A Student Association bill that would have slashed the amount candidates are allowed to spend on the upcoming campaign cycle by half failed in a vote Monday night.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Victoria Goncalves, CCAS-U, said she hopes to be able to bring the bill back to the Senate at its next meeting in two weeks, but may change the amount the bill would limit each candidate.
“The SA should be something that shouldn’t cost people money to participate in,” Goncalves said. “We should make campaigns more affordable.”
Candidates for the top positions in the SA, Program Board and the Marvin Center Governing Board are allowed to spend up $1,000 on their campaigns. SA Senators At-Large are limited to $750, and all other SA and Class Council candidates are cut off at $500.
Goncalves said she plans to speak with Finance Committee Chair Ben Pryde and other senators to learn their opinions and figure out how much they spent on past campaigns.
Sen. Thomas Falcigno, CCAS-U, said, when he was running, he needed to spend close to his limit to reach all of the students that he represents.
“I believe people need that money in order to reach out to 6,000 kids,” he said. “I believe this amendment hurts those who want to vote.”
Other senators said they did not spend nearly as much as they are allowed to spend. Instead, they said they relied on social media and personally reaching out to students instead of buying posters or creating websites to win votes.
“Make yourself available to the constituents,” said Sen Sean Kumnick, CCAS-U. “Go on Facebook and go door-to-door, all of those other things.”
The Senate did pass another bill by Goncalves which, in a move towards more transparency, would post all spending by candidates online after 30 minutes of the Joint Election Committee receiving the expenditure.
“I think there are still transparency issues we can work on in the SA, especially with elections coming up soon,” Goncalves said. “I also wanted to see how much money people are spending so we can continue to work on the bylaws.”
– Aishvarya Kavi contributed reporting
