Ten bills and resolutions passed, 1 denied; new at-large senator confirmed

 Welcoming in the month of December, the Northern Iowa Student Government (NISG)descended on the University Room of Maucker Union for their 15th and final meeting of the semester on Wednesday, Dec. 1. 

After a smattering of weekly reports, the NISG members quickly launched into the final noncontroversial docket of the semester. Two bills were considered. The first of these bills was an appointment for a new at-large senator. Keyah Kosgei, a first year double major in music performance and political science, was confirmed by a vote of 15-0-1. 

The next bill consisted of a resolution by NISG to recognize Juneteenth as a university holiday. It passed by a tally of 16-0-1. 

Before arriving at the controversial docket, Speaker of the Senate Sam Caughron then announced a motion to legislate, meaning the rest of the bills on the docket would be read and voted on a single time in order to process the remaining legislation before the winter break. This passed by a vote of 16-0-1. 

The first piece of legislation on the controversial docket revolved around amending the NISG by-laws and two directorial positions. The bill morphed the positions and responsibilities of the Director of First Year Students and the Director of Transfer Students into a singular position titled Director of Incoming Students. This sparked much debate among the gathered students as those who proposed the bill were hoping to streamline the position with this consolidation. 

However, Senator Trevor Meyers reproached this sentiment, stating, “As a junior transfer student, and personally, I know with a lot of the other transfer students, we do not like being lumped in with the first year students. Because we have already two years of college and by eliminating this position, it makes it that much harder for transfer students to have a voice and independence.” The bill overwhelmingly did not pass by a vote of 3-12-1. 

Following the failure of this bill, NISG members introduced a motion for unanimous consent, dictating that following legislation of the night can be passed with no objections rather than a roll-call vote. The next six bills dealt with amending the NISG by-laws and constitution to update the language, add responsibilities for certain positions, and abolish obsolete responsibilities for positions. They all passed with no objections. 

Chief Justice Parker Daniels then introduced an amendment to the NISG election by-laws which reduced the number of signatures for the four major colleges in order to encourage more students to run. These colleges are the College of Business Administration, the College of Humanities, Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. It passed with no objections. 

Finally, the last bill considered by NISG for the academic semester, a contingency fund request from the UNI Dance Team for $5,000 for travel to their national competition in Florida. It passed with no objections and the meeting was adjourned.