Senator Erich M. Fabricius submitted the following report regarding Government Bill 86, "An Act to Establish Statutes Concerning Several Elements of the Executive Branch of the Student Body Government", on Tuesday, April 2, 2002, on behalf of the Government Operations Committee, and pursuant to its April 1, 2002 recommendations, by general consent:

As provided by Senate Rule 12(b), the committee requests that the Senate President place Government Bill 86 on the calendar for second reading.

Attendance:

There were seven (7) Senators (Denton, Fabricius, Joyner, Mangum, Tatum, White, Wright) present;

There are one (1) Senator (Brown) absent;

A quorum was present.

Purpose of the Legislation:

The Omnibus Executive Branch Act institutes several formal organizations within the Executive Branch of Student Government, replacing the current Executive Branch/Staff.

Background Information:

The current Executive Branch is extremely loosely defined, with many important things being left completely to the discretion of the President. Presidents are forced to "hit the ground running" and organize a Presidency, a Staff, and Branch all one time.

The thought in establishing a structured branch is that there are institutions of the branch that merit permanence; institutions that the greater SG or the community expects to continue to exist. Statutory charters also permit authority to be granted beyond such that the President can delegate.

The Bill establishes nine articles:
(1) General provisions, regulations on appointments, and the Presidential Cabinet, the senior advisory board.
(2) Student Body Commission, the committees of the Student Body designed to broaden SG's outlook.
(3) The Executive Staff, the group of Presidential Assistants.
(4) The Presidents' Roundtable, the forum for major student organizations.
(5) A Department of Government Relations, charged with overseeing all governmental relations for SG.
(6) An Impementation Division, designed to provide coordination and cooperation on follow-up and advocacy.
(7) The standing service projects that SG budgets for each year.
(8) The Division of Web Development, SG's technical division.
(9) The recently establish Wolfpack Student Initiative.

Debate:

The committee has been considering issues surrounding the Executive Branch for several months. In February, the Committee had a public hearing, at which President Willie and his senior staff were in attendance. Many elements of the current bill reflect the comments from that discussion.

Consideration of the bill itself consisted of the review of subsequent drafts from the sponsor. The Committee had discussions on titles, confirmations, government affairs, service projects, among other things. Inclusion of the new Wolfpack Student Initiative was suggested by Sen. Duggins, which was the last major addition to the bill.

Recommendations:

The Committee recommends consideration of the Omnibus Executive Branch Act by the Senate.

Committee Amendments:

The Committee subsituted a text, as attached.