MSA bill would revamp student fee referendum process
The Missouri Student Association Operations Committee met Tuesday night to discuss a bill as well as the confirmation of a new budget committee chairman, both of which will go before full senate next Wednesday.
The Operations Committee approved sophomore Matt Sheppard, a member of the budget committee since last semester, for the post. Sheppard was chosen out of a competitive pool of applicants for the position, speaker Jonathan Mays said. Sheppard will go before full Senate during the joint MSA-Residence Hall Association-Legion of Black Collegians-Graduate Professional Council meeting next Wednesday for final approval.
The committee also passed a bill that would give students who vote on new student fees more responsibility for the fees levied by referendum. The bill would require that at least 25% of the proposed fee should be “assessed in the fiscal year following the referendum’s passage.”
In the past, students would be asked to vote on applying student fees for projects but fees would not actually be levied for a few years later. Voting students would have no fiscal responsibility for what they are being asked to approve, Mays said.
“It’s not a lot of encouragement to put a lot of thought into it,” Mays said.
Also during the meeting, Operations Committee Chairman Corey Gibbons announced his intention to step down from his position. The position is now open.
