Sept. 13 marked the first meeting for the House Appropriations Committee (HAC), a branch of the Associated Student Government (ASG).
Before the committee could see any legislation proposals, they first had to appoint a House Speaker. The position entails being the Chair for HAC meetings that take place on Mondays and Fridays. They also present a report to the student Senate on Wednesday meetings.
Senior Megan Beezley was appointed as the House Speaker. She also holds the Students With Varying Abilities Senate seat. She first got into ASG because she heard ASG was looking for new members.
“[The Senate Leader] nominated me for the House Appropriations Committee and somebody ought to be in charge, I’ve been in charge [before]. I think I can be beneficial, not only think, I have lots of life experience,” Beezley said.
That experience comes from her years in the military. Beezley is earning a double major degree in History and Business Administration. After graduating in Spring 2022, she will continue her education in Secondary Teaching.
A job that works with so many students can be hard, but Beezley is confident in her presence on campus. Her experience with student outreach in the Student Veteran Association and Genders and Sexualities Alliance is vital to her new role.
“As a veteran, I help the VA as a Subject Matter Expert for trans[gender] females, so if they need anyone to talk to or have a case with that subject, they call me,” Beezley said.
As the official HAC meeting started after the election, the yearly budget was discussed. Every year ASG receives around $22,500 to fund clubs and host events for the student body. The organization does have more money in the reserves for financial safety reasons.
The discussion of whether HAC should increase the yearly budget from the reserves accounts to preserve more impact for the student body was started.
The idea ended up being tabled until the next meeting to take into consideration the budgets from the last two years so ASG can make a firm decision on extending the budget into the reserves.
The first legislation came from the Physical Educators Club. President of the club, Diana Douglas, presented her case for the SHAPE Colorado Convention funding, a conference in late Sept. that the club will be attending.
The House Bill 21-02 originally proposed $3,000 be granted to the club, but it was cut down to $1,800 before it was passed by HAC.
It was a large sum to ask for from the main budget (20% – 30%). The club was asking for so much because the advisor already paid for the admission fee to the conference. Going off the precedence that ASG does not reimburse advisors for use of their personal money to pay for club fees, the decision to reduce the amount was proposed.
The meeting ended shortly after with the plan to reconvene on Monday, Sept. 20 to discuss further legislation and business.
