The Legislative Branch, or the Senate, is made up of elected representatives from the student body. Each class elects 3 representatives to serve on the Student Senate, as well as 2 Commuter Senators and 3 At-Large Senators. The legislative branch sets goals/projects for each year, creates policies that govern the SGA, approves all expenditures, and acts on all petitions from the student body.
Legislative Duties
Senators:
- Are required to attend both the Fall and Spring Leadership Retreat
- May introduce to SGA Senate any motion, bill, amendment, act or question they so desire. They may debate, vote for, against or abstain from voting on any issue brought before SGA Senate.
- Shall be granted access to files and records of any BC SGA committee, executive officer or Cabinet member, except those of the BC SGA Judicial Council or those of the Chief Justice
- Shall not be punished outside of the SGA Senate for any speech or debate they make in SGA Senate
- Shall inform the Speaker and SGA Advisor of any anticipated absence from an SGA Senate meeting 24 hours prior to the meeting, unless an emergency situation arises.
- In the case of an emergency, the Speaker and SGA Advisor should be notified as soon as the Senator discovers they will be absent from the Senate meeting. The speaker will then determine if the absence is excused.
- A Senator may appoint another Student Senator as a proxy voter for a meeting providing that the absence has been excused by the Speaker
- A Senator may carry only one proxy
- Financial Powers
- The SGA Senate shall establish fully the SGA Budget for the fiscal year
- The Secretary of Finances and Student Organizations shall prepare the budget for approval
- The SGA budget must be presented to the Senate during the first meeting of the new semester
- Since the Freshmen Senators will not be elected during that time, a quorum will be reflected only on the 11 senators currently in office
- Shall enact, by majority vote, laws of the student body necessary to the well-being of the student community
- Shall approve or disapprove appointments made by the Student Body President, and appointments of Senators to fill vacancies in the SGA Senate
- Shall overrule a veto of the Student Body President by a two-thirds majority vote of the total membership of the SGA Senate elected and qualified
- Shall charter SGA Senate or Executive committees and grant, revoke or amend the charters of these committees
- Shall define and establish the Student Conduct Code of the BC SGA
- Shall punish its members for disorderly behavior
- Shall, with a two-thirds vote, enact the Articles of Impeachment to be heard by the Judicial Council