On April 4, the Associated Student Government passed one of three bills that made various amendments to their bylaws.
But, what are the ASG bylaws?
A way to understand the bylaws are as an expansion to the constitution. The constitution provides an overview of ASG’s rules, whereas the bylaws provide specific details about these rules.
Below is a list of the most significant changes made to these guiding documents, organized by branch.
Executive Branch:
These changes were all passed during the April 4 meeting.
All job descriptions formerly in the constitution have been moved to the bylaws, in order to allow ASG to make small changes without going through a formal amendment process.
A formal definition of what an executive order entails and how it may be used is now included underneath the president’s section.
The vice president is now the chair of the Internal Committee, which discusses the rules and regulations that apply to ASG.
The student trustee must now attend both ASG and Fee Allocation Committee (FAC) meetings.
The trustee will also chair a conference committee, which occurs when ASG makes a change to a bill that FAC passed. The change was suggested to avoid the situation in which current Senate Leader Sam Gaasch was accused of not fulfilling her role as a voice for the senators when she cast the tie-breaking vote in agreement with FAC representatives instead of ASG representatives.
Senators agreed her role as committee chair and Senate leader were in conflict with each other. The trustee, on the other hand, represents all students, rather than just the senate body.
The FAC chair was proposed to receive a stipend increase of $1000 during a biennial year, but the change was voted down because senators felt it would be unethical to vote upon the salaries of current members.
All executives must be sworn in officially after an election, which was formerly a tradition and formality, not a requirement.
The election committee is to be headed by the vice president unless running. If the vice president is running for election, the Senate leader will head the committee. If the Senate leader is running for election, the president will appoint a senator to serve in this role. That senator must be approved by a 2/3 majority.
A compensation section now lists all stipends for executives in one place, rather than having them spread out underneath each individual position. The change was made for ease of changing stipends during the biennial years.
Legislative:
The following changes are up for debate during the next ASG meeting.
The Senate leader will now pick the two ASG representatives for a conference committee, instead of the vice president.
The Senate leader is also responsible for training senators regarding Robert’s Rules of Order, educating them on the roles and responsibilities of being a senator, as well as the Constitution and other supporting documents.
A section which defines resolutions as statements presented by the legislative body, and joint resolutions presented by both the legislative and executive branches. Resolutions require a 2/3 majority vote.
Judicial Branch:
The following changes are up for debate during the next ASG meeting.
The proceeding for the removal and censure of a senator reflects the grievance filing, investigation and hearing process outlined in the constitution.
All judicial members must be sworn into their positions, which was formerly a formality but is now a requirement.
The above bylaws will be signed by President Ben Linzey, if the constitution passes with a 10 percent student vote during the April elections.
