Private funding was banned for presidential campaigns and petitions reinstated within the Student Government Election Code and Bylaws during Wednesday night’s meeting. 

The S.U.P.E.R. (Supercharging and Upgrading Procedures for Election Regulation) Act passed 17-1-2 in a roll call vote, but not without heavy discussion and reaching the 45-minute limit of a bills debate. 

The bill presented changes to the Student Government Bylaws, specifically chapters 9-10 and the Election Code. The Senate decided to vote on accepting or denying changes, and then voting on the bill as a whole. 

One of the most contentious points of the bill was the allowance of privately funded presidential campaigns for the Iowa State Student Government. Santiago Fajardo, a senior majoring in political science and the election commissioner, explained that this decision was made to create more financial transparency and because the Senate allocated funds specifically for executive branch candidates. 

Some senators and executive branch members disagreed with this change, and advocated to allow students to make the choice of how their elected officials are funding campaigns. 

“It’s no secret we chose to have a privately funded campaign,” President Colby Brandt, a senior majoring in agricultural and rural policy studies, said. “That was a choice we made, and it’s up to students to make that same choice for them and what aligns with their mission. We’re not opposed to doing public funding, but we just want students to be able to pick. I think it’s important that students be surveyed as this decision gets made.”

In the campaigning process, candidates have to decide whether or not to run a fully private or public funded campaign. Senators mentioned that while they are able to track the public dollars, privately funded campaigns are harder to track, even though all checks have to be made out to the election commission. 

“If you, behind the scenes, move the money to a personal account, and then from your personal account, then you move to the election commission account, which is where you can spend it, that first transaction we cannot track,” Fajardo said. 

Sen. Amyah Graybill, a freshman majoring in psychology, voiced her support for eliminating private funding. 

“We are trying to mimic the American government, but also, I think, be better, especially now,” Graybill said. “And part of the reason that we see so much divide right now is because of this private funding that can’t be checked in the real government. I think if we are going to hold ourselves to those standards and strive for better, we should support this bill.”

Discussion on the topic was ultimately halted when the debate time limit was hit; however, the removal of private funding was supported by the finance committee and was ultimately enacted when the entire bill was approved. 

Another contested point of the S.U.P.E.R. Act was the requirement that all presidential candidates receive 500 signatures from students in order to make it onto the ballot. This section of the bill was approved through a roll call vote of 18-2-0. 

Speaker Josie Pursley, a senior majoring in political science, sees petitions as outdated and urged senators to vote against renewing the petition requirement. 

“Many students are confused [petitioning] and believe that they are already voting,” Pursley said. “When it comes voting time, it drives down our voting turnout because people already think they voted.” 

Sen. Quinn Margrett, a senior in business economics, expressed his opinion on petitions, as someone who has campaigned and won an executive position, serving in the past as vice president. 

“You’re looking at these names of people you may or may not know, and the fact that they went through this reasonable process to prove that they are committed to become a candidate on the ballot, that’s how you know that who you’re voting for has the follow through to serve in an incredibly difficult position,” Margrett said. “.…Petitioning is really the only incentive that we have for candidates to have those one-on-one conversations, to actually walk up to people on campus and start a conversation.”

The following external matters were passed 

• Funding $12,392.25 to Women’s Hockey Club (no opposition) 
• Funding late billing for Trend Magazine (no opposition) 
• AAAA (Asset Admin Allocation Act) (18-0-2) 
• Funding $2,140 to Cookies with College Senators (16-2-3) 

The following internal matters were passed unanimously in a placard vote. 

• Jacob Schilling, a sophomore majoring in agronomy, sat as a CALS senator
• Nolan Klemesrud, a senior majoring in marketing, sat as nonprofit coordinator 
• Brylee Gearhart, a sophomore majoring in genetics, sat as director of health and wellness
• Brooklyn Kilgard, a sophomore majoring in agricultural communications, sat on public relations committee
• Violet Bode, a junior majoring in human resource management, and Leila De Leon, a freshman majoring in political science, sat as at-large to the legislative ambassadors committee
• Sadie Bays, a sophomore majoring in agricultural studies, Sadie Richter, a sophomore majoring in agricultural business and Sabrina Olson, a sophomore majoring in political science, sat as at-larges to the legislative ambassadors committee
• Bayne Bernal, a freshman majoring in agricultural business, sat to rules committee 

The following bills were read for the first time and will be discussed and voted on in a future meeting 

• Committee on Lectures Additional Funding Request 
• Replenishing Senate Discretionary 
• Funding the CALS Connection 
• DubH Hip Hop Club funding 

The next senate meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Memorial Union.