With the fall semester coming to a close, Student Government [SG] continues to meet virtually to discuss legislation for the student body. On Wednesday, Nov. 4, Student Senate passed a finance bill supporting the spending of $5000 for personal protective equipment (PPE) this upcoming spring semester.
“This is kind of a dual initiative between the [Student Government] Traditions line and the finance committee disbursements for $5000, and hoping to get around 5,000 masks and 5,000 hand sanitizers,” Student Body Treasurer Garrison Seitz said. “This is a part of a bigger initiative to buy promo for SG, but this is specifically for masks and hand sanitizer.”
FB 94, the Campus Return Initiative Act, will distribute the $5000 from the Finance Committee Disbursements into SG-branded masks and hand sanitizers for students to purchase in the spring semester. The bill passed with majority support in the Senate, with only 12 dissenting votes out of 60 total.
During debate, various senators provided their reasons behind supporting the financial bill, emphasizing the promotion of SG as a way for incoming students to learn about their senators.
Student Senate President Pro Tempore Molly Vanhoy said the masks would be accompanied by fact sheets with SG contact information for any new or first-year students coming back to live on campus.
“The purpose of these masks were kinda dual,” Vanhoy said. “One, it was to make sure that all of our students had a reusable mask that they could clean and take care of, but it was also so students are figuring out who we are in case we have problems.”
A few senators also provided their dissenting opinion on the masks, citing the SG-branded masks as excessive.
Senator Conner Paszko, a dissentant on the bill, said that the mask budget was expensive.
“I think I disagree with the sentiment that $5000 is just a small amount of money and that it should just be used willy-nilly,” Senator Conner Paszko said. “This is just my opinion but I think the University should be the ones providing PPE masks.”
Student Senate also passed GB 85, the Add DT to SORT Act, giving Deputy Treasurer Harrison Andrews official access to the Student Organization Roundtable. With the Student Organization Roundtable being responsible for providing resources, information and feedback for student organizations, GB 85 would allow student organizations to work more closely with SG’s Treasury Branch.
“So just to give you some context to this bill, the Deputy Treasurer position was created in the last session, so we’ve been basically kinda piloting it this year,” Seitz said. “We found that it’s very beneficial for the Deputy Treasurer to be the liaison to support the student organizations process and how the treasury manages it.”
Student Body Vice President McKenzy Heavlin also asked for senators and students to fill out the Student Government Spring 2021 Feedback Form, a Google form for SG to collect student comments on their experiences with the Fall 2020 semester and their suggestions for the upcoming semester.
For more information, visit the Student Government website.
