Reduced military spending bill

During the Clone Wars, a coalition of senators in the Galactic Republic proposed a bill to reduce military spending. The legislation was championed by Senator Onaconda Farr of Rodia and Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo, who drafted the document in response to a call for an increase in the mass production of clone troopers for the Grand Army of the Republic. The call for increased production was initiated by Senator Halle Burtoni of Kamino in order to benefit her world, which was the primary producer of clones at the time. Burtoni was supported by Umbaran Senator Mee Deechi, and together the two of them worked to quash Farr and Amidala's bill.

The Rodian and Naboo senators were joined in their campaign for the bill by Bail Prestor Organa of Alderaan, Mon Mothma of Chandrila, and Farr's Rodian contemporary, Lolo Purs. Although Farr was highly efficient in recruiting other Senators to vote for their bill, he and his comrades still faced an uphill battle against Burtoni's lobbying power and public opinion. Tragedy struck the coalition when Senator Farr was killed as a result of poisoning, prompting Amidala and Organa to begin an investigation into his death. Although Deechi was an early suspect, the Umbaran senator was himself killed, leading the two senators and legal authorities on Coruscant to believe that the leadership of the factions in support of and in opposition to the bill were targets for murder. Although Senator Burtoni was tagged as a suspect, it was later revealed that it was in fact Lolo Purs who had committed the murders.

After the revelation, Purs attempted to take Amidala hostage while escaping from the Senate Annex building, but was instead rendered unconscious by the Naboo Senator and taken into custody. In the aftermath of the incident, the bill was put to a vote and ultimately defeated, thus ensuring the continuation of the Clone Wars.

Text and facts from the “Reduced military spending bill/Legends” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.