President Jean-Baptiste made his second veto in two weeks on Tuesday, and was again overridden 13-4. The bill in question was the Clarification in Employment Act. The legislation would limit the hours of aides working in the President’s office to 25. Senator Joe Antonelli, a supporter of the new law, believes that the old standard of up to 75 hours was ‘excessive and fiscally irresponsible.’
President Jean-Baptiste’s argument provided that there were already funds allocated for the aides. ‘The Accountant has made it clear that we shall be fine when it comes for budget stipends this year,’ said the President. He believes that his office brings with it the perks of multiple aids and many hours to distribute as he sees fit. ‘No concrete evidence has been presented to the Senate in regards to how these aids are harming USG and its operations,’ said President Jean-Baptiste, and as they say, ‘if the wheel ain’t broke don’t fix it.’
Senator Antonelli diasgreed with this rationale as he stressed the importance of fiscal responsibility in terms of the budget, especially in its funds for USG, ‘fiscal responsibility is the key to best serve the students.’ He cites a particularly distressing case of under funded undergraduate organizations in the Ice Hockey Club, ‘there members pay an average of $800 to compete and represent our school.’
Senator Antonelli also believes that the compromise has already been reached. The president originally wanted 45 hours, Antonelli wanted to give him 15. They agreed on 25.
Senator Jonathan Hurst made a proposal that echoed from the last President Jean-Baptiste’s veto on the USG Activities Board By-Laws Act. The previous law was passed, vetoed, overridden, and the problems that brought about the veto were settled in compromises and amendments afterwards. Referring back to this he said, ‘Don’t you think this was a better course of action then going through the veto process?’ Hurst inferring that since it solved the By-Laws dispute, that it could solve these problems as well.
Both the President’s recent vetoes have proved futile. Though they have forced the Senate to review the laws, and succeeded to pushing the By-Laws of last week to be amended. It remains unknown whether this veto will have a similar effect. As one Senator said in passing, ‘These overrides really show the strength of the USG Senate.’
