Student Government Association President Steve Geraci said the executive branch is working on a reorganization that he hopes will help the executives do their jobs better.
"Honestly, it is not going to affect (the senators) much," Geraci said. "It's just going to help us do our job more effectively. Students are going to see a benefit because their elected officers will be able to do their jobs more effectively."
The first reading of the amendment took place on Wednesday, however, discussion on the reorganization was limited because the majority of the senators had not yet seen the legislation in question.
Copies of the amendment were not given to senators, but they were promised a copy in their e-mail. The first senate reading of a piece of legislation is only for discussion and not rewriting.
Senator Ashley Johnson explained why copies of the amendment were not printed.
"Everyone does not have a copy because changes will be made," Johnson said. "Now, you will have six days to read through it. This is extremely important. These are our bylaws, and they will be in effect until the next person decides to rewrite them. I would advise everyone to go home, read this and if you have questions bring them to one of authors."
The amendment is a follow-through of the current party's platform for election last year. Vice-President Chris Kurtz said the plan was to look at all the bylaws, and to specifically deal with the problems in the executive branch.
Senator Ethan White described the amendment as mostly "cosmetic changes," and Geraci said it will not cause much of a difference to anyone outside the executive branch.
The most extensive change is the disbanding of the executive council and the creation of a cabinet of directors.
"In the past few years (the executive branch) has not met, has not served a purpose," Kurtz said. What we had in the past was quite a few positions that overlapped. We tried to create the cabinet positions that didn't quite have all the same responsibilities as the committees.
The six council positions are being replaced with six secretaries modeled after positions in the United States government.
One new position is a press secretary, who Kurtz said will hold open meetings and forums, send out press releases, and communicate with local media.
Kurtz said they want to "streamline things so people know where to go and who to get information from."
Other changes included clarifying the president's role in relation to committees and caucuses. Currently the bylaws state that the president is an ex-officio, non-voting member of executive commission and Student Senate, but it is not clarified that he holds the same role in committees and caucuses.
White said while he doesn't have any major problems with the legislation and the idea behind the reorganization, he doesn't agree with the president being included in the legislative branch.
"If you've taken basic government you know that's a violation of separation of powers," White said. "Since we model ourselves after the actual U.S. government, it's awkward."
However, in an effort to separate powers of the vice-president, the amendment removes him from the student judicial court so that he is not involved in all three branches of government.
Three years of experience are behind the changes to the bylaws and executive reorganization. Kurtz said Geraci sat down with the past two presidents, Ben Tietz and Jayson Manship, to rework the bylaws.
"I was just coming into office, and those guys had the opportunity to do this job for a whole year. That was an insight that I certainly could not ignore," Geraci said.
The legislation still has two more readings on the senate floor, and revisions can be made during each reading. If the legislation passes, it will go into effect immediately.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
