The Associated Students of Colorado State University introduced and voted on multiple pieces of legislation during the 28th session of the 54th senate.

Items on this week’s agenda included calling for a tuition cap for out-of-state students, establishing ASCSU term limits and denouncing student visa revocations.

Following a presentation by Budgetary Affairs Committee Chair Jared McGlothlin about the next ASCSU budget proposal, Resolution #5430, “Calling for a Tuition Cap for Nonresident Students,” was introduced. The resolution calls on the Colorado State University System Board of Governors to raise nonresident tuition by no more than 4% for the next academic year.

The resolution was expedited and subsequently passed via voice vote following Q&A, discussion and debate.

Lex #5419, “Establishing a Voting Caucus,” was then discussed. Once passed, the lex will create a voting caucus under Article VI of the ASCSU Constitution as a safeguard in the event that constituencies are dissolved and an at-large student council is needed.

The lex was passed by voice vote following discussion and debate.

Lex #5423, “The Accommodations Act,” was confirmed next. The lex aims to ensure accessibility of all ASCSU events by allocating $15,000 from the Senate Discretionary Fund to purchase mobility assistive technology, which could be used by any CSU entity or campus. The legislation was accepted with unanimous consent following discussion and debate.

Senate then moved to discuss Lex #5424, “Adjustments for Accessibility.” The lex aims to “add nuances and adjustments to the 48-hour rule to account for situations in which the 48-hour rule cannot apply” and was approved with unanimous consent following discussion and debate.

Next, Lex #5420, “Ensuring Fair Financial Distribution Within ASCSU Branches,” was confirmed. The lex aims to create a fiscal system of checks and balances to fairly compensate each branch of ASCSU. The lex passed by way of an 11-5-8 vote following discussion and debate.

Resolution #5414, “Supporting Student Rights to Protest,” was then passed. The resolution aims to support fair and equal protest at CSU and shed light on an investigation initiated by CSU Human Resources following the student-led sit-in earlier this semester. The resolution was passed by unanimous consent following discussion and debate.

Senate then moved on to discuss Lex #5425, “Establishing Term Limits for University-Wide Elected Positions within ASCSU.” The lex aims to establish term limits for ASCSU president, vice president and speaker of the senate positions to encourage more students to serve in student government.

While answering questions and addressing senators’ concerns during discussion and debate, Parliamentarian and co-author of the lex, Madeleine Kamberg, argued that current ASCSU President Nick DeSalvo not only had the advantage of name recognition when running for a second term, but he also used ASCSU resources to garner student support.

“President DeSalvo said that he had no knowledge of this, so take this with a grain of salt,” Kamberg said. “I didn’t necessarily believe that, but he had posters all over the LSC with his name on it, used with the funds of his office promoting the work that had been done by (Legislative Strategy Advisory Board), which is chaired by his campaign manager. To say that name recognition doesn’t matter, doesn’t have a factor in this, is just quite frankly untrue.”

Kamberg went on to discuss that, although the issue has been resolved, DeSalvo still had an advantage in elections because of the alleged use of ASCSU resources.

“We resolved that matter, but it left more questions than answers about what incumbency really does,” Kamberg said. “It’s not just name recognition; it’s the advancement and financial opportunity to promote yourself within this space. … It’s about the actual use of the resources of this office — quite literally.”

DeSalvo refuted Kamberg’s argument, stating that he did not use ASCSU resources to advertise his name and campaign, and that the incident being referred to was not related to ASCSU elections.

“It was mentioned that I had somehow utilized ASCSU resources to benefit myself (and) put my name everywhere on campus,” DeSalvo said. “What is being referenced was an advertisement for students to engage with a house bill that would have taken the state sales tax off of textbooks. Those materials were printed in December or January, many months before (ASCSU) candidates decide that they’re running for office, which typically happens in March.”

DeSalvo went on to discourage the senate from voting in support of the legislation.

“It’s really disingenuous to say that I used ASCSU resources to advertise my name when this was something done in December, something done in January, long before any campaign had even started,” DeSalvo said. “To frame it in that way goes to the heart of what this bill is about — it’s about personalities rather than institutions. … I would recommend that you vote to not even move this forward.”

Following nearly an hour of discussion and debate, senate voted 11-5-7 to continue the legislation, which was subsequently sent to the Internal Affairs Committee for further review.

Bill #5417, “Reproductive Care Kits,” was discussed. The legislation aims to support the ASCSU Women and Social Justice Caucus’ efforts to create kits with emergency contraceptives, pregnancy tests and other items for out-of-state students. The bill was passed with unanimous consent following Q&A, discussion and debate.

Moving into new business, senate introduced Bill #5426, “Sunset Clause for Lex 5401.” The legislation will add a clause for allocated funding relating to Lex #5401 and was sent to Internal Affairs Committee for review.

Bill #5432, “Updating the SFRB Bylaws,” was introduced next. The bill amends the Student Fee Review Board bylaws to improve accountability, transparency and efficiency, and was sent to the Internal Affairs and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Affairs committees for review.

Next, senate saw bill #5427, “Ensuring Student Success in Graduate Entrance Exams,” which will allocate $3,500 from the Senate Discretionary Fund to provide students with study materials for graduate entrance exams, including the LSAT, MCAT and similar tests.

Following its introduction, the bill was sent to the University Affairs and DEI committees for review.

Bill #5428, “Increasing Wages for Administrative Student Workers,” was then mentioned. The legislation, which aims to allocate $3,106 from the Senate Discretionary Fund to increase the hourly wages of student workers for the 2026 fiscal year, was sent to the Internal Affairs and DEI committees for review.

Next, Resolution #5429, “Denouncing Visa Revocation for International Students,” was introduced. The resolution, which denounces the revocation of visas for CSU international students by the U.S. Department of State, was sent to the University Affairs and DEI committees to be reviewed.

Lastly, Bill #5431, “Funding Future Elections Success,” was introduced. If passed, the remaining balance of the Senate Discretionary Fund and the Legislative Cabinet Discretionary Account will be allocated toward funding an elections advertising position within ASCSU for the 2025-26 academic year. The legislation was introduced following the disappointing 3.81% voter turnout in this year’s student elections.

Following Q&A, the bill was sent to the Internal Affairs, University Affairs and DEI committees for review.

ASCSU Senate will resume April 30.

Reach Laila Shekarchian at news@collegian.com or on social media @CSUCollegian.