Iowa State Student Government discussed the potential censure of a Senator Wednesday, resulting in one member leaving the room and the Senate recessing.
Senator Matt Miller removed himself from the meeting swiftly by slamming his fists on the table, standing up so fast that his chair fell over, and running out. This resulted in a Senate recess.
There had been an internal investigation into Miller and a proposed censure of him. A censure is a ‘slap on the wrist,’ meaning that StuGov does not like his actions and does not wish him to continue this, or for other members to engage in these actions.
“[Miller] has defaulted on their duties as delineated in the bylaws; and, these duties include but are not limited to: failure to attend and record office hours, failure to attend a working meeting, leaving Senate early, and use of a phone during Senate,” according to the StuGov agenda.
The investigation showed Miller missed three office hours and that there were multiple messages from Speaker of the Senate Claire Hartley asking him to complete his office hours, most of which he did not respond to. During discussion, multiple Senators shared their dislike for his lack of communication.
“Senator Miller has accrued three nonfeasances in such a short time period that we moved from the initial investigation to the secondary investigation,” Attorney General Renae Masson said. “The Rules Committee determined that the nonfeasances combined with Senator Miller’s lack of communication with the Speaker and the Vice Speaker of the Senate regarding concerns of their missed office hours, the absences from the Senate, and early departures from the Senate constitute grounds for removal to censure.”
A large file of compiled evidence showed the alleged proof of these issues.
During the discussion of the proposed censure, Miller shared his thoughts.
“For office hours in April, I think I just forgot to sign the sheet for one, honestly,” Miller said. “ I don’t really remember; it was April. I’ll say the missed work meeting: I was there, that was the photo working meeting. I got my picture taken, I was a little late. The photos are there, so that’s weird.”
Miller went on to explain he only used his phone for a short period of time during a meeting.
“The Chief Justice asked us to advertise the other justice positions that we needed to fill, and I did that for a minute or two during committee report,” Miller said. “It’s a good use of time. I don’t know if I was paying attention, though.”
Senator Jacob Schilling shared his thoughts on the matter too, specifically referencing workforce readiness.
“When we’re done with college, I assume we’ll all be going to have careers,” Schilling said. “If you don’t show up to your responsibilities, you’re going to get fired. I mean, it’s time to grow up.”
In order for this bill of censure to be passed, it requires two-thirds of the Senate to vote yes. In the end, the vote did not pass, with nine votes for yes, six votes for no, and five abstaining. Abstaining votes count as no in regard to a two-thirds majority. Both Speaker of the Senate Hartley and Vice Speaker Ryker Markus abstained.
Miller was not permitted to vote. After momentarily voting no, the Senate quickly removed his right to vote in this decision. The vote ultimately failed.
There was a clarification from Chief Justice Kaitlyn Huwel about the discussion at last week’s meeting over dress code for the StuGov Senators and First Amendment rights.
“When I assessed that this bill that was brought did not pose a threat to freedom of expression in Student Government, I was not saying that free expression doesn’t apply to Student Government or that clothing can never constitute protected expression,” Huwel said.
Huwel then went on to mention the case of Tinker v. Des Moines, which dealt with freedom of expression through clothing such as black armbands to protest the Vietnam War.
“My point about this particular resolution was that, based on the language presented and the clarifications made by the Speaker and Vice Speaker, I did not see an attempt to prohibit people from expressing their political, personal or ideological views,” Huwel said. “This resolution establishes standards for how members of the legislative branch appear while conducting official Senate business. This sets a minimum for what Senators should wear, not a restrictive maximum that bars Senators from freely expressing their views as protected under the Constitution.”
The Senate passed a bill in favor of a business casual dress code that respects both religious and cultural accommodations.
During open forum, Off-Campus Senator Grant Pautsch brought up an idea in light of the multiple sexual assaults that have happened on campus recently, and he thought it would be a good idea to amend the bylaws to require all Senators to complete a required Green Dot training.
The Senate granted $500 to the Indian Student Association for their next event, Dandiya Night, in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union. The money will go towards the cost of a DJ and audio equipment.
There was an amendment to the Election Commission expanding the number of members from eight to ten, in order to have two people trained to replace the two who are graduating soon.
The Senate confirmed Election Commission members: Sabrina Olson, a junior studying Political Science; Aniyah Blackwell, a freshman studying Political Science and Criminal Justice; Dimash Abaiuly, a freshman studying Electrical Engineering; and Hayden Engkjer, a sophomore in Political Science.
The Senate seated Zachary Alwardt, a freshman studying electrical engineering, as an engineering Senator.
The Senate confirmed the nominee for the Clerk of the Senate, Cait Bare, a junior studying Dietetics.
The next Student Government meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Union.