Government of the Student Body senators spent nearly an hour debating a bill Wednesday night that would limit senate debates on new bills to five minutes.

The bill by Mike Pogge, LAS, titled “Rules of Debate,” would have reenacted a practice thrown out with the old bylaws.

It would allow only five minutes of questioning by senators and student audience members after a new bill is read. After the five minutes are up, the bill would then be set aside until the next meeting when it would be re-read, discussed and ultimately voted on.

However, the bill was not passed due to opposition from several senators, particularly Christine Little, disabilities.

“The bill does not give us enough time to talk,” Little said. “I realize that our discussions can go on for a long time, but some of the points made during those discussions are valid points.

“It doesn’t give senators enough time to ask questions,” she said.

Little said she also was uncomfortable with the speaking time the bill allotted for members of the student audience, and she proposed voting on the bill be delayed until the next senate meeting.

“I would like to have time to speak to my constituents because this bill does not only affect how senators can speak, but also how people in the student audience can speak,” Little said.

However, Pogge, as well as several other senators, said the bill would still give senators enough time to ask questions. Senators also gave the argument that they would be able to discuss and debate new bills as much as they liked after the second reading.

“When you yield to another person, you can ask as many questions as you want as long as you do it in five minutes,” Pogge said. “You are not yielding your right to speak.”

Pogge also said the intent of the bill was to make the senate more efficient.

“What we are doing is encouraging students and senators to come up with educated discussion,” he said. “We are just encouraging people to think before they talk. This way the senate can be more efficient.”

Although the final vote on the bill was 18-6, the bill still did not have the 2/3 majority support of seated senators required for it to pass.

In other news, GSB:

• allocated $500 to the Agricultural Education Club to help with expenses for its upcoming trip to Chicago.

• passed the bill to reinstate the “unanimous consent” option into GSB voting procedures.

• passed a resolution officially congratulating the Cyclone football team for its recent victory over the University of Iowa.