MSA Senate speaker to assign bills to primary committee

The change will make MSA more like the Missouri state legislature.

By Campbell Massie

Published April 30, 2009

The Missouri Students Association Senate passed legislation Wednesday night to reorganize how bills are reviewed and voted on.

The bill will amend committee review to state that the MSA Senate speaker would assign a bill to a primary committee relevant to the act in question. The bill would also be assigned to two other committees. MSA has functioned in this manner before, but there has been confusion among committees as to what they need to vote on, Senate Speaker Amanda Shelton said.

In practicality, all acts before were sent through the Operations Committee for review, after the committee voted on the bill, it would be considered by the full Senate.

Operations Vice Chairman Evan Wood introduced the legislation because he feels there is a feeling in Senate that Operations is the "end all, be all" committee of MSA.

"Not all the acts we see in Senate are relevant to the charge of Operations," Wood said.

In both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Missouri General Assembly, bills are assigned to committees by the Speaker of the House.

"In principle, MSA is supposed to mirror state legislature," Wood said.

Because Operations will no longer act as the primary committee for all bills, Shelton believes it will cut down on meeting times for the committee. The Operations Committee has been known to meet for as long as three hours, so the change would give senators more time for school, Shelton said.

"I think it will definitely help with the academics of Senators," Shelton said.

Shelton said she believes the biggest effect senators will see from the change is greater clarity on issues, especially those for which they are specifically immediately responsible for, instead of searching through several bills that do not relate to their committee.

"Committees will know exactly what they need to look for," Shelton said.

A bill was also passed through Senate by members of the Board of Elections Commissioners that changes the petition process for the nomination of presidential slates. The change in bylaws will allow students to sign more than one slate's petition.

"I think it will be a little easier for us," BEC Chairman Dan Kelley said. "That way we don't have to go through and cross check between petitions."