In the eighth Associated Students of the University of California, Riverside (ASUCR) senate meeting of the year legislation was discussed regarding the removal of the Student Voice Committee from Executive Cabinet Assembly Board (ECAB), a formal removal process for committees was reviewed and a response was drafted to statements made by administration.
Prior to the discussion of Senate Business and Legislation, ASUCR President Abby Choy discussed ASUCR’s statement in response to Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Brian Haynes deciding not to go through with the Ethical Spending Clause and ASUCR Boycott and Divestment from Corporations Complicit in the Ongoing Genocide in Gaza Bill passed last winter. The statement calls upon the student body to email Vice Chancellor Haynes to retract his statement and cease pressuring ASUCR to “undemocratically remove our bill.” The response was published on ASUCR’s social media platforms.
Senate Resolution F24-002 centered around support and increased funding for the R’Garden, UCR’s campus sustainability and food security project that seeks to grow fresh produce to distribute to the student body. Once implemented the resolution would increase fees by $10 for all students, excluding those who rely in some measure upon financial aid, to further contribute to the R’Garden.
The increase in fees would allow for not only sustained crop maintenance, but also teaching opportunities and community engagement such as the Fall Harvest Festival which could not be held this year due to a lack of funds. The bill also approved the addition of three new positions and as well as the creation of five intern positions to further support the project. The bill was passed 14-0-0, however, Executive Director Asha Nettles explained that the bill will take time to be enacted as it has to go through a formal review process at the administrative level.
Senate Bill F24-010, authored by Aushee Heagney, Assistant Elections Director, would require prospective Senate candidates to attend senate meetings. Heagney explained that this was to familiarize future candidates with job responsibilities and ensure they are “not getting into [the position] blindly.” The bill also increases candidate budgets by $50, changing total candidate spending from $350 to $400. Additionally, it allows the time needed to fill out the violations report form to increase from two to five days. The bill was passed 13-0-0.
Senate Bill F24-011 updates the Student Voice Committee’s (SVC) bylaws to accommodate their departure from the Executive Cabinet (ECAB). Given that SVC is no longer part of the Executive Branch, Senate Bill F24-011 attempts to outline the new logistical concerns posed, namely in regards to when reports would be read. The bill stated that the committee would be allocated time during the bi-weekly ECAB meetings to present their findings and data to the Executive Cabinet.
After concerns were brought up regarding having enough time to present SVC’s findings at ECAB meetings, a debate ensued regarding the validity of this request considering SVC ability to allocate time within ECAB meetings given that they are no longer apart of ECAB and the SVC’s representation within ASUCR. After multiple attempts to pass the legislation, a motion was made to table the bill 10-3-0.
Senate Bill F24-018 was brought before the Senate once again after having been sent back to the Legislative Review Committee with no changes having been made. The changes that were proposed mainly centered around including the Highlander Action Committee and not including the University of California Student Association (UCSA) in the bill. Vice President of External Affairs Vivian Herrera, urged the Senate to reconsider passing the bill because of how an imbalance of workload would be created within the External Affairs Branch as well as how issues regarding student activism could be severely limited due to funding issues that the two organizations deal with.
Further concerns were brought up regarding a potential abuse of power even within the two year evaluation period as well as a potential issue regarding checks and balances as ECAB would be the sole governing body overseeing committee removal. President Pro Tempore Leila Haidar warned against hypotheticals stating that there is currently no process for the removal of committees and that committees could hypothetically be removed with the deletion of a Senate Bill. If passed, the bill would allow for a formal removal process for committees. After some continued back and forth the bill was tabled 10-1-2.
CNAS Senator Anthony Ching and BCOE Senator Uma Akundi were absent and CNAS Senator Vinisha Lalli was excused.
