GSB to review 23 proposed bills as end of semester approaches
Ross Boettcher
With the end of the semester coming soon, the Government of the Student Body is doing its best to sort through stacks upon stacks of bills and legislation.
Wednesday night, during GSB's weekly senate meeting, the agenda will include 16 bills up for second read and seven new bills that will be heard for the first time.
Although bylaw revisions and in-house bills remain an issue for a few of the bills, the majority of the new legislation focuses on funding and student organizations.
Some of the bills that GSB President Brian Phillips, senior in political science, said would spark debate include reclaiming unused funds from Political Action Week, adopting the recommendations of the student organization recognition policy impact committee and a bill outlining Finance Committee's priorities and criteria.
The goal of the Political Action Week bill is to move the surplus of funds left over from the week's events into three accounts. The accounts include $848 going to the Senate Discretionary Account, $500 going into the Executive Initiative Account and $607.67 going into the Student Appreciation Account.
In all, $1,955.67 will be taken from the "Meet your Government (Political Action Week)" account and placed into areas where the funds will be more readily available.
GSB Speaker Adam Krupicka, graduate student-undeclared, said the funds would be essentially useless if the money were to stay in the Political Action Week account.
"This is going to help ensure that all student money is going to be put to good use for whatever event or whatever student group is coming in and requesting funds," Krupicka said.
He also said the Student Organization Recognition bill would help solidify an issue that GSB took an interest in during last school year.
"Iowa State has always been fantastic in the number of ways to get involved on campus," Krupicka said. "This just ensures good, solid student organizations. It's going to help establish and classify various student groups."
Perhaps one of the most important bills of the semester is the Priorities and Criteria bill.
According to the bill, a yearly review outlining the priorities and criteria for Finance Committee will continue to allow for "better oversight of student fee money."
The P&C are the guidelines that shape decisions made on the funding of student groups during the regular and special allocations process. If passed, the bill will be effective for financial decisions made for the 2009 fiscal year.
Krupicka said that the P&C are of the utmost importance to many GSB decisions.
"It is by far the most important financial document, if not one of the most important documents for the entire Government of the Student Body," Krupicka said.
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