SGA: Withdrawl fee elimination bill passed, constitution and bylaws discussed
The Student Government Association discussed legislation extensively last night, from a bill on the newly implemented withdrawal fee to the SGA's Constitution and Bylaws. Voting concluded for one of these and is commencing for another.
Joint Resolution Two passed the House and Senate
At the previous meeting, a bill was proposed to eliminate the $50 drop/withdrawal fee administered by the university. The bill was voted on simultaneously by the SGA Congress, and it passed through both chambers.
The House of Representatives voted 76-0 to pass the legislation, while the senate voted 16-1. Both meetings went rather quickly, with the House meeting lasting roughly four minutes while the Senate's lasted around seven.
Christian Toney is the Senate Leader for SGA. He introduced the bill to the senators last week and heard their comments prior to the voting done this week.
"I just want transparency from the administration," he said. "And students want that, too."
Toney said that the legislation will now move on to President Tyler Zimmerman to vote on, and he can pass or veto the legislation. If passed, it will move to university administration.
Constitution and Bylaws Committee Q&A segment
The four members of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee held an open question and answer segment for SGA members regarding the edits they had made to the SGA constitution. The committee took student suggestions to further polish the legislation before it went out for voting on Jan. 30.
SGA Vice President Ryan Biller was also present to lead the discussion and answer some questions from the audience.
The four members of this committee are:
- Brendan Jankowski, Senior
- Aubrey Macintosh, Sophomore
- Madison Coleman, Junior
- Drea Hammond, Junior
The document had minor edits to it, such as removing positions like the SBAC chairperson as their roles had been absorbed by the treasurer, or adding new responsibilities to the current officers such as the vice president having monthly meetings with the House Speaker and Senate Leader. The largest change to it, however, is the implementation of a new branch into SGA: the judicial branch.
Biller said the idea of creating a judicial branch came from the American Student Government Association Conference he had attended in Washington D.C.
"It came up during the audit at the D.C. Conference," he said. "And it was one of the main areas we were lacking as opposed to other student governments."
This new branch will consist of four associate justices, one chief justice and one clerk of the court. The justices will serve two year terms while the clerk will serve a one year term. The branch must be non-partisan and non-biased,
Biller said the goal of this new branch is to instate judical powers, or gives SGA members the opportunity to recall cabinet members (have them step down from the position but remain an SGA member) or impeach (completely remove from their postion and not be able to hold office again) via a hearing process.
"It's gonna allow our current processes to be streamlined," he said. "And it creates a checks and balances system."
Additionally, the document updates how the House and Senate vote on legislation. Currently, the two chambers review legislation at the exact same time and vote on it at the exact same time, causing the legislation writers to run between meetings and "answer the exact same questions, just phrased differently" as Biller said.
The new process will have the bill introduced and voted on by the senate first. If it passes the senate, it will then go to the House for consideration and voting, and if it passes the House it will then go to the SGA president for voting.
"Hopefully, with your help of passing it, it will iron out the process," Biller said.
Voting on the constitution and bylaws changes is open from Jan. 30 at 8 A.M to Feb. 2 at 5 P.M. Biller said SGA members and RSO leaders can access the voting form through Engage Central.
In Other Events:
- City Commissioner Boomer Wingard spoke at the meeting about the Citizen's Academy Program which be holding seven weekly sessions every Tuesday at 6 p.m. from Feb. 20 through April. He said the event was for anyone who's interested in taking an "in-depth" look at the different resources in the city of Mount Pleasant, such as water treatment and how taxes are done.
"My big pitch to you folks, is that I got my start here in Mount Pleasant as a student at Central," he said. "Now I'm living here full-time and part of the government, and it's really an amazing experience."
- Mackenna Lazorishchak spoke about the Infusion Dance Team
- Biller introduced a new version of public comment, as the feature had yet to be used at an SGA meeting. Instead of SGA members emailing these comments to the cabinet members, they were instead given two minutes to talk about anything from RSO plans or complaints on campus.
"This is your opportunity to rant in a positive or negative way," he said.
As a result, students discussed events such as an upcoming Black History Month film event (details pending), a Book Talk event starting this Friday in the Center for Student Inclusion and Diversity, and a survey being sent out soon by the Resident Housing Association on dining hall feedback.
- At the senate meeting, Toney talked about the concept of senator projects with the newly appointed senators. These projects are individual goals each senator has that can benefit their college or the community as a whole. These project ideas will be heard at the senate meeting next week.
