USC's student senate passed two bills of legislation at its weekly meeting on Wednesday, with one updating the student government budget and another allowing the Finance Committee to distribute funds.
The first bill, introduced by Vice Chairman of the Finance Committee Jackson Matthews, pushed to revise the Student Government budget to include donations to the Uber Discount program.
"The story behind this (bill) is that in our internal budget, we have around $5,000 allocated for the Uber Discount program, and we've received (about) $13,000 in donations from the Police Department to that program," Matthews said. "This bill just essentially just accounts for that within our budget so that Reese can do her job as treasurer."
According to the bill and Speaker of the Student Senate Maura Hamilton, funds appropriated for Student Government that are not specifically allocated in this legislation will be placed into the Internal Monetary Fund (IMF), which acts as a reserve for unused funds. The IMF allows Student Government to have funds available for unexpected initiatives or donations, such as the recent Uber discount donations. However, any money in the IMF must be approved by the student senate before it can be used.
In contrast, the Executive Fund (EF) is used for specific projects and initiatives, and the President having the discretion to use the funds without needing approval from the Treasurer or Senate. The EF has a limited amount, usually under $2,000, and is under the control of the Student Body President.
The bill also allows the Student Body President to request that funds from the Executive Fund be moved into the Internal Monetary Fund at any time, although no funds can be transferred from the Internal Monetary Fund back into the Executive Fund.
Vice Chairman Matthews said that Student Body Treasurer Reese Lycan inspired the bill.
"The treasurer comes to Finance Committee meetings, and she told me that for her to do her job and to allocate the money that she needed to allocate for the Uber Discount program, I needed to modify the budget for her, since she can't do it as a treasurer," Matthews said. "I just went in and changed a few numbers, and that was it."
Hamilton said the bill allows Student Government to give a greater resource to the student body.
"We're going to be able to pay for more Ubers, which is super fun because we definitely want to serve as many students as possible," Hamilton said. "We're super appreciative for all the financial donations from the university department."
Another piece of legislation, introduced by the Finance Committee, was a recommendation to allow the committee to allocate funds to various student organizations.
Chairman of the Finance Committee William Wenzel said the bill received an amendment to combine this week’s allocations with those from last week because last week’s senate meeting was canceled due to the university’s weather closure.
"The Finance Committee reviewed $30,614.83 between the two weeks, and we allocated $27,151.95," Wenzel said.
The Baptist Collegiate Ministry received a financial allocation of $3,000. The Academic Team was allocated $1,751.41. Carolina Competitive Dance Club received $2,530. The Gamecock AI and Machine Learning Association was granted $473.91. The Charcuties Club received $424.29. Pi Sigma Epsilon was allocated $204. Circle K International received $1,000. The Club Manager's Association of America was granted $3,000. Gamecock Robotics received an allocation of $6,626.87. Delta Sigma Pi was awarded $976.73, and Dawah on Campus received $116.94.
Next week's senate session will be held in Rutledge Chapel, following the State of the Student Body event on Feb. 5 at 5:30 p.m.