SGA at odds with future measures of Senate Bill 62

The University of South Dakota Student Government Association has yet to come to a decision on a bill that would allocate four at-large senate seats to traditionally marginalized students.

SGA Senators tabled Senate Bill 62 during their Mar. 4 meeting after two rounds of discussion involving the Senate and the gallery.

Discussion over the bill was started when Senator Sean McCann presented the bill with no recommendation from the Student and Internal Affairs Committee.

Senator Alexis Oskolkoff, who proposed the bill, explained the recent updates of the bill.

A vote was taken to pass the bill with an outcome of 17 no, three yes and three abstentions.

Senator Rachelle Norberg voted to pass the bill, but said she had no comment on the outcome.

Oskolkoff said she did prove the legality of the bill and said it was unfortunate the Senate did not work with her as she did offer the bill to be changed.

“Hopefully the next administration will be able to come up with something because there really needs to be a policy in place,” she said.

With a vote to not pass the bill, senator Brent Olinger, said he thinks Senate Bill 62 brings up many issues that are on campus with culture but did not necessarily solve any.

“I don’t know if necessarily putting seats on the council is going to change that,” Olinger said. “I think it’s really a cultural change.”

He said the office of diversity and the new happenings with the multicultural center are methods to start changing. He said he thinks SGA can use parts of the bill, but feels they can do more to promote culture and diversity than the bill at hand.

Conversation about whether or not it was valid to table the bill after voting to not pass it, according to parliamentary procedures, came about toward the end of the meeting.

No decisions were made and it was postponed to be resolved the next meeting Mar. 18.