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SENATE BILL #2461
ASUW President Ahmed Balogun vetoed Senate Bill #2461 yesterday, which would have provided monetary compensation for ASUW senators.
The bill is titled Establishment of Monetary Compensation for ASUW on a Trial Basis and it proposes a trial period in which ASUW senators would receive monetary compensation. The bill passed during last Tuesday’s ASUW meeting. The bill said ASUW student senators share the same financial concerns all students have, and these concerns can limit the time that an ASUW senator can utilize in the service of their constituents, as well as prohibiting some students from pursuing a position in the ASUW Senate.
According to the bill, the trial period would be initiated with the 103rd ASUW student government, and would conclude with the 2016 fiscal year, allocating $5700.00 from the ASUW reserve to fund it. Balogun said after the trial period, funding for the program would most likely have come from student fees.
Balogun said his reasons for vetoing the bill where that he did not believe the stipend would serve the intended purposes stated in the bill, those being incentive duties and performance and easing fiscal constraints, and would also not increase diversity of opinions in the senate. Balogun also said many students participate in volunteer activities on campus and do not receive direct compensation for their service.
“I have been very active on campus in numerous RSOs, and the involvement required for ASUW is very similar to that of an active RSO. RSO members do not get compensation, they operate on the principle of volunteer time,” Balogun said.
Ahmed said there are still opportunities for students who want to serve on campus that have financial constraints, one example being the many leadership scholarships offered by the university. He said ASUW members would be good candidates for those scholarships as membership in ASUW demonstrates leadership qualities and abilities.
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SENATE BILL #2462
ASUW President Ahmed Balogun vetoed Senate Bill #2462, which would give the ASUW RSO funding board course to discipline RSOs in violation of the ASUW finance policy.
The bill, titled Event Funding Expectations Amendments, passed unanimously in the ASUW Senate on Tuesday, April 21 and proposed amendments to Article III of the ASUW finance policy concerning the funding of RSOs. The current iteration of the policy did not allow or outline any action that could be taken should an RSO violate some aspect of the ASUW finance policy; Senate Bill #2462 proposed making some course of action available to the ASUW RSO funding board.
ASUW Vice President Ricardo Lind-Gonzales said Balogun felt the legislation was rushed, with the end of the school year rapidly approaching.
“There was no time for the committee to conduct proper research, and no time to get any student feedback on the bill,” Lind-Gonzales said.
According to the bill, lack of direct action available to the ASUW RSO Funding Board is detrimental to ensuring RSOs funding fully complies with requirements set forth by the ASUW finance policy. Any direct action, the bill states, should be “severe enough to encourage compliance, yet lenient enough so as to ensure that any such direct action is not disastrous to RSOs.”
According to a statement, Balogun said he vetoed the bill because he believes the proposed sanctions are ineffective and unfair, and not likely to deter RSOs from violating the finance policy. Balogun said it is unfair to future RSO members to bear the brunt for actions of their predecessors, and called for a comprehensive discussion with stakeholders to establish a fair and effective system of accountability for RSOs.
