The amendments to Title VIII of the Student Government constitution were unanimously approved, 14-0-0, in the Senate meeting on Friday, Sep. 13, in the Student Union’s Senate Chambers. According to the final roll call, 15 senators were present for the meeting, but one member did not arrive in time for the vote.

The bill, SB-24F-3763, changes the amount of funds Registered Student Organizations can request and provides alterations to the tier system by which RSOs are classified.

Treasurer Benjamin Smith, the original author of the now-approved legislation, was pleased to see its passage by the Senate.

“I think it was a good change for ourselves. I think it’ll make this whole system less confusing and it’ll help everyone,” he said after the meeting.

The Senate’s bill approval comes after last week’s Budget and Allocations Committee meeting, where the amendments were altered and approved to go before the full Senate. The bill will now be sent to Student Body President Michael Barcal to be signed into effect.

Other business discussed during the meeting included presentations by SG Assistant Director Stephanie Castro on ethics, social media presence and rules for decorum during SG meetings.

Student Body Vice President Ashlyn Davidson, in her recap of events within the Executive Branch, also announced that she would be distributing Narcan, an over-the-counter medication used to treat narcotic overdoses, to senators to have on hand for emergencies. Before the fall semester, senators received training on properly using the medication.

Spinnaker spoke with Davidson after the meeting to learn more about SG’s efforts to distribute Narcan to the student body. Davidson shared that SG has been working with Drug Free Duval to make the emergency medication accessible in various locations across campus.

“The hope is during our Safety Week, that we’re hopefully going to plan for the spring, is handing out that Narcan to students, just so they have it available at all times,” she said.

SG Chief Justice Ali Sartawi also delivered a presentation on the recent developments of the Judicial Branch. Sartawi recapped the branch’s first mock trial in over three years, which helped the justices get comfortable with future proceedings. Sartawi considered the exercise a success, specifically with the details of how the justices deliberated the case.

“We came to our own verdict and went through the processes. We even had witnesses come, even people outside of Student Government who were not here, came and testified in front of the court and everything, and it was an absolutely joyous experience, and all the feedback we heard was positive, so we’re excited to do another one,” he said.

Sartawi is also optimistic about having a full Judicial Branch in the near future. The branch is two justices shy of having its first full court since 2021.

“We have a lot of applicants [for the open seats],” he said.

The next SG meetings will be in the Senate Chambers on Friday, Sep. 20. First, for the Rules and Oversight Committee at 10 am, the B&A Committee at noon and finally for the University and Student Affairs Committee at 2 pm. All SG meetings are open to the public.