Student Government passed all 66 pieces of legislation that came across the Senate floor this semester and spent more than 42 percent of its time in session discussing and debating student needs.
The Senate more than doubled its passed legislation from last semester, continuing the trend from the past three semesters of improving the quantity of approvals. Of the 66 pieces of legislation approved, 45 were resolutions, 11 were bills and 10 were finance bills.
Sixty-four of those 66 pieces of legislation were enacted. SG President Cody Wells vetoed two of them, one due to a rule technicality and another that limited off-campus organizations’ presence in Free Speech Plaza.
Of the 26 hours the Senate met in its chamber this semester, 42.5 percent of the time was spent debating student issues, 30.7 percent was spent dealing with SG-specific matters and 26.8 percent was spent on parliamentary procedure.
The Daily Reveille classifies student issues as legislation like installing emergency call towers and protecting bike safety. SG matters are classified as discussing SG-specific issues, like attempts to impeach members and changes to the SG bylaws. Parliamentary procedure includes roll call and public input.
In spring 2011, The Daily Reveille reported that SG spent 30 percent of its meeting time on student-related matters, 58 percent on SG concerns and 12 percent on parliamentary procedure.
Aaron Caffarel, this semester’s Senate speaker, said the improved focus on student needs is due to a younger SG body and strong older leaders.
“We’ve certainly seen a
transformation over the past two semesters,” he said. “We really pushed to lay a foundation of ‘You need to be focused on what the constituents want.'”
Caffarel said he encouraged the senators to be proactive about student issues rather than reactive.
Despite the improvement, Caffarel said SG still has room to further change its focus from internal issues to constituent matters.
Meredith Westbrook, who will serve as speaker next semester, said improvement is dependent upon the newly appointed leadership.
“I want them to see what we’ve accomplished,” she said. “It’s not necessarily the quantity of the legislation but the quality. … Our No. 1 reason for being here is for
the students.”
 
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Contact Danielle Kelley at [email protected]