The Mississippi State University Student Association Senate met Tuesday to discuss two pieces of legislation following last week’s committee discussion meeting. The two pieces of legislation consisted of Bill 2 and Act 2, both of which passed.
Bill 2 concerned clerical work on the SA Constitution, in relation to how Homecoming was detailed. The bill mostly changed wording in order to be more consistent with the rest of the constitution, and to be more accurate to the reality of current Homecoming procedures.
Act 2 appropriated funds for numerous groups on campus, as there was a significant backlog from the summer. Some of the largest appropriations, each of which were $2,000, went to the Black Student Association for its Apollo night, Alpha Phi Alpha for its scheduled events and the Blackfriars Drama Society for its productions. The total amount spent by the act was $12,965, and in an attempt to conserve for the remainder of the semester, the Senate will adhere to a $2,000 cap for requests.
Groups which are denied funds by the Senate are usually turned away for a violation of Senate guidelines within their request. The Senate, as per the campus administration, cannot give funds to groups if their request is for transportation, room and board, or group member-exclusive food and t-shirts. It is also notable the Senate cannot fulfill an appropriation request if the required request form is not properly completed.
Next Tuesday, the Senate is set to discuss the SA’s annual budget. The SA is allocated funds by the campus administration for use in two distinct manners. The first manner in which it allocates funds is to groups on campus, and the second is on what the SA itself will function. Therefore, each act passed is not taking money from the SA’s own budget, but rather, it is taken from an entirely separate amount.