Senate plays role in $13 million budget process

By: Melissa Caceres/News Director

The first of eight meetings regarding budget hearings and deliberations will proceed as scheduled today, though a new body will have approval power.

The Senates from both the Modesto Maidique Campus and Biscayne Bay Campus Student Government Councils now have the responsibility of approving the allocation of $13 million of Activity & Service fees that will affect around 60 student organizations and facilities.

“Because the SGA Constitution defines the legislative branch as the MMC/BBC Senates, the Court finds that the University-wide Council is not the final legislative body that should be approving the University-wide budget,” according to the SGC-MMC Supreme Court ruling.

“You [the Senate] will now have more of a say,” said Sanjeev Udhnani, SGC-MMC vice president, at the Jan. 6 SGC-MMC meeting.

The legality of the previous budget allocation process was first questioned by the Coalition of Students for Reform, a self-proclaimed student political party, through a petition that was heard by SGC-MMC’s Supreme Court on Jan. 27.

According to Florida Statute chapter 1009.24 (10) (b), the legislative body of SGA must give the final approval of the allocated funds, instead of the nine members of the U-wide council.

After reviewing the petition, the SGC-MMC Supreme Court, without input from the SGC-BBC Supreme Court, ruled in favor of the writ filed by Velez, with the decision being released on Feb. 4.

At the meeting on Monday, Mohamed Al-Darsani, associate justice of the SGC-MMC Supreme Court, expanded on the ruling and the effects it has the structure of SGA’s judiciary branch.

He stated that the SGC-MMC Supreme Court “does have jurisdiction over cases concerning that SGA Constitution and is not required to establish an ad hoc court with members of BBC to hear such cases.”

“[Having] the power to do something, doesn’t mean that you must do something,” said Al-Darsani, refering to the SGC Supreme Court’s power to create an ad hoc court composed of justices from both campuses to address University-wide cases. “The executive branch has the power to create a cabinet but that doesn’t mean that they must.”

SGC-MMC Associate Justice Alexander Williams added that at the time of the ruling “there was no other supreme court.”

“There was no one at the other supreme court to have an ad hoc hearing with  and given the time constraints, it made everything rather time sensitive,” said Williams. “We felt that we could go on, given that we have jurisdictional grounds over any constitutional provisions.”

A  proposal to amend the SGA Constitution to create an appellate court was made by Al-Darsani at the meeting in case of any future conflict between the two seperate courts.

“If there was one additional level, that would be able to solve the problem,” said Al-Darsani.

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