Student legislators gather for the first in-person meeting of the fall semester on Aug. 25, 2022. (Isabella Hammond/CU Independent)
On Thursday evening, Aug. 25, legislators from the University of Colorado Boulder Student Government(CUSG) held their first in-person meeting for the fall semester. This session, legislators want to improve transparency on the council and facilitate engagement with the CU Boulder community.
Legislative Council is CUSG’s legislative branch, responsible for passing bills and appointing nominees to the student government’s other branches. Legislative Council also has a hand in allocating the CUSG’s $25 million budget, which funds organizations like the Rec Center and the Cultural Events Board.
Student leaders began the first reading of a new bill, 97 LCB 06, which they hope will reorganize the structure of the Department of Diversity and Inclusion to improve communication with CUSG and the student body.
The bill, written after years of vacant executive positions within the Department of Diversity and Inclusion, integrates several old positions into new ones. The CUSG Legislative Council does not typically codify executive branch positions into legislation. Instead, it usually votes to approve positions without a bill detailing new changes.
“There were some significant changes that needed to come to [the Department of Diversity and Inclusion] in order to better adapt to growing social equity, justice and diversity here at CU,” said Michael Christy Jr., CUSG’s director of diversity and inclusion and the author of the bill.
After a year fraught with controversy and tension within the organization, this bill is part of a recent effort to bring transparency to all branches of CUSG.
“This is what the bill is here for. It’s to spark discussion about what we can do moving forward about how the executive branch approaches structuring their cabinet,” Pore said, in defense of the bill.
CUSG Legislative Council passed 97 LCB 06 to a second reading where it will be voted on, and codified if passed, next week.
Staying on the theme of increasing transparency and engagement, Pore said that CUSG is working on reorganizing the CUSG Legislative Council website to make documents like meeting agendas and bills available in one location. This change is expected to arrive in the upcoming months.
As of now, updates, recaps and agendas for meetings are available on the CUSG Legislative Council Instagram page.
“I urge students to be clued into what we’re doing,” said CUSG Legislative Council President Aaditya Pore. “One of our primary focuses this semester is going to be getting more connected to the student body. We think that’s somewhere CUSG has faltered in the past.”
Legislative Council will hold its next meeting on Thursday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. in UMC 247.
Contact CU Independent Senior News Editor Isabella Hammond at isabella.hammond@colorado.edu.
