The IU Student Association Congress met six times this semester to vote and had almost as many committee meetings to draft and amend bills representatives would vote on. At the end of the semester, Congress had passed just two bills that directly affect students.
The bills passed were a resolution from the Student Life committee that moved to allow students to carry pepper spray in Assembly Hall and a resolution that would work with IU language departments and centers on campus to create a more formal resource base for international students struggling with English.
“I think that Congress could have done a lot more,” said George Pearcy, parliamentarian and off-campus representative for Congress. “I think that bureaucracy got in the way of a lot of those ideas being passed.”
During the congressional session last school year, representatives passed seven bills during the fall semester and 16 bills that did not have to do with IUSA housekeeping, such as appointments to Congress or amendments to the budget, according to Congress’ Canvas site.
This semester several bills that might have been passed were tabled instead as a way to hold them over until they can be amended to have a more concrete action plan.
Pearcy said he feels the use of a tabling vote can create red tape and suspend a bill in limbo instead of moving forward to benefit IU.
A bill he co-sponsored and that sought to increase resources that students could use to report and move past hate crimes was tabled at the last voting meeting of the semester.
“Congress seems to want a lot of details,” Pearcy said. “On one hand, they’re taking Congress too seriously, but on the other hand in doing that they’re focusing too much on details rather than on the goal, which is to increase the quality of student life here at IU.”
Other representatives said they think that low number of successful bills this semester isn’t so much a symptom of bureaucracy as it is a step toward higher quality legislation in the spring semester.
“A huge positive of this year’s Congress is that it’s not just necessarily passing bills left and right,” said Brandon Sakbun, adviser to the vice president of Congress. “The direction we’re really pushing the legislative branch of IUSA is one that really comes out not just making statements but backing them up and seeing them through.”
Sakbun said it was more important for representatives to take ownership of their bills and include parts that could be followed up on rather than presenting a grand plan that makes no progress.
“Numerically there are not as many resolutions passed yet,” he said. “But the quality of the resolutions I bet we pass this next legislative session will be tenfold better than some of the ones you’ve seen these past couple years. They really want to take that next step to help the student population.”
The number of active Congress members may play a role in the number of bills that get presented and passed.
Since several representatives stepped down or were removed for inactivity, there has been a deficit for several months. During some voting meetings, only the bare minimum of representatives necessary to call a vote was met.
“Communication in general is a problem in Congress,” Pearcy said. “Right now we have 20 or 24 open seats. We were told it was a priority to fill those seats, but since the first week of November, none of them have been filled.
When bills are passed, it is difficult for students to access them.
Though they are supposed to be uploaded to the Congress website, only the language access bill is available, and the rest are from the 2014-15 school year.
However, representatives remain hopeful that the spring semester will bring change and an influx of properly structured bills.
“The greatest accomplishment this semester is putting themselves in a position for success next semester,” Sakbun said. “We’re on the right track to take the next step on a lot of issues that we should have gotten this semester. There’s quality people out there trying to do the right thing.”
