The Associated Students of Colorado State University convened April 17 for the 27th session of the 53rd senate.
Facing a packed agenda as the end of the 53rd senate nears, senate first voted to skip executive, judicial and legislative reports and move directly into confidence business.
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First to be discussed was Lex #5302, “Reconciling the Constitution and BSOF Bylaws.”
The lex eliminates the clause in the ASCSU constitution that reserves open seats for ASCSU officials. The legislative authors said removing reserved ASCSU seats will further establish the Board for Student Organization Funding as independent.
The legislation also accounts for senate input in removing BSOF members when necessary.
The lex passed with unanimous consent.
Senate then decided Bill #5320, “Excess Allocation Strategy.”
The legislation intends to transfer remaining funds from the Senate Discretionary Fund to BSOF, allowing for additional student organization funding.
Funds are typically left over at the end of every senate administration and are usually transferred to the next administration’s executive budget. However, due to unforeseen BSOF funding cuts, the legislative author said they hope providing additional funding will ease the funding burden on new student organizations.
The legislation passed by way of a majority vote.
Bill #5321, “Increasing ASCSU Transparency,” was next on the agenda.
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The bill makes several edits to the ASCSU constitution in order to promote additional organizationwide transparency efforts.
More specifically, the new edits grant senate the ability to annually confirm job descriptions as well as make all ASCSU records more accessible online.
The bill will move to the remaining legislative committees for additional review.
Bill #5322, “Addressing a Loophole in BSOF Regulations,” was also considered.
The legislation intends to remove the clause of the BSOF constitution that the legislative author claimed was exploited by the executive branch in order to indirectly fund the recent RailJam Revival event.
The bill also expands on Lex #5302, further establishing BSOF as a fully independent board.
The legislation will move to the remaining legislative committees for further review.
Bill #5323, “Amending ASCSU Elections Guidance,” was next to be considered.
The bill intends to standardize the elections process and limit the discretion of the elections manager, ideally allowing for a more cohesive election season. The legislation also provides more informative resources for potential candidates, hoping to promote additional student involvement.
The legislation will move to the remaining legislative committees for further review.
Senate then moved on to Resolution #5305, “The Stance of the 53rd Senate on Hosting Fall Retreats at Mountain Campus.”
The legislation seeks to formally end the long-held ASCSU tradition of an annual organizationwide fall retreat held at the CSU Mountain Campus. The legislative authors cite accessibility concerns and other logistical issues that have limited turnout to the event in recent years as justification for relocating the retreat.
“Tradition and having community is great but not insofar as going against our own values and our own preamble,” Sen. Ariadne Athey said.
The legislation passed by way of a majority vote.
Resolution #5306, “Support of Meal Swipes Housing and Dining Letter,” was next to be considered.
The legislation seeks senate support for an ongoing initiative led by the Food Security Advisory Council to increase the number of meal swipes CSU students can donate to Rams Against Hunger’s meal swipe donation program. Students are currently only allowed to donate two meal swipes, but program organizers said more donations are required in order to adequately address food insecurity across the student body.
After it was expedited, the legislation passed with unanimous consent.
Senate then confirmed the newest iteration of the BSOF bylaws, which must be renewed annually.
The bylaws, after being expedited, were approved with unanimous consent.
Bill #5326, “Executive Job Descriptions,” was last to be considered.
The legislation confirms the executive branch’s annually proposed job descriptions.
The bill will be sent to the legislative committees for additional review.
ASCSU senate will resume April 24.
Reach Sam Hutton at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @Sam_Hut14.
