R 98, Legislative Nullification Act
Referred to the Government Operations Committee by the Student Senate President
The Government Operations Committee reported the bill to Senate by consent, GO-38
Adopted by roll call vote (Adopted: 23-18-2; 13 absent)
Veto Overridden by roll call vote (Adopted: 28-3-1; 23 absent (two-thirds present and voting required))
Online Text
(as of 2-28-2006, as initially introduced)
RESOLUTION 98
A RESOLUTION TO BE ENTITLEDAn Act To Disclaim The Practice of Administrative Legislative Nullification
Short Title: Legislative Nullification Act (Public)
Sponsored
by: Senator Fabricius
Second Reading: March 1, 2006 Version Date: February
20, 2006
Referred
to: Committee on
Government Operations.
WHEREAS, following a semester long process, the
Student Senate adopted legislation amending the Student Body Budget and the
Student Body Statutes in regards to the Judicial Board, legislation that was
subsequently duly enrolled; and,
WHEREAS, the enactment of this legislation was an offshoot of a plan
to separate from the Judicial Board, but was not structured in a fashion to
require such separation to come into effect; and,
WHEREAS, The Code of the UNC Board of
Governors states that “under such policies as may be prescribed by the Board of
Governors and the board of trustees, the chancellor shall be responsible for …
the definition of roles and functions of any institutionally-recognized system
of student self-government….”; and,
WHEREAS, Student Government acknowledges that the question of
halting existence of a Judicial Branch is one of “definition of roles and
functions” that does require administrative assent; and,
WHEREAS, approval or rejection of individual acts of the Student
Senate extends beyond “definition of roles and functions” and into
micromanagement of the Student Government; and,
WHEREAS, statutes set by the Judicial Statutes Act remain on the
books as statutes even if the redefinition they set forth has been declared
unenforceable by the administration, and it remains the responsibility of the
students to establish enforceable statutes if so desired; and,
WHEREAS, legislative provisions not causing redefinition of roles
and functions, including many portions of the Judicial Statutes Act and the
entirety of the Judicial Funding Reallocation Act, remain entirely enforceable;
and,
WHEREAS, despite assertions by the administration that a “null and
void” legislative declaration was a rare once in thirty years occurrence,
members of the Division of Student Affairs had just earlier conveyed a threat
to void an elections bill under consideration due to a novel hyper-technical
read of the enfranchisement clause of the Student Body Constitution; and,
WHEREAS, while it is the rightful responsibility of all students,
officials, and members of the university community to support and defend the
constitution, it is not the responsibility of the university administration to
reinterpret provisions of the constitution that have been consistently
interpreted for years, such as the enfranchisement clause; and,
WHEREAS, freely functioning student self-governance adds value to
NCSU as an institution, but such functioning is impeded by the specter of
nullification declarations; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that
the North Carolina State University Student Senate asserts that the university
administration has no inherent or particular authority to declare individual
acts of legislation null and void.