ASUCD Senate reworks Ethical Spending Committee at May 21 meeting

The committee has faced challenges in the past over the legality of its boycott and divestment powers

The ASUCD Senate has reworked the guidelines and structure of its Ethical Spending Committee, establishing it as a subcommittee of the Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission and reworking much of its guiding mandate to be in alignment with university policies.

Previously, the Ethical Spending Committee was charged with “[assisting] ASUCD bodies in limiting or eliminating expenditures to companies that are complicit in human rights abuses” and with “[providing] infrastructure to ASUCD for implementing Association-wide boycott and divestment from corporations guilty of human rights and environmental rights abuses.”

Now, the committee will be responsible for “[recommending] prioritizing purchases from vendors that are aligned with humanitarian and sustainable values.” The committee will also be asked to “ensure the Association is supporting quality vendors, promoting local businesses, and advocating for transparent allocation of resources.”

ASUCD’s ethical spending guidelines were first established in winter 2024 under Senate Bill (SB) #52, and the Ethical Spending Committee was later permanently established under SB#6 that fall.

The Ethical Spending Committee was initially tasked with ensuring that ASUCD divests from Israeli-connected companies and those named on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction List, as well as overseeing ASUCD’s Policy on Ethical Spending. However, the Committee soon faced challenges under University of California (UC) rules on student governments, which requires ASUCD to follow sound business practices and for it to spend and make purchases on a viewpoint-neutral basis.

The changes, made at the May 21 Senate meeting, were passed under SB#119, authored by Internal Vice President Dhilena Wickramasinghe and co-authored by Senators Nate Little, Jenna Younes, Jaliah Payne and External Affairs Commission Chair Simrit Singh.

The reworked guidelines faced criticism from some members of the table, namely Senators Ezra Rubin and Aaron Heth. Rubin, in particular, questioned the role of the Ethical Spending Committee under SB#119, given it is no longer able to enforce strict boycotts or divestments.

“It pretty much seems like we're not really able to do anything in terms of boycotting companies because of their associations with human rights violations,” Rubin said. “There's a change made to the definition on ethical spending, but to me it just seemed to take the teeth out of what ethical spending is.”

In response, Internal Affairs Commission (IAC) Chair Muskaan Bhayana said that while the Ethical Spending Committee’s abilities had been restricted, the bill would serve to keep the spirit and purpose of ethical spending without breaking UC rules.

“I know you said the definition now is a bit broad and [that] we've kind of gutted the original definition, but we want the purpose of the committee to still remain the same,” Bhayana said. “We try to use language that would be as reflective of the goals as possible without potentially leading to any legal issues. This is the best we could come up with, because otherwise, if you go even one step further, there could be a lot of legal issues that could arise from having stronger language.”

Bhayana continued, arguing that while the Ethical Spending Committee could not bar ASUCD bodies from buying from specific vendors or companies, it would still be able to provide purchasing advice and guidance.

“[The committee] can advise senators or units who are writing spending bills to buy from certain companies that are more aligned with values that UC Davis is more aligned with, or even though just supporting small businesses,” Bhayana said. “I feel like we can use this committee to redirect a lot of our spending to better avenues.”

Little also responded to criticisms of the bill, arguing that SB#119, while not perfect, was a move in the right direction and would help mitigate some of the disconnect between the goals of the student government and the rules placed on it by ASUCD headquarters and university administrators.

“This is honestly an accountability issue with [ASUCD HeadQuarter’s Office], because ethical spending as it is has been in place for quite a while now, and it has been very strictly anti-UC policy guidelines,” Little said. “This bill as it stands, if passed, will bring the Ethical Spending Committee more into guidelines. I can't 100% confirm that it will be 100% within guidelines — we still have a lot of work to do regarding that — but it will definitely put it in a better scenario than it is now.”
Language in the original bill, regarding the advisory role of registered student organizations (ROSs), was eventually removed after Heth voiced concerns over how student groups would be selected to consult the committee. The bill had initially proposed that “relevant registered student organizations” be notified to amendments in ASUCD’s Policy on Ethical Spending by the subcommittee's chair.

The bill ultimately passed with a vote of 6-3, with Senators Rubin, Heth and Mia Oscanoa voting no.

The table also unanimously passed a matching resolution, SR#19, which brought attention to the changes to the Ethical Spending Committee.

In other matters, the Senate created a fund to help subsidize the cost of next year’s Lawntopia tickets. ASUCD and the Entertainment Council, the Association's unit responsible for planning student concerts, has faced criticism for the high cost of this year’s tickets.

The creation of the $2,000 Lawntopia tickets fund, an internal budget amendment, was spearheaded by Senator Pattarin Khajornchaikul, who has been vocal about the importance of access to the arts in the past. The funds were redirected from ASUCD’s General Reserves Contributions budget line, which is mainly used to fund capital improvements.

The budget amendment faced some opposition from Senators Heth, Little and Rubin — all three argued that the matter should be funded by the Senate’s own reserves after new members of the table take office at the end of the school year. However, the amendment ultimately passed with 8 yes votes to 4 no votes.

Interim Senator Hiring

The Senate also interviewed interim senator applicants to serve out the remainder of the terms of Younes, who is graduating this spring, and Senator Rosa Linda Martinez, who is set to take office as ASUCD’s internal vice president at the end of the school year.

The table interviewed four candidates at their meeting on May 21, with the majority of the joint interview being conducted in an hour-long closed session. After holding an anonymous vote, the Senate chose to hire Genesis Arroyo, a first-year political science major, and Arya Banerjee, a second-year history and science and technology studies double major. Both are members of the IAC, which is responsible for reviewing spending bills and other legislation pertaining to the internal operations of the Association.

Arroyo and Banerjee will take office at the last senate meeting of the school year on June 4; their terms will last through the end of fall quarter 2026.

The May 21 meeting was called to order at 6:15 p.m. and adjourned at 9:47 p.m.

Written by: Vince Basada — campus@theaggie.org