[A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the amendments to Title VIII would be sent to the university president, Moez Limayem, for final approval after a potential approving vote from the SG Senate. The story has since been corrected to state that the SG president, Michael Barcal, will have final approval of the Title VIII amendments.] 

Senators in the Budget and Allocations Committee gathered in the Student Union’s Senate Chambers Friday to amend and pass the proposed changes to Title VIII of the Student Government Constitution.

The bill, authored by Treasurer Benjamin Smith and renamed SB-24F-3763 from SB-24S-3763 in the meeting, changes the amount of funds Registered Student Organizations can request and provides alterations to the tier system by which RSOs are classified.

Per section 855.4 of the proposed legislation, the Treasurer has the authority to alter the tier status of RSOs “for any reason.”

During the meeting, Senator and Sergeant at Arms Liz Kramer questioned whether the revisions allowed Tier One RSOs to ask for more funding than their tier status allows. 

Smith responded that he would be “totally willing” to support an amendment preventing Tier One RSOs from requesting over their $2,000 limit for durable goods. 

During the meeting, Spinnaker asked Smith whether the bill would increase the Treasurer’s power over RSOs’ funding and tier status.

Smith replied, asserting that it is already the Treasurer’s power to alter RSOs’ tier statuses.

“No new powers [have been] given to the Treasurer,” he said. “If anything, two new checks [were added on the Treasurer’s power],” he added.

Later in the meeting, the bill was amended to include an additional subsection under section 855.2. In the new subsection, 855.2D, RSOs can now advance tier status after a request for additional funding has been approved. 

The amendment differs from the bill’s previous amendments, which only allowed RSOs to advance in tier status “each fiscal year in which they re-register,” per section 855.3.

Most of the amendment process was spent correcting the legislation’s numerous grammatical and clerical errors. Kramer initially moved to table the amendment due to the mistakes, but no committee members seconded her motion. 

After the amendment process, the bill and its amendments were taken to a vote before the committee, which passed it.

After the meeting, Spinnaker spoke with Kramer to ask why she had called for the discussion to be tabled. Although her motion was denied, she was still satisfied with the outcome of the meeting. 

“I knew that there were a lot of amendments that needed to be made,” Kramer said. “I wanted to make sure that we were doing everything in the best interest of the students.”

“Even though it took a little bit longer than normal, I think many of us in this room are willing to do what we need to do,” Kramer said. “And take the time needed to propose the necessary amendments and get it done.”

Kramer added that the proposed legislation will be beneficial to RSOs.

“I think that ultimately providing accessibility and ease for students with OIC and any of the things is obviously of utmost importance,” she said.

Now that the bill has passed the B&A Committee, it will be brought to the entire Senate for a vote. If passed by the Senate, it will be sent to the student government president, Michael Barcal, to be signed into effect. 

The Senate will vote at the next Senate meeting on Sept. 13 at noon in the Senate Chambers. All Student Government meetings are open to the public.