Debate of budget legislation dominates at final meeting of AU’s Fifth Undergraduate Senate

The final meeting of American University’s Fifth Undergraduate Senate turned from dull to debate when the Class of 2012 Senator Adam Daniel-Wayman gave his proposition concerning budget legislation. On Sunday, October 3, after an hour-long discussion of Wayman’s C.R.U.Z. bill, the Fifth Senate eventually passed the bill, but Wayman’s problem with executive power manipulating the budget will be debated again when the Sixth Senate takes office this month.

“The chief concern that this bill addresses is the issue of balance of power between executive and legislative branches,” said Senator Wayman when he addressed the Fifth Undergraduate Senate. “On paper, legislature has power to do almost anything, but in practice it is the executives that hold the most power, and we need to be able to hold a conversation with the executives to make sure this power is not abused.”

“This is one of the longest bills that we have ever considered and hopefully the longest bill we will hopefully pass,” said Wayman. His C.R.U.Z. (The Chaos Resolved with Understanding and Zeal) bill removes the Executive’s ability to veto the Student Government budget as a whole, and clarifies the specific duties of the Legislative and Executive branches in handling the budget. With two broad sections to the bill, one resolution has already been passed that states that if the C.R.U.Z. bill passes, rules that conflict with the C.R.U.Z. bill will be removed from legislation.

After Wayman made his statement, he was flooded with questions from the Senate. After 20 minutes of extending the time slot for questioning, the Senate opened the floor to debate and then to informal discussion. Chairman of the Board of Elections Anthony Dunham, and Class of 2012 Senator Brett Atanassio dominated the discussion with Wayman.

“I think the Senate puts so much time into the budget and I think the executives have enough input in the budget,” said Atanassio. “I would rather have the budget subject to 30 representatives than to one in the president.” Dunham agreed that he would rather the budget be handled by the Senate, however he said that removing the President’s power to veto will limit discussion between Legislative and Executive branches.

The final meeting of the Fifth Undergraduate Senate proved to be the longest meeting of the semester. The entire meeting was planned to run for 90 minutes, but with the long-lasting debate over the C.R.U.Z. Bill, the meeting endured for over two hours and 30 minutes. After discussion, the Senate made ramifications to the bill and it was passed by a voice vote of 10-3-0, with Wayman being one of the three "nay" voters. The highly debated points of the bill were tabled for another meeting.

“At the end of the session we decided that we can best deal with that another day,” said Speaker of the Fifth Undergraduate Senate, Eric Reath. After the meeting, Reath said he would pursue the matter:

Aside from the debate, committee members discussed new projects underway for Student Government, including the AU Vets Event to honor our nation’s veterans, and the upcoming fireside chats, which are short videos that provide students with updates on Student Government initiatives and events. The Fifth Undergraduate Senate also announced and certified the new senators that will take office in the Sixth Undergraduate Senate.

Other legislation passed during the final Fifth Undergraduate Senate meeting:

· Bill 09-10-053: The Rising to Upend Serendipity and Substantively Oversee the Transformation of Transportation Operations Bill (The R.U.S.S.O.T.T.O Bill) – This bill creates a commission to study capital investment for the AUTO program, which provides vans to student organizations, Greek life and club sports teams. In less than three minutes of discussion, the bill passed with an 11-2-0 voice vote.

· Resolution 09-10-021: A Resolution to Lament the Changing Standards of Student Activities – This resolution expresses the Senate’s disappointment on recent relations with Student Activities, an organization that sponsors many events held on campus. The title was changed to A Resolution to “Start a Conversation,” and the Senate removed much of the resolution before it was voted on. The resolution passed with all members’ approval.

The American University Undergraduate Senate is comprised of 30 members: five members from each class – freshman, sophomore, junior and senior; one member each from the Kogod School of Business, the School of Communication, the School of International Service, and the School of Public Affairs; and four At-Large members. The Undergraduate Senate authors bills and resolutions that affect policy and advocacy efforts of the American University Student Government. The Senate also oversees Student Government Executives.