Associated Students of Madison is one step away from a final decision on chair stipends, which have been under development since November, after Student Council gave them initial approval Wednesday.
At its meeting, the council unanimously approved a bylaw change that would tie ASM chair stipends to a percentage of tuition. However, the ASM constitution stipulates a bylaw change must be approved at two consecutive Student Council meetings.
Legislative Affairs Chair Adam Johnson said he does not foresee any major opposition at the council’s April 14 meeting, where he predicts a quick approval of the stipend changes.
During last night’s meeting, Johnson proposed several amendments to the bylaws, which were passed without much debate.
He said he worked in conjunction with Rep. Max Love on the amendments, which included a 20 percent deduction of a chair’s stipend for the month if he or she did not turn in a stipend report before a Student Council meeting.
ASM Chair Tyler Junger said the chair reports would be available online for greater transparency and are currently available to the public.
The stipend decisions, if passed, would require future ASM sessions to change the bylaws in order to change the tuition percentages the stipends are tied to, a check against future councils finding a loophole and arbitrarily increasing their stipends.
Along with the first vote on the stipend bylaws, a new Rules Committee was approved unanimously by council and will be officially formed if passed at the next meeting.
The Rules Committee, previously called the Bylaws Committee, would consist of council members and students from outside ASM appointed through Nominations Board. It would serve as a maintenance committee to sort through the ambiguous language of the ASM bylaws.
“The ASM bylaws are a mess,” Junger said in the meeting’s agenda.
The council discussion took an ironic turn when the creation of the Rules Committee pointed out problems and ambiguities in the ASM bylaws.
Johnson said that is exactly why the committee is needed.
“It is essential to have someone who knows the rules so they do not sit and argue. It is an important decision and an essential position. The purpose of this committee is to not introduce new ideas. I see it as a maintenance committee to make sure our bylaws are not contradictory,” Johnson said.
Finance Committee Chair Matt Beemsterboer said while the committee should be open to students outside of ASM, there should be a check on Nominations Board to make sure students are not completely clueless of parliamentary procedure.
Engineering Rep. T.J. Madsen said a student would not have to have a specific interest in the ASM bylaws, but parliamentary procedure in general in order to be eligible to participate on the committee.
The chair of the Rules Committee, if selected, would be a member of council and also serve as council’s parliamentarian.
Johnson also said he did not foresee much opposition at next week’s meeting for the creation of the Rules Committee.
