Speaker of the House of Commons of the Kingdom of Sierra

Speaker of the House of Commons of the Kingdom of Sierra; Other languages Presidente de los Comunes de la Sierra (es) ; 主席黃金王國下議院 (zh) ; Chủ tịch Thủ tướng Chính phủ Sierra (vn) ; 시에라 총리 스피커 (kr) ; ประธานสภาเซีย (th) ; Presidente ng Kapulungan ng mga Karaniwan ng Sierra (tl) ; 内閣総理大臣下院議長 (ja) ;
	Ministry Federal
	Incumbent; Ryan Kaneko; since December 2, 2022
	Parliament of the Kingdom of Sierra; House of Commons of the Kingdom of Sierra
Style	Mr./Mrs. Speaker; The Honorable
Type	Presiding officer of one chamber in a bicameral legislature
Member of	House Committee on Procedure, Rules, and Administration
Seat	Porciúncula, GC, Sierra
Nominator	Anyone who is qualified to be a commoner; in practice a member of the house and majority party leadership; confirmed by the Clerk
Appointer	Absolute majority vote by House of Commons; sworn in by the Dean
Term length	At the House's pleasure; elected at the start of each session, and upon a vacancy
Inaugural holder	Douglas Sylvester; November 27, 1858
Formation	November 27, 1858
Succession	Second in the Prime Ministerial Line of Succession
Succession	Second in the Prime Ministerial Line of Succession
Salary	$245,000 per year
Deputy	The Speaker can delegate to a member of the House to act as Speaker pro tempore, presiding over the House in his/her absence
Website	speaker.gc.ks

The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons of the Kingdom of Sierra, the lower house of the Sierran Parliament. The Speaker is a member of Parliament elected by an absolute majority of all the commoners in the House, although the Constitution does not require that the Speaker be an elected member of the House. The current Speaker is Democratic-Republican Ryan Kaneko from the Inland Empire who succeeded Ian Calderon of the Social Democrats on December 2, 2022.

The Speaker is second in the Sierra prime ministerial line of succession, after the Deputy Prime Minister, and ahead of the President pro tempore of the Senate.

As presiding officer, the Speaker may choose who may speak during the debate, set up rules for the debate, maintain order, enact disciplinary action, and tally votes. In addition to their role as presiding officer, the Speaker functions as the leader of their party, and sets its legislative agenda. As the chair of the House Committee on Procedure, Rules, and Administration, the Speaker oversees which bill may pass to the floor, and the procedures to voting on said bill. The Speaker does not always preside over debates, and in their absence, they appoint a Speaker pro tempore from their party to assume that duty.

Role

Partisan

Since the Constitution does not describe the political role of the Speaker, the office has evolved over the years to become an important, partisan office that has shaped the House's internal politics and operations. Historically, speakers typically possessed greater political clout and leverage if the Prime Ministry and/or the Senate was in control of the Speaker's opposition, although speakers in unified governments have also still exercised considerable power. Typically, the Speaker is the head of the majority party in the house, and outranks the party's Majority Leader. As the leader of the majority party, the Speaker may determine the party's legislative agenda and lead it, using their power and influence to steer in certain pieces of legislation, and ensure party members vote in-line. The Speaker is assisted by the Majority Leader, Majority Whip, Chief Deputy Whip, and assistant party leaders.

The Speaker is generally more politically decisive when the Prime Minister belongs to a different party. As the leader of the opposition party (even when the Prime Minister's party is the actual opposition party), the Speaker usually acts as the Prime Minister's chief political opponent, clashing with the Prime Minister over policy disputes by rejecting the leader's agenda and blocking measures sent by the Prime Minister's party. When the Speaker and Prime Minister belong to the same party, the former often takes a more ceremonial role, fulfilling the legislative agenda and goals of the Prime Minister.

Presiding officer

As the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the Speaker wields various powers and responsibilities and is the highest-ranking legislative official in the Kingdom. In their absence, the Speaker may select a Speaker pro tempore to assume their role and duties. On the floor, the Speaker or their designated Speaker pro tempore is always referred to as "Mister Speaker" or "Madam Speaker". The Speaker may rule on all points of order, maintain decorum on the floor, and approve who may speak.

The Speaker is also the head of the House Committee on Procedure, Rules, and Administration by ex officio, and may select eight of the twelve adjunct members, subject to the approval of the majority party. The Speaker is also responsible for the appointment of members in all select and conference committees. The Speaker may also determine which committee should be responsible for considering a certain bill. Although the Speaker is a member of the House, the Speaker usually reserves their right to vote and debate on particularly decisive matters.

Other functions

The Speaker is second in line of the prime ministerial succession, immediately after the Deputy Prime Minister under the Prime Ministerial Succession Act of 1937. According to current protocol, the Speaker is ranked seventh in the Sierran order of precedence.

Whenever a joint session is held, the session is always held in the House Chamber. As a result of this fact, the Speaker presides over these sessions to hear addresses from the Monarch, Prime Minister, foreign leaders, or invited guests.

The Speaker is also responsible for overseeing the House apolitical posts, among these including the Secretary, the Clerks, the Sergeant-at-Arms, the Doorkeeper-at-Arms, the Curator, and the Standard-Bearer, the Chaplain, the Chief Administrative Officer. Most members of the apolitical posts, although appointed by the House, serve at the Speaker's pleasure, and may be dismissed at any time.

