Mary Rucinski
Less than a year after the Judicial Council ruled the Associated Students of the University of Wyoming (ASUW) president has veto power beyond legislation, the senators voted to limit the power Tues. night.
The bill to limit the veto power of the president passed unanimously. Arts and Sciences Senator Alex Mulhall, who was the previous ASUW president, said the president has had veto power for a very long time.
When discussion for the bill began, Mulhall was outspoken in favor of it. She expressed the importance of passing the veto power limit bill because when she was president and the power to veto any action was bestowed on her, she said she felt she had too much power.
“When that happened, I truly felt that the checks and balances of the branches were being put in jeopardy because the senate had no mechanisms to overturn a veto that was on anything other than legislation,” Mulhall said.
The veto power became an issue in Feb. of the last ASUW administration when the Judicial Council was asked to interpret the ASUW bylaws that concerned the veto power. The bylaw in question included the ability of the president to veto “any action” of the senate.
The Judicial Council interpreted the bylaw to mean that “any action” was not limited to legislation. Mulhall was ASUW president at the time of the Judicial Council ruling.
The phrase “any action” was too ambiguous for the senators, because it was not exclusive to the vetoing of specific pieces of legislation.
A portion of the text from the bill read that the Judicial Council’s ruling “sets a dangerous precedent that would give the executive branch of ASUW undue and unintended power.”
The bill changed the bylaws to state the president may veto, “any piece of legislation passed by action of the ASUW senate,” rather than the ability to veto “any action.” The discussion on the bill was minimal because all the senators were in favor of passing it.
“I voted in favor of the bill because I thought it was necessary to restore proper checks and balances among the three branches and prevent issues from arising in the future due to ambiguity in our documents,” Mulhall said.
The next ASUW meeting will be next Tues. in the Union Senate Chambers. The senators will discuss two bills concerning advising fees and parking on campus.
