The College of William and Mary’s Student Assembly senate passed Sen. Noah Kim’s ’13 Acceptance of Late Budgets Act, More Money, Fewer Problems Act and the Activity and Event Funding Act Tuesday at its weekly meeting in Tyler 201.
Earlier this year, the Student Assembly filed its budget with the Executive Appropriations Committee. However, according to the code, the EAC cannot accept budgets submitted after the last day of classes for the fall semester. Previously, the EAC had given leeway to student groups that had not met the deadline. Kim’s Acceptance of Late Budgets Act gives the EAC discretion as to which late budgets it will accept, instead of instituting a final deadline.
The More Money, Fewer Problems Act was a response to limitations on allocations by the SA that Kim viewed as too restrictive. Sen. Ryan Ruzic J.D. ’11 posed an amendment to the bill that would potentially allow for student organizations other than Steer Clear to receive funding to pay wages.
Members of the EAC voiced their support for the two bills.
“I think as a whole, the EAC needs more direction — relying on precedents is not good enough,” EAC member Harrison Roday ’13 said. “It is not good for student organizations to say, ‘This is the way it was last year, so it will happen this year.’ This is a great start, but I would not be adverse to the SA adding more guidelines or reducing guidelines and giving the EAC more discretion. Either way, the guidelines need to be clearer so that we do not have to spend time on these same issues year in and year out.”
Kim’s third bill updated the finance code of the SA to reflect current terminology and practices.
“A number of people appointed to the committee this year felt that rules were rules and not guidelines,” Roday said. “The EAC should not be put in a position to violate rules to pass a budget.”
The Acceptance of Late Budgets Act and the Activity and Event Funding Act passed unanimously, and the More Money, Fewer Problems act passed with a vote of 18-1.
The Senate also passed the Transportation of Student Groups Act and the Publication Council Adjustment Act.
Kim brought the Spending Transparency Act to the Senate. This bill would require the Chair of the Finance Committee to detail the amount currently allocated to student groups in relation to the Student Activities Reserve, as well as what percent of the Reserve would be used by the bill.