As both the leader of the House and the party, the Speaker is the official spokesperson for both bodies, and frequently delivers press conferences and statements, often expressing the opinion of the House, and projecting partisan agenda to the media and the public.

Selection

The House Commons elects the Speaker on the first day of every new session or legislative year (the first order of business) or whenever the incumbent Speaker dies or resigns. All members of the House on the floor are eligible to vote, including candidates for Speaker. Each member may choose anyone to become Speaker, including individuals who are not even elected members of the House, so long as said individual is constitutionally eligible to be a member of the House. The Secretary of the House is responsible for recording and counting all of the votes, asking each member to select their choice for the Speaker. To be elected speaker, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of all votes cast, excluding those who have abstained. Following the election of the Speaker, the incoming Speaker is sworn in by the Dean of the House, who is the House's senior member who has the longest unbroken service.

Salary, benefits, and other privileges

As a distinguished and prominent member of the House, as well as the leader of their party, the Speaker enjoys a higher salary than their fellow colleagues. As of 2015, current Speaker Joe Milliard earns an annual $200,000 as Speaker, excluding healthcare coverage, pension, and other benefits. With regards to security, the Speaker is always accompanied by at least two assigned Secret Service agents as the office is protected as a D-2 position, the second highest level of security and protection within the agency. Former Speakers may enjoy the protection from the agency for at least a year after resumption of the title, and this may be extended at the discretion of the agency or the Prime Minister.

Like all other commoners as well as senators, the Speaker is accommodated with their own office space and staff. The office of Speaker is physically located within the East Wing of the Parliament Building, and currently employs over 20 non-partisan workers and personnel. In addition, there is an auxiliary office for the Speaker at the Hiram Johnson Library Building, which houses an extensive collection of House-related archives and paperwork.

Counterparts

The Speaker's counterpart in the upper house is the President of the Senate, who is also the Prime Minister. All provincial and territorial legislatures also have Speakers with similar roles and duties. Prior to Sierra's creation, the House Speaker-equivalent in the California Republic was the Speaker of the California House of Representatives.

List of Speakers

No.	Speaker	Party	District	Parliament	Tenure
1	Douglas Sylvester	Royalist	San Francisco's 2nd	1st 2nd 3rd 4th	November 27, 1858 - October 16, 1866
2	John Bigler	Democratic-Republican	San Joaquin's 4th	5th 6th 7th	October 16, 1866 - January 7, 1873
3	Campbell Polson Berry	Democratic-Republican	Tahoe's 1st	7th 8th 9th	January 7, 1873 - November 13, 1877
4	Nicholas Calhoun	Democratic-Republican	Reno's 2nd	10th	November 13, 1877 - October 16, 1878
5	Frederick Bachelor, Jr.	Royalist	Santa Clara's 1st	11th 12th 13th	October 16, 1878 - March 13, 1884
6	Frank Leslie Coombs	Royalist	Plumas'-at-Large	13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th	March 13, 1884 - October 16, 1894
7	Alden Anderson	Royalist	Santa Clara's 3rd	19th	October 16, 1894 - October 16, 1896
8	Arthur G. Frisk	Royalist	San Francisco's 3rd	20th 21st 22nd 23rd	October 16, 1896 - October 16, 1904
9	Henry Gage	Royalist	Gold Coast's 4th	24th	October 16, 1904 - October 16, 1906
10	Hiram Johnson	Democratic-Republican	San Francisco's 1st	25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd	October 16, 1906 - October 16, 1922
11	C. C. Young	Democratic-Republican	Santa Clara's 3rd	33rd 34th 35th 36th	October 16, 1922 - October 16, 1930
12	William Moseley Jones	Democratic-Republican	Gold Coast's 6th	37th	October 16, 1930 - June 17, 1932
13	Gordon Hickman Gardland	Democratic-Republican	Central Valley's 1st	37th 38th 39th	June 17, 1932 - October 16, 1936
14	Frank Merriam	Royalist	Gold Coast's 14th	40th 41st 42nd	October 16, 1936 - October 16, 1942
15	Charles W. Lyon	Democratic-Republican	Gold Coast's 8th	43rd 44th 45th	October 16, 1942 - October 16, 1948
16	Richard Nixon	Royalist	Orange's 12th	46th 47th 48th	October 16, 1948 - October 16, 1954
17	Earl Warren	Democratic-Republican	Gold Coast's 2nd	49th 50th 51st 52nd	October 16, 1956 - October 16, 1961
18	Goodwin Knight	Royalist	Gold Coast's 6th	52nd 53rd 54th 55th 56th	October 16, 1961 - May 22, 1970
19	Robert Finch	Royalist	Gold Coast's 19th	56th 57th 58th	June 3, 1970 - October 16, 1974
20	Floyd Wainwright	Royalist	Maricopa's 4th	59th 60th 61st 62nd	October 16, 1974 - October 16, 1982
21	Mitchell Ford	Democratic-Republican	Shasta's 2nd	63rd 64th	October 16, 1982 - October 16, 1984
21	Frank Powell-Robinson	Democratic-Republican	Gold Coast's 24th	65th 66th 67th 68th	October 16, 1984 - October 16, 1992
22	Henry Chan	Royalist	Santa Clara's 1st	69th 70th 71st	October 16, 1992 - October 16, 2000