Student senate opted not to vote Wednesday on a bill that would put a new constitution with significant changes to Student Government’s structure up for a vote by the student body.
After nearly two hours of debate, the senate adjourned and elected to carry the bill over to next week for further discussion.
“I move to adjourn because we all know what’s going to happen when they call for quorum,” Sen. Kirkland Gray said, implying that not enough senators were present to reach quorum.
The bill was originally introduced last Thursday in a special session, where it was met with disagreement and anger from both senators and past Student Government officials.
The main sources of disagreement were that the constitution would make the treasurer an appointed position with a stipend and that students would elect a speaker of the senate.
Gray wrote an amendment that would keep the treasurer’s office in its current capacity and provided that the speaker of the senate was elected by the senate, not the student body.
At Wednesday’s session, Senate President Pro Tempore Lindsay Richardson, the bill’s main sponsor, said she felt the bill should be carried over to the next session for further discussion. When Richardson first introduced the bill last week, she hoped to pass the bill in two weeks, ensuring that a referendum on the constitution would appear on the ballot in this month’s Student Government election.
Several committees, including Athletics and Safety and Transportation, reported that after deliberating over the course of the last week, they were in favor of the bill but wanted further discussion.
However, Student Body Treasurer Haley Guyton was not in favor of the bill.
“It’s not Student Government money. It comes from tuition dollars,” Guyton said of the stipend. “Students deserve the right to elect someone to decide what to do with that money.”
Former Student Body Treasurer Coy Gibson returned to the senate chamber to express his own qualms with the restructuring. Gibson said it would be fine if the referendum did not appear on this year’s ballot because senate would have an entire year to perfect it and put it to a vote of the student body.
“There’s a lot of work to be done,” he said, adding that he found flaws and contradictions in the legislation when he compared the current constitution, the proposed constitutional changes and the Student Government codes.
Emily Saleeby, a former student body vice president who graduated last May, returned to represent herself, former Student Body President Joe Wright and Student Body Treasurer Emily Supil.
“Even with a stated three to four months of preparation, without the knowledge of the senate, that time is devalued,” she said. Saleeby said that because she was speaking for three people, she would not take questions.
Student Body President Chase Mizzell did not take a direct position on the bill; instead, he said no solution was mature enough to choose and further debate was necessary to make a decision that would benefit the senate’s constituents.
But Secretary of Organizational Outreach Brandon White was more direct, saying it would be unwise to weaken the treasurer’s influence.
“It’s the treasurer who makes dreams come true,” White said.