A bill going to ASUU’s Senate on Thursday could make big changes to the role of incoming vice president-elect Madison Black.
The joint bill, which is sponsored by Rep. Mark Pittman in the Assembly of the College of Law and Sen. John Paul Soares of the College of Law in the Senate, would alter section two of ASUU’s Redbook, which outlines the Assembly and the role of the vice president, who currently also serves as chair of the Assembly.
However, the bill would strip the vice president of this role in the Assembly, allowing the body to vote in their own leader as a “speaker of the Assembly.” The bill would thus dissolve the vice president’s ability to appoint a vice chair of the Assembly and conduct Assembly meetings, but would change the vice president’s role in the Senate by allowing them to cast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate. The model would more closely resemble the structure of the United States government, in which the Vice President can cast a tie-breaking vote in the U.S. Senate, but is removed completely from the House of Representatives.
“ASUU must have separate branches of government to run effectively,” Pittman said. “It is necessary for the executive branch to stay in the executive branch and not become part of the legislative . . . This is a separation of powers issue.”
Soares will present the bill before the Senate, and if the bill were to pass, Pittman said he would present it to the Assembly as quickly as possible. This could be as early as next week if ASUU calls an emergency session due to the controversy surrounding the Utah Man fight song.
Black, however, is not on board with the potential changes to her new position.
“First off, the reason I wanted to be VP is [because of] the Assembly,” Black said. “I think it would be a disturbance in ASUU if the Senate were to vote for the bill.”
Black said she thinks it is unfair for members of ASUU to do this without warning, especially after the elections season.
“It’s unfair to base how I would do off of past administrations,” Black said.
Black said she thinks the issue arose from distrust some members of the Assembly have toward current ASUU vice president Sara Seastrand, which she said was due in part to Seastrand’s appointment to the position after former ASUU president Nick Ferre was impeached due to poor academic performance. ASUU president Sam Ortiz, who ran as Ferre’s vice president, assumed the presidential role after the impeachment.
“From the start, people didn’t see how hard she worked,” Black said.
Black said that Seastrand’s appointment might have turned some members off, but she said changing the position would harm to the way the Assembly functions.
“If there isn’t the VP in the Assembly, it will cause more bias in the Assembly,” Black said.
Seastrand did not respond to requests for comment.