This time it was killed by the committee.
It seemed no one wanted to say they were against Senator Jacob Milich’s resolution for transparency, but the GAC committee alluded to not wanting to take a position against UCF and concerns over skipping the speaker’s first reading process as reasons to vote it down.
Milich responded to the latter concern, raised by Deputy Pro Tempore Ryan Garwood, by stating that he had already tried this path of adoption, but was shut down by the speaker.
Knight News first told you how Senate Speaker Meghan Kircher first shot down the resolution in a email behind closed doors earlier this month.
During the meeting, Milich tried to convince the committee that adopting the resolution for transparency was the right thing to do.
READ RESOLUTION
“Anything we do as a Senate, as a body that is elected to do business for the students, should be releasable to the public”, said Sen. Milich.
The resolution advocates for more transparency within student government, such as releasing the names of those accused of wasteful spending as well as allowing the public to know who votes on the A&SF budget, a near $20 million dollar budget of public money, paid by the students.
However, Milich faced overwhelming opposition in adopting the resolution to committee. When asked if adopting the resolution would conflict with the decision of the court in the Knight News vs UCF lawsuit, Milich responded, “As a Senate it is our duty to always ask for more transparency at any time.”
SGA Sen. Joshua Bolona, along with Sen. Jonathan Chapin, were the only two to vote in favor of adopting the resolution for transparency. Bolona said “we were elected by the students, and the students want transparency, it has been made clear.”
However, despite the efforts of Milich and Bolona, the resolution was denied, losing by a vote of 2-7.
It was clear from the proceedings that at least two senators wanted to abstain from the vote, but were forced to vote against the resolution by the committee.
After the GAC meeting, Knight News attended the SGA Senate meeting Thursday to ask Kircher if she is concerned about whether she may have broken the Sunshine Law by sending emails to stop the resolution from being publicly discussed in committee when it was first scheduled to be heard earlier this month, but she did not show up.
Although it was stated in roll call that Kircher was ill, Knight News has been informed that she was in the SGA office earlier that day.
For continued updates on the fight for government transparency, stay tuned to Knight News for continued updates.
