The Student Government Association has canned its plans to provide five needy students with $200 each to offset next year’s commuter meal plan mandate.

The senate voted 10-9 against S.B. 16: The Budget Amendment Act with three other members present, but not voting.  This bill would have allocated $1,000 from SGA’s private endowment fund for the project.

The original plan had called for using SGA’s remaining annual budget to fund 10 students. However, the annual budget is funded by the university’s administration, which nixed the idea. At that point, SGA moved to alter the plan to use its continuous account.

Some SGA members expressed concerns that passing the bill could also damage the relationship between SGA and the administration because SGA had provided input into the decision to create a commuter meal plan in the winter. This concern was shared by one of SGA’s advisors.

“Feedback was taken from the dining service committee, from an ad hoc committee and from multiple senate meetings,” SGA Advisor Brian Perry said during the senate meeting. “Even if [SGA does] vote for this, [SGA is] voting to fix something [it] helped play a part in.”

Exiting SGA president Meghan Kuentz temporarily handed over her position as moderator of the in order to speak against the bill.

Kuentz said that a negative consequence of passing the bill would be that future SGA presidents might not be invited to sit on the strategic planning and steering Committee and the master plan committee.

“You can say that five students have $200 [to offset meal plan]. That’s great, but you won’t be able to decide how you want the campus to look in 20 years,” Kuentz said. “Five students versus all the potential input you could have in the future.”

Another concern was that passing the bill during the last meeting would have been a rushed decision.

“I felt that it was appropriate for SGA to wait before taking action on this issue at the end of the year, while new members are joining and some are leaving,” former Sophomore Senator Caitlyn Berry said in an email to Hilltop Views. “Various members of the administration have discussed bringing the issue to the table again next year. I believe this poses as a chance for a fresh start that we shouldn’t pass up.”

SGA members who wanted to pass the bill felt that SGA needed to take a stand against the meal plan policy that many St. Edward’s students do not favor.

“This is not anti-administration. This is pro-student,” said School of Education Senator Karissa Eudy during the meeting.

Duke said that SGA has given the administration enough time considering that SGA passed a resolution in February expressing their dissatisfaction with the commuter meal plan.

“I think part of the reason this association exists is to kind of push back on [the administration],”  Senior Senator Class Mitra Salasel said in the meeting. “If [SGA does not] do that sometimes or at least stay consistent on [its] policies, then [the administration is] definitely not going to take [SGA] seriously.”

The budget, consisted of a transfer of payments from SGA personnel’s line items to the SGA operating budget as required by SGA’s finance code, according to the bill’s text. Newly-elected SGA President Blanca Garcia said the budget would be passed over the summer using an executive order.As for the scholarships, Garcia said that she planned on working on legislation that would allocate money for the scholarships during the summer, and that SGA would take up the legislation again next fall.”I was really sad,” Garcia said referring to her reaction to the senate voting against the bill. “I felt that students wanted this.”Students who had applied for the scholarships will have to reapply if the legislation is passed next semester. Duke said that 10 or 11 students had emailed him inquiring about the scholarships.