Illinois State University's Student Government Association (SGA) held its last general assembly meeting of the semester this past Wednesday in the State Farm Hall of Business. The meeting proved to be a busy night for SGA as six legislative items passed the assembly.
The passage of the 13th Amendment removed outdated committees and established three internal committees: civic engagement, internal affairs and external affairs. It also established vice-chairperson roles and allows for subcommittees.
“We kind of thought that a vice chairperson would be useful…they would kind of help with event planning…it would be kind of like a second hand in the committee,” President of the Assembly Tyler Bever said.
Bever explained that subcommittees would be created at the discretion of the committee chair. He said the planning of the Redbird Market could be a subcommittee under external affairs.
The assembly also passed a 12th Amendment, which updated the bylaws to align with recent changes made to the SGA constitution following approval by the student body.
SGA allocated $1,100 from the Civic Engagement Committee to the School Street Food Pantry to purchase sustainable and reusable canvas shopping bags through bill #11.
“I think this is going to be our third year doing this…that goes to show that the bags are being used, and they are needing more,” said Chief of Staff Megan James. “We made a way to figure out how to get that money to them, obviously not in monetary funds, but in a productive way that helps not only students but also them.”
SGA urged ISU to continue pursuing fair trade certification through Resolution #8.
“For those of you who may not know, fair trade is a system that values people and fair labor practices with an understanding that the capitalist, neocolonial world market often unfairly disadvantages the global south. This can have severe economic consequences for small farmers, making it nearly impossible to plan their futures, secure their wages or reinvest in their own businesses,” said graduate assistant for the Office of Sustainability Ryleigh Hickman.
The direct input from a member of the ISU community garnered praise from Secretary of Governmental Relations Sam Majka.
“This is the way that I wish SGA worked more often. Having contact with constituents and being more motivated and energized from constituents,” Majka said.
SGA also passed bill #10, which approved a $680.45 allocation for the annual Passing of the Gavel ceremony.
“So, we had allocated $600 to Passing of the Gavel…and then I remembered I didn’t get drinks. So, originally it was supposed to be $440, so under that $500 threshold, but then I got drinks for everybody…and so with that it increased the total up to $680 rather than $440,” said Chief of Staff Megan James.
James further said that appetizers were included in the total cost of the bill.
The Redbird Market was briefly discussed, including an overview of the results of a survey completed by the vendors. Of the 100 vendors that attended, 40 responded. They rated their experience 4.77 stars out of five. More than 50% sold over $200 and 74% of the vendors gained social media followers.
