplay community is doing these days. Also, there are only 23 current staff members in MoRA. If they split evenly and only were in one ministry, there would be ~11 in each of these two ministries but with three, the ministers would only have ~8. It doesn't feel like a big difference but by simply exposing these people to a wider variety of projects they are more likely to help out with them. And if we get to the point where integration has done a stand-up job and we have unique staff in each ministry, maybe talking about having a third ministry wouldn't be the worst idea. We can always check and adjust this policy. If it fails, we can always go back to the old MoRA anyways; the language will be saved in the law archive.

"You don't get it because you are Minister of Foreign Affairs and MoRA is different."
Yes, I do not have any experience as a senior fellow in the Ministry of Regional affairs. I also know that no other major, non-meritocratic GCR (maybe with the exception of TRR but their officer's portfolio's can be changed by the delegate at any time) gives a single minister as large a mandate as our Minister of Regional Affairs has. Maybe they are all wrong and we are right, or maybe we got caught up in a period of unfathomable success in RA 5 years ago and have never stopped reminiscing about it and refused to look at if the fundamental structure of the MoRA is flawed.

Here is my proposed language

Article VI of the Charter Wrote:Minister of Regional Affairs

(7) The Minister of Regional Affairs will be responsible for promoting regional and forum activity, integrating new players into the forums, organizing cultural events, and communicating with the world about the South Pacific’s activities.Minister of Cultural Affairs

(7) The Minister of Cultural Affairs will be responsible for promoting regional and forum activity, organizing cultural events, and furthering the education of the members of the Coalition.

Minister of Internal Affairs

(8) The Minister of Internal Affairs will be responsible for integrating new players into the Coalition's government and communicating with the world, verbally and visually, about the South Pacific's activities.

(Chair to renumber as needed)
This proposal may also need an enabling resolution so we don't have a sudden snap election. I am willing to write one up if this has significant support.

Thank you for your time and I hope you will consider what I laid out to be an opportunity for growth within RA and not any kind of attack toward the leadership of the Ministry of Regional Affairs, as their job is close to impossible.