At Monday’s Student Association meeting, SA members decided to hold off voting on a bill that would decide what happened to recently rediscovered emergency reserve funds.

Two weeks ago, members eliminated all mention of an emergency reserve fund from the SA codes. At the time of the votes, members were unsure if the fund still existed and wanted to eliminate confusion. Last week, an administrator told members the fund still exists and contains $176,000. Next week, SA members will vote on whether to pass a bill that would reinstate the mention of the fund into the codes. If passed, the funds will be used in emergencies.

It is disappointing and fiscally irresponsible that SA members voted to eliminate the mention of the emergency reserve fund from the codes without knowing if the fund still existed. Members should be certain of the facts concerning all bills they are voting on. If the existence of the fund was questioned two weeks ago, members should not have voted on it at that time.

When it comes to money and budgeting, it is the comptroller’s responsibility to inform assembly members. The comptroller should have known the fund still existed and should have known how much money was in the funds before it was voted on.

But it is admirable that members will not vote on the bill until next week. This allows members to think about how their constituents would want them to vote. It allows new members to become acclimated to the system and learn more.  

Published on February 7, 2012 at 12:00 pm