The surprise cancelation of Associated Student Government’s Jan. 12 Senate meeting has spurred new legislation that senators will vote on during Wednesday’s meeting.
The new bill would restrict the ability of the ASG Speaker of the Senate to cancel a weekly Senate meeting.
The legislation, titled “Safeguarding the Senate,” is a reaction to the surprise cancellation of Senate two weeks ago by Speaker Tyris Jones, said David Harris, a SESP freshman who co-authored the bill.
“The speaker’s decision to cancel Senate earlier this quarter catalyzed our decision to write this legislation because it identified a flaw in the system,” Harris said. “However, our intent is not to write reactionary bills or to censure our leadership. Rather, it is to ensure that what happened does not set a poor precedent for the future.”
The current ASG code gives the speaker the right to “call and preside over all meetings of Senate.”
The ability to cancel Senate is “implicit” in the ability to call it, said Wilson Funkhouser, a Weinberg junior and president of the Rules Committee.
As it stands now, the speaker can cancel Senate single-handedly. Though Jones, a Weinberg junior, sent an e-mail to the executive board before canceling, his decision caused controversy among executive members and senators.
“I don’t think there’s ever a reason to cancel Senate,” ASG President Claire Lew said. “It’s the only place a student can go to with an issue or concern. It’s our duty to uphold that. It’s not because we as an organization are caught up in internal matters or bureaucracy. Rather, it’s an effort to ensure that we as an organization are doing our job, that at the minimum we are showing up, we are enabling students to have a voice.”
If approved, the bill will require the speaker to have the consent of two-thirds of the caucus whips before postponing or canceling a meeting. The legislation also dictates that the speaker cannot postpone or cancel a meeting without notifying the members of the Senate and executive board at least eight hours before Senate was scheduled to meet.
Harris and Weinberg freshman Ani Ajith introduced the bill in Senate last week and took questions from senators about when it is appropriate to cancel Senate. The weekly Senate meeting is often cancelled the first week of each quarter as well as during Reading Week, Lew, a SESP senior, said.
Under the proposed legislation, the speaker maintains the power to call or not call Senate. It is only the cancellation of a meeting that has already been called that requires the consent of the caucus whips, Funkhouser said.
Jones said he does not wholeheartedly agree with the bill, but doesn’t think it’s “a bad idea.” As speaker, the ASG code forbids him from participating in debate or voting on the issue.
“Debate is productive,” Jones said. “If somebody brings out a strange piece of legislation, the feedback that they receive is going to force them to be on their P’s and Q’s when they do their presentation.”
Full disclosure: Daily staffer Ani Ajith is one of the co-authors of this bill.
