Thirty-three Associated Student Body senators passed eight new bills and resolutions Tuesday night at the final Senate meeting of the spring semester, raising the minimum GPA requirement and establishing a bias orientation for senators.
Members of the Committee on Inclusion presented several of pieces of legislation Tuesday night, and the Committee on Academics argued on the floor for its first official resolution. After all legislation made its way through the floor, the Senate moved to nominate its candidates for Senator of the Year.
Sen. Terrius Harris presented a bill that would raise the GPA requirement for ASB senators to a 2.75 and clarify other aspects of senator requirements. Harris said senators who were elected under the current 2.5 GPA requirement would not be affected by the bill until spring re-election.
Sen. Allen Coon spoke in favor of the bill in response to three senators’ opposition and a claim that the GPA requirement was chosen arbitrarily.
“Since this is my last meeting as a senator here, I’m going to be extremely frank,” Coon said. “I find it laughable and offensive that some senators in this room find this bill exclusionary in any way.”
The bill passed unanimously.
Sen. Levi Bevis presented his bill aimed at clarifying the differences between major and minor campaign violations and defining terms like “meeting’” and “word-of-mouth campaigning” during student elections.
“Most of these are simple clarifications just to make the whole process a little more simple with more clarified defections,” Bevis said.
Freshman Sen. Taylor Story voiced concern with the bill. Story said the section of the bill that outlines the definitions of major and minor offenses should be rewritten to provide more clarity.
After deliberation, the Senate voted 20-14-0 to pass Bevis’ bill.
Vice President-elect Elam Miller presents a bill he authored to re-establish the legislative council’s duties. The bill would create a chief-of-staff position to ease the vice president’s daily workload.
Vice President-elect Elam Miller authored a bill to reestablish the legislative council’s duties. Miller said the bill would create a chief-of-staff position, among others in the council, to ease the vice president’s daily workload.
“I want to make sure the executive offices are reaching out to senators and everyone on campus,” Miller said. “I want the chief-of-staff to work with legislative council to make sure they are carrying out their function.”
During the period of debate over the bill, Bevis and Story spoke in affirmation of the bill while Sen. Allison Hanby spoke against certain aspects because of already overcrowded meetings.
Sen. Elizabeth Romary said the bill would streamline some of the vice president’s duties. The bill passed unanimously.
Secretary Austin Spindler presented a bill with Harris that would redefine the description of the secretary position and the requirements to run for the office. Spindler said that as current secretary he believes since the position works with both the legislative and executive branches, it should be open to members of both. That bill, too, passed unanimously.
The Committee on Academics presented a resolution that would uphold the university’s policy of keeping buildings such as Hume and Lamar Hall open 24 hours during exam week. The bill passed with no naysayers.
Sen. Zach DiGregorio presented a resolution he authored to institute an orientation seminar for ASB members aimed at lessening the effects of ideological differences on legislation in the Senate.
“It may seem redundant, but we wouldn’t have written this legislation if it wasn’t necessary,” Hanby said.
Sen. Emily Hoffman supported the resolution, saying the training could show senators how to represent the interests of the student body before their own and how to best practice respectful debate.
“The presentation of strong beliefs can interfere with the passage of legislation,” the resolution says.
Sen. Dylan Wood motioned to postpone debate on the legislation; the Senate struck the motion down. DiGregorio continued to support his legislation, and after further debate, the resolution passed with a vote of 31-3-0.
Harris also authored two more resolutions. The first resolution would officially recognize ASB’s 100-year anniversary, and the second resolution would promote the LiveSafe app through ASB. After limited debate, both resolutions passed with unanimous consent.
Sens. Hanby, Harris, Hoffman and Romary received nominations for Senator of the Year and exited the room for a period of debate over the nominees.
The ASB Senate voted silently for the Senator of the Year and will announce the winner at its annual banquet.
