The Iowa State Student Government approved $15,416 in funding bills and conducted a first reading of a resolution recommitting the Senate to non-partisanship Wednesday.
Historically, StuGov has maintained non-partisanship, and Speaker of the Senate Claire Hartley, a senior studying political science, explained that the Senate must strive to continue this.
“Promising them [students] that we are remaining non-partisan in our decisions and in our thinking, in how we are treating students, in how we are representing students,” Hartley said. “We are representing all students equally.”
The Senate approved a $604 funding bill for the AI at ISU kickoff event. The funds come from the Senate Discretionary Account. The event seeks to bring students from all colleges together to use AI to solve real-world problems.
Senators discussed the bill’s funding source and whether the money should come from the Senate discretionary account or the events account.
“The Finance Committee deemed it to be Senate discretionary because we want it to be more of an internal event,” Finance Director Luv Saini, a senior studying marketing, said.
Senator Noah Kammeyer, a senior studying political science, said he agreed with the Senate using the discretionary fund.
“The goal of the events account is for external organizations, and it’s not something we used last year or the year before, I believe, for an internal item,” Kammeyer said.
StuGov voted in favor of the funding bill, and the money will ultimately come from the Senate discretionary account.
The Senate approved the Hindu YUVA request of $1,128 in a funding bill for the Ganash Utsav event, specifically for food and venue costs. The club will self-fund the remaining $6,689 of the total $7,997 cost.
The Senate also approved a funding bill reallocating $7,705 for the women’s hockey club to purchase protective pants and helmets. The money comes from the FY27 annual allocations account.
“Helmets and hockey pants are required for women to play hockey,” Paige Hines, treasurer of the women’s hockey club and sophomore studying supply chain management, said. “The reason it wasn’t in our original budget is because we didn’t know the original quantity we needed. We are asking for 22 pants and 20 helmets.”
StuGov voted unanimously in support of the funding. The men’s hockey team received $22,750 in annual allocations for helmets and hockey pants for FY27.
The Senate voted to approve a $5,108 funding bill for the Equestrian Club Hunt Team conference event.
Lorelle Fernandez, vice president and show coordinator for the Hunt Team and a sophomore studying animal science, explained that hosting universities in the region requires providing certain equipment.
“What we are asking for is funding for the facility rentals, the stall rentals per horse, jump rentals and a horse use fee,” Fernandez said.
The Senate unanimously approved the funding bill.
The African Student Association overspent by $871 due to unforeseen costs last spring. To remedy this, the student organization requested funds from the Student Organization Debt Reserve Account.
StuGov approved the request, and the organization will repay the money over the next eight semesters through a series of club-led fundraisers.
The Senate approved the executive nomination of Erik Mayer, a sophomore studying marketing, as director of marketing.
The Academic Affairs Committee sat at-large member Dain Moermond, a senior studying accounting. The Health and Wellness Committee sat two at-large members: Jeris Sturdivant, a sophomore studying industrial technology and Jackson Sanders, a junior studying management.
The Senate referred to the Rules Committee a bill that seeks to task Attorney General Renae Masson, a freshman studying political science, with additional role responsibilities. These tasks include holding a weekly office hour, serving as an ex officio member of the Rules Committee and enforcing nonfeasance, misfeasance and malfeasance.
Next, StuGov completed a first reading of a funding bill amounting to $1,200 for the Multicultural Business Network for general conferences and events. Followed by a first reading of a funding bill for the Analysis of Social Services Evaluation Team (ASSET) for FY28.
Finally, the Senate conducted a first reading of a $250 funding bill for the ISU Car Club to cover the registration costs of members attending the Midwest Ice Cream Cruise, a racetrack car show festival.