Legislative Update [April 6, 2012 Edition]
Here’s a breakdown of the last Boca House of Representatives meeting. This recap is brought to you by UP reporter Dylan Bouscher.
LEGISLATION
Old Business
BRHR-12-04: “A Resolution Supporting the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act” was sent back to committees after Rep. Lexi Rosario made a motion to do so. It will be brought up at the next meeting. If passed, the resolution will show SG’s support for Congress passing a bill the U.S. House of Representatives also sent to committee.
BRHR-12-05: “Preserving a Landmark,” passed unanimously. This resolution shows that students on the Boca campus oppose the demolition plans for the Algonquin Residence Hall. Now the resolution will be sent to the Board of Trustees and FAU Director of Housing Jill Eckardt.
The Algonquin dorms are the oldest on campus. Although SG President Ayden Maher said there are no immediate plans to demolish Algonquin, the Boca campus Master Plan does say it will be eventually knocked down and a new dorm will be built in its place.
New Business
BRHB-11-08: “Boca Raton Campus Budget Allocations 2012-2013 Fiscal Year” was sent to committees. The bill was written and sponsored by Campus Budget Chair Jason Wu, and Boca House Speaker Boris Bastidas. If passed, the bill will approve the Campus Budget and Appropriations Committee (CBAC) budget for the 2012-2013 fiscal year.
BRHB-12-09: ”FAU Paintball Club Refund for National Tournament” passed. The bill repays Paintball Club president Gregory Montalvo $3,102.40 for the club’s trip to the National Collegiate Paintball Association (NCPA) national tournament in Lakeland, Florida.
Usually the paintball club would be reimbursed by Student Travel, but they ran out of money for the year. So they asked the House for the money instead. When the club’s president found out Travel couldn’t fund the trip, Montalvo decided to charge the expenses to his personal credit card. Now the House is repaying him.
Here’s a video of the paintball club beating the West Point Knights at the NCPA Tournament last year.
The only representatives who didn’t vote yes on this bill were Joe Kruempel and Wu. Kruempel abstained since he is a member of the paintball club. Wu voted no and said, “I don’t like allocating money to accounts where we have no oversight.”
The club is competing for the NCPA national championship starting April 13. Click here to watch a live webcast of the tournament.BRHR-12-06: “Students Need a Microwave for the Breezeway” passed unanimously after being amended. The resolution suggests FAU Facilities replace the broken microwave by the Life Sciences building on the Breezeway. It was written and sponsored by Rep. Clairemine Cyrise and will now be shown to Facilities.
BRHB-12-10: “Dare to Be Prepared 2012” was sent to committees after Rosario made a motion to do so. It was written by SG Coordinator Mike Burman, and sponsored by Bastidas. The bill would give the Career Development Center $1,456.50 to host a seminar that would help FAU graduates find jobs.
OTHER NEWS
Representatives Kalia Fleming and Langston Wimberly were elected and sworn in during an in-house election.
The Boca Raton City Council will vote at their meeting on April 10 on whether or not to hang FAU banners on Glades Road, according to Maher. Click here. to see the city’s agenda.
After SG leaders voted to recommend a 5% increase to the A&S fee (included in all students’ tuition) at a private meeting, they decided to vote again at two public meetings. The second vote unanimously recommended to raise A&S fees by 3%. Now the recommendation will be shown to the BOT, who have final say on raising the fee. The last time the fee was increased, SG leaders’ salaries went up $1.75 per hour, according to Bastidas. If the BOT votes to raise the fee by 3%, students will pay $12.32 per credit hour instead of the $11.96 they currently pay.
April 9, 2012 at 9:23 pm
I’m looking at the agenda and I still do not see any resolutions stated here about FAU banners. What am I missing?
April 11, 2012 at 3:06 am
^ The part where Student Body President Ayden Maher is making it all up to try and help repair a tarnished image.
April 11, 2012 at 6:18 pm
^ The Boca Raton City Council wanted more time to consider the resolution. They should take it up at there April 24th meeting. Its their discretion to place an item on the agenda. Making stuff up, Stan to repair a “tarnished image” wouldn’t make much sense.
April 12, 2012 at 5:41 pm
*their April 24th meeting
Get your facts straight before throwing out dates. According to the information you provided the city council was to vote on the banners on Tuesday. It was never placed on their agenda so what may I ask led you to this conclusion? The city council would not consider voting on an item if they did not feel comfortable with the issue. Even an amateur politician such as yourself should know that. Now make use of that nice salary and tuition reimbursement we all pay for and go make the city council feel comfortable with voting on and passing the resolution. And please don’t come back with any more nonsense about the banners until you have a real update.
April 15, 2012 at 1:09 pm
The City of Boca Raton actually has a separate committee called the Community Appearance Board which handles requests to hang banners, install signs, determine height of buildings, etc. The CAB handles each item as it comes and they never table an item because they “need time to consider the resolution.” The City Council doesn’t bother with things like that unless it’s specifically deferred to them.
April 19, 2012 at 8:29 pm
Here it is:
http://bocaraton.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=29&meta_id=39262
Voting on it Tuesday, April 24th at 6:00pm. Please show up at the City Council meeting and show your support!
Kudos to Ayden Maher for finally getting this done!