AS Senate Recap – 10/30/24

text by News Director

04 November, 2024

This recap first appeared in the November 1st edition of the KCSB News Weekly Newsletter.

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The AS Senate is a group of elected student representatives which serves as the policy-making body of Associated Students. Every Wednesday at 6:30 PM, the AS Senate convenes to pass bills and resolutions, hear reports from Boards, Committees, and Units (BCUs), and hold public forum.

KCSB’s Joyce Chi breaks down what happened at their most recent meeting on October 30, 2024.

Photo credit: ASUCSB Senate Facebook

  • The Internal Vice President will no longer chair Senate meetings.  A statement announcing the change said this was a historic first for ASUCSB and explained that “a broken system…has made the IVP position overwhelming and ineffective for years.” The IVP will only chair the Senate meetings for ceremonial events or to cast a tie-breaking vote.
  • IVP Açucar Pinto and their office will instead “begin intensive work to identify and repair all the internal issues facing our Association,” including hiring new staff, overseeing student fee growth, and revamping technology used by AS. They’ll also focus more on supporting BCUs, many of which don’t have advisors.
  • Dan Siddiqui and Alexa Butler, the First and Second Presidents Pro Tempore, respectively, will alternate chairing the meetings; they may yield this responsibility to other Senators when needed.
        • Senator Butler chaired the 10/30 meeting, with Senator Alejandra Martinez temporarily appointed as Second President Pro Tempore for the duration of the meeting.
        • Senator Siddiqui outlined more provisions relating to this chairship decision in his report.
  • According to the statement, this decision was made by Senators Siddiui and Butler and IVP Pinto. They emphasized that the change in chairship “was not made as a response to any recent event or discussion.” This might be in reference to the boycott of the first Senate meeting of the academic year. The majority of Senators did not attend the October 2 meeting, which fell on Rosh Hashanah, in solidarity with Jewish Senators and students.
  • Attorney General Eric Carlson questioned the legality of this decision. He cited the AS Legal Code, which lists chairing the Senate meeting as the first of the IVP’s main duties. Therefore, he believed that this could potentially lead to Judicial Council litigation. AG Carlson said that “long–term cessation of chairship is flatly not protected constitutionally.”
  • The Senate approved $10,500 for Gaucho Racing, an organization that builds a working EV racecar for competition. The money comes from Senate Unallocated. As part of this fund approval, Gaucho Racing must put on a car show with the AS Program Board in Winter Quarter. They’re also required to submit reports about their efforts to the Senate.
  • The Senate approved $13,500 for the Gaucho Food Inclusion (GFIP) Pilot Program. Led by Senator Ella Yu, the program provides food vouchers at local restaurants in order to reduce food insecurity. As part of the funding agreement, GFIP must try to include Latine cuisine, secure permanent funding through collaboration with UC agencies, and find alternatives to paper meal vouchers.
  • GFIP is targeted towards international students, undocumented students, and out-of-state students, as well as students with dietary restrictions and/or without meal plans.
  • The Senate approved the following bills and resolutions:
    • There were no other pieces of legislation discussed at the 10/30 Senate meeting.

     

    Access this week’s AS Senate agenda (which includes their bills and resolutions) using your student email here. You can see last week’s agenda here. Meetings are held each week at the Flying A Room of the University Center (Main Floor) throughout the quarter, aside from Week 10. You can also watch live and past meetings on Facebook here.

    Posted in News, AS Senate