ASUO Senate voted for the second time to fund OSPIRG $45,000.
Senate had to vote again because the special request was not made 48 hours prior to the meeting, as the rules stipulate.
Several former members of the ASUO spoke against granting the surplus funds to OSPIRG, including former Vice President Greg Mills, former Senator Taylor Allison and former Senator Josh Losner.
Mills said in the meeting that he supports the work that OSPIRG does on campus, but disagreed with Senate’s decision to fund OSPIRG.
“We should not be allocating our mandatory student dollars for professional advocacy that many students disagree with,” Mills said.
Allison echoed Mills’ sentiments and asked Senate to think of other groups that didn’t receive increases during the PFC budget season and will rely on surplus for funding.
I would ask you to seriously consider this request,” Allison said. “And the things you won’t be able to do if you’re $45,000 limited because you gave money to lobbyists.”
Losner said that as a former Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee member, he also voted against funding OSPIRG.
Many current senators continued support for OSPIRG.
“I want to reiterate that a lot of the work OSPIRG does is on campus and getting students involved on campus,” Senator Morales-O’Connor said. “I think anything that goes to students getting more involved in the community is really great and I’m for it.”
Rebecca Rhodes was voted Senate President at the same meeting, replacing former Senate President Matthew Miyamoto. Initially Senators Rhodes, Yelin Oh and Miles Sisk were running for president – Sisk announced his withdrawal from the senate presidential race during his candidate statement in support of Rhodes. During his statement, Sisk asked Senate to forget the elections and do its job.
“There is no Mighty Oregon, there is no Ducks Like You, there is only the ASUO,” Sisk said.
Past and future elections were heavily discussed during the meeting. Candidates were asked directly if they planned to run for office again in the next election, and if they would be willing to resign from the senate presidency in order to run for office. Rhodes said she was not planning to run, Oh’s answer was less clear.
“If the opportunity came about, I’d consider it,” Oh said. “But it wouldn’t change how I am or vote as a senator.”
Rhodes and Oh left the room for the vote, which took place via paper ballot. Rhodes won in a 10-8-1 vote, meaning that ten voted for Rhodes, eight voted for Oh and one senator abstained from voting.
According to Oh, there are no hard feelings between she and Rhodes and the two were going to “dollar beers” after the meeting.