By Harry Boyce
The Bellarmine Student Government almost always cuts bills during assembly yet passed two recent ones in full.
Students Gisela Martinez and Adriana Eggen submitted two different kinds of bills to SGA. Brody Young, the vice president of finance, said bills are rarely rejected outright but instead have certain items cut.
Martinez, a senior and treasurer of TEDx Bellarmine U, said the process is “bureaucratic.”
Martinez said she felt some questions asked during the assembly and vote were unnecessary. She said, though, that the bill was heavily supported by several SGA members.
Eggen, chair of the university’s health and accessibility committee, submitted a bill to fund a training session for CPR certification. She said she had been hopeful the bill would pass, which it did.
Eggen said Young was very helpful and clear about the process, informing her of what may have to be cut and how the bill would be submitted to the assembly.
Young said Eggen approached him with the bill and said because it was $270, “there was no issue with it.” The bill passed unanimously. Eggen said the event “would make 15 more people certified, 15 more aware.”
Young also said the process has a few steps. First, you must offer up the bill to an assembly member and they will sponsor it. Second, it will be sent to the relevant committee, which may be reduced in value, appropriately, and vote on whether it is a good bill. Then, it goes to the floor on the next assembly, where it is discussed and can be amended. Finally, the assembly votes on the bill.
Emily Brown, the SGA’s chief of staff, said that there have been 53 bills this school year, of which 52 were passed. More than half of those were reduced in value, she said.
Only one bill did not pass. The Bellarmine Reproductive Justice Society was seeking to become a full registered student organization, which allows them to request funding.
Paula Hernandez, the former VP of finance, said that Dr. Helen Grace Ryan, Bellarmine’s VP of student affairs and SGA’s adviser, recommended against allowing the group to become a student organization. Hernandez said the executive board was warned that it could cause the Archdiocese of Louisville to pull out of Bellarmine and reduce funding.
Martinez saw her bill passed without reduction, although there were some attempts to cut it. The $6,555 bill will assist in funding the TEDx Bellarmine U event, which hosts 200 guests yearly, she said.
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