The bylaw suspension was done to bypass depleted funding from the Club FInance Council, though not without some debate
By JORDAN POLTORAK — campus@theaggie.org
The Senate passed Senate Bill (SB) #73 on April 17, authorizing over $500 to be allocated for an ASUCD and Middle Eastern North African Pre-Health Club Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) Success Night, after suspending a bylaw and holding a debate over the issue.
The main concern against funding the event was that the role of funding Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) is that of the Club Finance Council (CFC). The CFC is an ASUCD and Pepsi-funded program that allocates up to $3,000 a year to fund individual RSOs. As of spring quarter, they have depleted their $170,000 budget.
“I know that CFC is out of money, but this seems like ASUCD funding an event that should be funded by CFC,” Senator Ezra Rubin said. “This seems to be in violation of the bylaws.”
Transfer Student Representative Safa Mohammad responded to Rubin by pointing out that senators often collaborate with RSOs.
“This seems pretty standard for senators to do collaborations with RSOs,” Mohammad said. “The hope is that when [Senator Jenna Younes] tells us about these things, we bring more people and further the collaboration. This is something we have been doing all year.”
Rubin responded and said he was worried what this would mean for the future.
“I am worried that this sort of thing creates a precedent, where RSOs that have a connection to the Senate table have more of an advantage in getting funding for their events. Whereas, we should be providing funding on a more equal level to RSOs.”
“In the event that the maximum amount of funding from [CFC] has been reached, a Registered Student Organization may seek from the ASUCD Senate or other entity additional funds or co-sponsorship with a letter of support from the Club Finance Council Board,” ASUCD Bylaw 2903B reads.
Due to the timing of the event, planned for April 24, many senators agreed that it should be voted on that night. Senator Dhilena Wickramasinghe set a motion to suspend the bylaw until the next Senate meeting. Rubin objected to this.
After a vote, the table decided to suspend Bylaw 2903B in order to pass SB#73, over Rubin’s objection.
Senate Resolution (SR) #10, upholding students’ right to free speech regardless of political affiliation following the violence that occurred at the Turning Point USA event earlier this month, was tabled to be voted on the following week.
SR#10 had previously been on the meeting’s agenda, however Gender and Sexuality Commission Chair Tristen Dillard asked that they review the legislation before the Senate votes.
By a vote of 5-5-3, yes-no-abstain, the legislation was tabled until the following week for review by several commissions.
Constitutional Amendment #93, which was previously tabled until fall quarter 2025, was also passed unanimously. The amendment would change the selection process for the ASUCD Student Advocate from being an elected position to an appointed one.
The Senate also passed SB#71, which would provide an incentives budget to encourage students to vote in ASUCD elections.
Other Senate business
Unitrans General Manager Jeff Flynn delivered his unit’s quarterly report, noting that with over 22,000 daily riders and 175 active drivers, the service is back to where its numbers were pre-pandemic.
“Phase One of our electric infrastructure plan is done,” Flynn said. “We have 14 charging stations for 14 electric buses. It was a $20 million project and will be completed later this month.”
Flynn also said that Phase Two of the plan has been placed “on hold” because it relies entirely on federal funding.
“The current [presidential] administration is currently reviewing those funds,” Flynn said.
Ava Amos, vice president for the Disability Justice Committee and a fourth-year human development major, delivered the Office of Disability Justice and Advocacy report. Amos said that the committee is collaborating with the Student Disability Center to connect students to their resources. They have also put out a survey, so that students can express concerns about accessibility and inclusion on UC Davis’ campus.
Later, Ramya Pondicherry, a fourth-year psychology major, was confirmed as Planet Her chair. She spoke about her plans for this year’s event.
“There were a lot of organizations that empower women, but there was not necessarily a focus on mental health,” Pondicherry said. “It’s so important to have a safe space for women to talk about the issues that are affecting them physically and mentally.”
During open forum, Internal Vice President Aaminah Mohammad suggested interested senators should attend meetings with CFC in order to avoid the suspension of Bylaw 2903B in the future.
“Circling back to the conversation about funding and RSOs, we didn’t have time to hash out a procedure with CFC, to allow that to be put into effect,” Mohammad said. “If any senators are interested in attending meetings with CFC, please let me know and I can add you to the meetings that are being set up with the CFC Grants Manager.”
The meeting was called to order at 6:15 p.m. and adjourned at 7:53 p.m.
Written by: Jordan Poltorak — campus@theaggie.org
