After more than nine months of debate, ASG senate unanimously passed an amended restructuring bill that will change the way many senators are elected and increase their accountability in holding those seats.
The legislation, which was drafted earlier this month by a seven-person task force, originally called for the number of senators to be reduced to 34, but was amended on the senate floor to keep the number at 51.
“The big thing is that over this whole year we uncovered some flaws in the election process,” said Senate Speaker Wilson Funkhouser, who was part of the restructuring task force. “These aren’t all the issues, but it’s a good starting point.”
Under the new bill, student groups will apply for a senate seat in a yearly election process each fall, with groups encouraged to band together in coalitions with similar interests. The groups would devise their own election procedures, and an ASG seat committee would review and approve proposals. The legislation also calls for more rigorous election procedure for off-campus senators, and groups would lose their senate seats after two consecutive absences at ASG meetings.
The idea of cutting senators proved to be the major point of contention in debate over the bill and led to heated discussion. Student groups stood to have the most to lose in terms of representation (down to 10 seats out of 34 total) under the originally drafted bill, and accordingly backed the amendment to keep the current number set at 51.
“If you cut senate seats, you reduce the student voice,” said freshman senator Aaron Zelikovich. “The point is not seats, it’s accountability.”
Other senators said reducing the number would increase the efficiency of student government while making individual senate seats more valuable.
“I am disappointed we didn’t cut the number, and I thought it was a selfish move [on the part of the student groups caucus],” said freshman senator David Harris, who was also part of the restructuring task force. “I’m still pleased that we were able to pass this sweeping legislation, these were important changes.”
The campus conversation on reorganizing student representation in ASG started last fall when former president Claire Lew drafted a bill that called for a reduction to 20 senators selected through at-large elections. Her legislation led to a variety of counterproposals, ultimately leading to the formation of the task force and the passage of this bill nine months later.
Funkhouser said that ASG committees already have work underway to implement the changes called for in the bill. Student groups will apply for seats starting next fall.