The University of Michigan Central Student Government met Tuesday evening to discuss changes to requesting internal funds, election procedures and runoff elections for student representatives.
The Assembly discussed AR-1146, a resolution to limit the funds that can be requested from the Legislative Discretionary Account to $5,000 for a single motion. Previously, there was not a limit to requesting funds from the LDA, and these motions were put under the Operations Procedure, a category separate from general motions.
LSA sophomore Karthik Pasupula, sponsor of the resolution, said the resolution was created in response to large motions for LDA funds in the past semester.
“Before the motions were proposed, we had around $25,000 in the LDA and the motions combined turnout to be more than that amount,” Pasupula said. “Being in the position that two motions proposed in large amounts, it gives us less time to consider the appropriations proposal and decreases transparency.”
Pasupula also said motions for funds more than $5,000 are possible, but there needs to be a case that can be confirmed through the Operations Procedure.
“If any Assembly members want to propose a large appropriation they are certainly involved with the rights to do so,” Pasupula said. “However, if they want to pass a large appropriation in one meeting, they should make a case.”
This resolution was passed unanimously.
The assembly also discussed AR-1147, a resolution to create transparency for the CSG elections process and increase voter turnout for elections. This resolution also aims to clarify the wording of the election code, set an elections budget and a timeline for the elections committee. The main goal of this resolution is to simplify the elections process and reach out to communities that are traditionally underrepresented in the assembly.
LSA junior Noah Zimmerman, one of the resolution sponsors, said he supports reforming the election code so that the elections committee can be paid for their hard work.
“It’s not a new thing for us to be paying them,” Zimmerman said. “We are adding two new positions and we’re taking out $1,000 more dollars for the budget. I don’t think we should not compensate people for their work, so I personally think it’s a good price to pay for a (well done) election.”
The resolution was passed unanimously.
CSG also ran runoff elections for the ties on the student representatives. Music, Theatre & Dance junior Juan Gonzalez Valdivieso ran against Music, Theatre & Dance freshman Lily Kwak. Gonzalez won the vote against Kwak.
Gonzalez said he hopes to create resolutions to improve safety and city infrastructure in Ann Arbor.
“Some of the points I’ve been pushing towards in the climate crisis are with the hopes that the city can see that as a sort of contribution to the greater goods of the city,” Gonzalez said. “So when it comes to city safety or making Ann Arbor a walkable city, I think trying to incorporate some of those things to resolutions or funding within the Ann Arbor campus can create a trend that can be taken on by the local government in Ann Arbor.”
Rackham student Rawan Latif won the election by default due to the absence of other candidates and received unanimous consent from the Assembly.
Daily Staff Reporter Erin Chai can be reached at echai@umich.edu.