Student Government adjusted its compensation to chief officers during its meeting Wednesday evening.

The decision to reduce the tuition remission of the financial director and increase the tuition remission of the vice president comes after nearly a month-long debate by the Senate, with the bill approved Wednesday having been tabled on several instances.

Sen. Sam Freestone, who sponsored the bill, said, “If you have any questions, comments or amendments this is the time, but I like this the way it is.”

In advance of the bill’s passage, the president and finance director of Student Government receive remission each semester, equivalent to the in-state resident undergraduate tuition.

The vice president and speaker, however, receive remission for half in-state resident undergraduate tuition.

When first introduced in early February, the bill advocated for tuition remission to match that of an out-of-state student if one should be appointed to a chief compensation position. However, the Senate moved away from this idea after citing concern that the costs could fluctuate drastically each year.

The bill passed Wednesday increases the vice president’s tuition remission to three-fourths of in-state undergraduate tuition and decreased the finance director’s tuition remission to half in-state undergraduate tuition for the fall semester.

In doing this, Student Government is putting no new money into the compensation for chief officers.

Many senators agreed that for the time being this was an appropriate way to readjust the compensation for the two positions based off the requirements of the position.

Student Government adviser Keith Robinder, who also serves as the associate dean of students, said he believes this is an important issue the Senate is addressing.

“Valuing the leadership that your organization has is an investment in your own success,” he said. “You need to have the best possible leaders who are proving vision and guidance on a day-to-day basis.”

Robinder said that he believes Student Government should consider the compensation as an investment in the organization, as it helps provide the tools to produce the best quality leader.

“While I recognize that you might have some concerns about the appearance of using student fee funds to benefit individual students, I think that it is a legitimate and important debate to have,” he said. “But in this case I would say you are not overly compensating this — you get a lot more hours and a lot more value and benefit through the investment you make in your chief officers.”

The bill passed 19-0 with three abstentions.