In a surprise move Monday, Government of the Student Body President Sophia Magill vetoed a bill that made the Iowa Student Public Interest Research Group a student-funded office.

The bill, which the GSB Senate passed on Nov. 17 by a vote of 27-5-2, put ISPIRG under different regulations than other student groups and allowed it priority in the allocation process.

In a letter to Speaker of the Senate Henry Alliger, Magill explained her concerns. Among the reasons she gave for the veto was that ISPIRG does not provide an essential service for all students, that ISPIRG initiatives could be carried out through existing means on campus and that she has not heard a “great amount” of support for ISPIRG from the student body.

ISPIRG President Chelsea Lepley said the veto surprised her.

“We solicited her input on this issue many times,” Lepley said. “We answered the concerns she vocalized — the same concerns she brought up in the letter.”

Off-Campus Government Senator Jacob Larson said he was unaware Magill had vetoed the bill and was upset with her decision.

“To veto the bill and not explain to the student body why she’s doing it is totally ludicrous,” Larson said. “I just can’t see how that’s being a student leader.”

He said that more than two-thirds of the senate voted for the bill, which showed that it has a broad base of support.

During debates about ISPIRG student-funded office and funding bills last year, Magill was a voting member of senate. Although she was present at the senate meeting where the bills were up for vote, she was not in the room during voting on the student-funded office bill; Magill voted against funding.

The senate could override the veto with a two-thirds vote.