With three senate vacancies during their meeting Jan. 25, Student Government faced the need to address a separate position in the association: Elections Commissioner.

Last year, Jonathan Edwards was appointed as the elections commissioner following passage of a bill that separated his role from that of the parliamentarian at the time. This change had yet to be reflected in the codes.

The bill was authored by then-Parliamentarian Zwiesineyi Chindori-Chininga. “Usually it falls under the parliamentarian’s role to make sure that 1) the bill is constitutional and 2) if the bill does pass, it gets implemented into our constitution,” SGA President Ben Griffith said. “The judicial branch helps out with that process as well.”

New legislation was proposed during the meeting by Sen. Miguel Escoto, who authored a resolution to place garden lights near Moody. Senators voiced concerns about sustainability and the effectiveness of lights in preventing an attack on someone. The resolution was not voted through first passage.

Additionally, a number of funding requests were made during the meeting by Tri-Beta, a biology honor society, and by Transit Theater so that they can purchase props. Students hosting a Chinese Lunar New Year event also made a funding request, and following a vote on each of the requests, the association’s budget now stands at $8,722.