The Government of the Student Body voted down a bill Wednesday night that would have compensated the speaker of the senate one-quarter tuition effective July 1, 2008.

GSB senator and junior in political science, Timothy Reineke, author of the bill, proposed an amendment to the bill that was approved to address the concerns of other senators about a conflict of interest. The conflict arose from the idea that senators could potentially be voting on their own pay raise if the bill went into effect on the original date of July 1, 2007.

Reineke proposed to make the effective date July 1, 2008 instead of the original date. He explained that the basic reason for the bill was that the speaker is expected to do a lot of work and should be compensated accordingly.

Current GSB speaker Jon Richardson, senior in chemical engineering, discussed his responsibilities as speaker and answered questions from senators. However, he did not comment directly on the bill.

“I’m not going to give an opinion on the bill itself,” he said.

GSB senator and junior in political science Brian Phillips asked Richardson if he had anything to do with the decision to write the bill and Richardson answered he did not.

GSB senator and graduate student in biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular biology-agriculture, Michelle Bohan, asked Richardson what duties were expected of the speaker during the summer months.

Richardson said that he had worked last summer because he was negotiating a contract. However, working in the summer is not typical for the speaker.

After the question/answer session closed, Richardson left the GSB chambers while the rest of the senators discussed the bill.

Phillips cautioned against the debate turning into a discussion about how Richardson had done his job.

“I don’t want this to become a discussion of Jon’s performance,” he said.

Compensation for the speaker was in the GSB budget for this year at five hours a week, at minimum wage, said GSB president and senior in political science Emily Jensen.

Bohan proposed an amendment to the bill, which was approved, that would not compensate the speaker for the summer term.

GSB senator and senior in public service and administration in agriculture, Mitchell Hayek, proposed an amendment to implement the bill in 2010 due to the young age of the senate, to avoid all possible conflict of interest.

Because there is such a high turnover rate in the senate, senator and senior in political science, Rachel Allen opposed the amendment.

“I’m in disagreement with this amendment,” she said.

After many senators agreed it was not necessary to wait that long to implement the bill, senator Charles Wakefield, senior in computer engineering, proposed an amendment to the amendment as a compromise, asking to implement the bill in 2009. However, both amendments were voted down.

Bohan felt that discussing the possibility of raising the pay for the speaker might be a good idea, but said this bill was the wrong way to go about it.

Other senators agreed with compensating the speaker but not through this bill.

The bill failed by a vote of 3-23-1.

The next bill up for second read was a request for the purchase of a large projection screen. The screen is intended for organizations to hold large outdoor events and will be managed by GSB/ITS. After amending the cost of the screen from $4,043 to $4,092, the bill was passed.

The last bill on the agenda was up for first read and requested funds for the 10,000 Hours Show, a student organization that encourages students to volunteer and rewards those who volunteer a free ticket to a rock concert.

The funds request that totaled $1,000 would fund transportation to this year’s concert being held at the Knapp Center in Des Moines in April. After questions of intent, the bill was tabled for a later date.

GSB adviser and associate director of the Memorial Union Gail Ferlazzo made an announcement during the programs in the meeting about the new “Pay-on-Foot” payment system, soon to be implemented at the Memorial Union parking ramp.

The new system will require individuals to obtain a ticket when entering the ramp and then pay at one of four locations in the MU before getting into their cars, Ferlazzo said. The ticket would be stamped after parking is paid and the stamped ticket would raise the gate at the exit, allowing individuals to leave. The new system is hoped to be ready by March 1.

Clark Richardson, director of ISU Ambassadors and senior in agricultural business also made an announcement that Thursday would be students day at the Capitol.