Senate Briefing (January 31)

This section keeps an eye on upcoming Senate legislation and provides useful information about it.

ON THE AGENDA THIS WEEK

Tonight the Senate will be hearing from two members of the Board of Regents for approximately the first half of the meeting. Additionally, the following pieces of legislation will be discussed:

SECOND READINGS

R-18-9: A Resolution in Support of Reducing the Foreign Language Graduation Requirement
This resolution seek to reduce the foreign language requirement in the College of Arts & Sciences from three years to two years in high school or the college level equivalent. The stated reason for this change is that students can not adequately learn a foreign language in the time required therefore we shouldn't burden students. Cutting a third of the requirement however seems to be exactly the opposite of the solution.

R-18-15: A Resolution in Support of Environmentally Friendly Ground Maintenance Equipment
This resolution seeks to ban gasoline powered leaf blowers in favor of more environmentally friendly alternatives such as electric powered blowers and rakes. This resolution fails to comment on the loss of efficiency, cost, and effectiveness of alternative methods and instead focuses on the negative health and environmental effects of the current equipment.

R-18-16: A Resolution Supporting the Resource Center for Student Organizations
This resolution simply states support for the continued funding of the RSO Resource Center on campus. It is unclear whether the resolution represents the abstract feeling of the Senate or if it is intended as a directive to ASUW representatives when it comes to voting on actually funding requests.

R-18-18: A Resolution in Support of Letter Grades

The idea that UW should switch from a 4.0 numeric scale of grading to a letter based (i.e. "A", "B", "C") system has been proposed to senate and rejected twice before. This will be a third attempt at getting this passed. It will be interesting to see if the mood of the senate has shifted since last year on this issue.

FIRST READINGS

R-18-21: A Resolution in Support of Voter Access Bills in the Washington State Legislature
This would support bills in the Washington Legislature aimed at making it easier to register to vote.

OA-18-2: An Act to Limit the Number of Cosponsors in the Senate Well
This act would limit the number of people who can stand in front of Senate and speak for a particular piece of legislation to three. This change would prevent the sponsors of popular or controversial legislation from stacking the front of the room with supporters in an effort to force the legislation's passage via intimidation. This is a good thing. It also makes the presentation more clear and coherent.

SB-18-1: A Senate Bill to Make the ASUW President’s Seat on the ASUW Student Senate Non-Voting

This bill would amend the ASUW Bylaws to make the ASUW President's seat on the Student Senate non-voting, citing separation of powers as the primary motivation. Currently, the President is the only member of the Board of Directors with a vote in Senate. This change would greatly benefit the ASUW as it would provide for further independence of the Senate from the Board of Directors. This is an important step toward a more responsible student government.

R-18-23: A Resolution in Support of Marriage Equality in Washington State

This resolution is pretty self explanatory.

SB-18-2: A Bill to Promote Separation of Powers by Amending the Constitution

Senate Legislative Briefing (January 24)

Each week, The Caucus will publish a rundown of legislation on the docket for Senate. This will help keep the ASUW community informed about what is going on. Please see below for what is on the agenda for this week:

OA-18-1: The Omnibus Bylaws and Rules Update Act of 2011
This bill proposes a large number of changes to the Senate Bylaws. These changes are for the most part minor and uncontroversial however some changes provide Senate with more authority and flexibility which has made some Board members uneasy.

Overall these are beneficial changes. Support for individual amendments are largely a matter of personal preference.

R-18-11: A Resolution in Support of a Permanent Lab Space for the UW Biodiesel Cooperative
Coming soon...

R-18-12: A Resolution Expressing Opposition to SOPA
Coming soon...

R-18-15: A Resolution in Support of Environmentally Friendly Ground Maintenance Equipment
Coming soon...

R-18-16: A Resolution Supporting the Resource Center for Student Organizations
Coming soon...

LEADERS: Michelle Nance

Michelle Nance - Senate Chair

SENATE - Since her unanimous election last spring to the post of Senate Chair, Michelle Nance has already been tested by an especially active session. With a full docket of legislation, some of which has been particularly controversial (see R-18-4), Ms. Nance has shown herself to be a capable moderator and a strong leader in Senate. Aside from the day to day demands of the position, Michelle will also be asked to oversee the transition of Senate into the new membership model passed last year. This change will be the most dramatic for Senate in many years just as interest in Senate has expanded far beyond levels seen in recent years.


Michelle brings a strong resume of Senate involvement with her to the position of Chair. Serving previously as both the Oversight Committee Chair and the Senate Vice Chair, she is well known to Senators and has earned their respect. On her watch the size of Senate has far surpassed the 120 senator mark that was debated as a potential cap last year. This growth has both given credibility to the institution and has presented logistical challenges that have both strengthened Michelle's position as she seeks to push forward the Senate's agenda at the board level in terms of policy and ask the Board for logistical supports (i.e. more voting clickers etc.)


Looking forward, Michelle will be ever more focused on making the transition to the new Senate membership structure scheduled to be in full effect Fall Quarter 2012. She has thus far indicated that the transition may commence on a voluntary basis this and next quarter. This would be a wise move on her part both to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible but also to ensure that the proper political willpower is expended to make it happen at all.


With at least one more year ahead of her, Michelle's political ambitions for next year are as of now unconfirmed however it can be expected that she will be seeking to stay involved in the upper echelon of ASUW's leadership. No doubt as Spring approaches, we will be following her next moves closely. For now, she is responsible for a significant amount of work in Senate and she shouldn't forget that responsibility too soon.