What will MPs do at additional meetings in the first week of November?

The State Duma Council on Monday approved the agenda of three additional plenary meetings to be held this week. In particular, deputies will introduce liability for volunteers for damage to military equipment, and for military representatives for violation of the terms of government contracts for state defense orders. In addition, the Duma plans to “clean up” its legislative portfolio: there are many initiatives on the agenda that are not supported by the government and recommended by relevant committees for rejection.

Let us remind you that on October 23, the Duma Council made changes to the work procedure, making the regional week from October 30 to November 5 plenary and scheduling three additional meetings during it. Chairman of the Lower House Vyacheslav Volodin explained the changes in the schedule by the need to consider a large number of important bills. According to him, at that time there were 1,073 initiatives in the legislative portfolio.

On October 31, the Duma will consider in the first reading amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO) by a group of deputies and senators on the responsibility of military representatives for violating the terms of a government contract for a state defense order. The authors proposed to supplement Art. 14.55 clause according to which violation by an official of a military mission of the terms of a contract for a state defense order, quality control or acceptance of military products is punishable by a fine of 30 thousand to 50 thousand rubles.

Also in the first reading, the bill of United Russia members Andrei Kartapolov, Andrei Krasov and Vasily Piskarev will be discussed, according to which volunteers, on an equal basis with military personnel, will bear financial responsibility for causing damage to weapons, military equipment or military property, intentionally or through negligence, while performing their duties. On the same day, the first reading of government amendments to the law on veterinary medicine, aimed at protecting against the introduction of infectious animal diseases from foreign countries, is expected. The project provides for the disinfection of incoming vehicles by Rosselkhoznadzor specialists. And finally, on October 31, the chamber will discuss a draft resolution to include the word “paternity” in the name of the Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children. The idea belongs to Mr. Volodin, who earlier at meetings had repeatedly pointed out that the role of the father in the family should not be underestimated.

Also this week, the Duma expects to clear some of the “legislative rubble.” The agenda of all three additional meetings included a large number of projects recommended by the committees for rejection (some of them remained from the last convocation). Among them are the amendments of the “New People” faction to the Labor Code on the reduction of New Year holidays and the establishment of non-working holidays from May 1 to 5, the proposal of the communist Mikhail Matveev to restore the seasonal transition to summer and winter time, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation bill on the voluntariness of the Unified State Exam, an initiative LDPR on expanding the limits of necessary self-defense, the project “A Just Russia – For Truth” on postponing the single voting day to the second Sunday in October. On November 2, the Duma also plans to consider amendments by LDPR deputies to the federal constitutional law “On the State Flag.” The authors proposed to include in the list of objects on which the tricolor is constantly displayed all buildings of educational organizations, regardless of their form of ownership, state and municipal institutions, as well as the territories of these organizations. However, this patriotic idea did not find support in the government, which in its response indicated that the bill is not consistent with the concept of the law itself, according to which the Russian flag is hung on these buildings on holidays.

Ksenia Veretennikova