The ASUI Senate passed a last-minute bill 11-1 Wednesday to fix a loophole allowing student organizations to use ASUI funds to influence elections.
The bill’s passage ignited a new debate on transparency and due process in the senate.
Sen. Jordan Kizer said he was recently made aware that a certain member of the senate may have used the loophole to their advantage during an election.
The bill, written by Sen. James Howard, added a section to the ASUI Rules and Regulations which states, “No student organization or club may use ASUI allocated funds or resources to affect or influence the outcome of an ASUI election including but not limited to supporting a candidate.”
Kizer encouraged the senate to pass the bill without putting the senator in the spotlight. Sen. Sam Balas, who is a columnist at The Argonaut, said the senator in question was not in attendance at the meeting, and he was concerned about debating it in their absence.
Sen. Danny Bugingo, another columnist at The Argonaut, addressed Balas’ concern by revealing that the senator in question was aware of the issue being discussed.
“The distinguished chair of the Finance Committee has been notified of this bill. He can vote by proxy if he wishes to. This is not happening in secret,” Bugingo said.
Sen. Tanner Beymer is chair of the Finance Committee, and was absent that evening, as well as Sen. Rory Butcher, Pro-Tempore Mattie Cupps and Sen. Zachary Spence.
Beymer said the way in which the bill was passed was “cowardly” and “quite frankly, obstructive to the legislative process.” Beymer said he received a text from Howard five minutes before the bill hit the floor, and Howard had sent him an email with a copy of the legislation. He could not attend the meeting because he had to work, he said.
“Some of my colleagues have decided that they didn’t want me present for this debate, and that’s the reason that they authored the bill, got sponsors for the bill and brought the bill to the floor, and immediately considered the bill while I was absent,” Beymer said.
Balas was the only senator to argue against the bill during the debate. He said he would prefer it be debated another night when more senators were present, but in the end he voted in favor of the bill.
“I still think this is about a three out of 10 on the ethical scale,” Balas said.
Howard said all absent senators were made aware that the bill would be voted on that night, except Butcher, who was sick.
Beymer voted by proxy against the bill. Beymer said part of his campaign platform of transparency means he will always vote no on a bill that is immediately considered, if it is not time sensitive.
Beymer called the bill a mess, and said the bill doesn’t define an ASUI allocated resource or fund. He also said that regulating student organizations in this way limits free speech.
“I think that if student organizations want to get involved in their political process, that they should have every right to do so,” Beymer said.
Bugingo urged his fellow senators to vote in favor of the bill.
“This bill does nothing to diminish any organization’s right to free speech,” Bugingo said. “Any organization can use their money to support any candidate they want. What they can’t do is use the student body’s money to support a candidate of their choice.”
After the meeting, Kizer and Howard elaborated on why they created the bill.
“It’s technically illegal to use ASUI facilities like the printers and ASUI funds to run a campaign,” Kizer said. “However, there was someone who set up a student super PAC … where basically the idea was he formed a student organization for the sole purpose of getting him elected. And then used ASUI resources and funds through that student organization to create campaign materials. This was legal, and it shouldn’t be.”
Beymer said Kizer overheard a conversation Beymer was having in passing with another senator about super PACs. When Beymer suggested that a similar concept to super PACs was legal under ASUI’s Rules and Regulations, he proceeded to explain to Kizer how a student super PAC could be possible. But he said there have been no instances in the past where that has happened.
Taylor Nadauld
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