The Student Government Association Senate voted down a bill that would require the Elections Board and the SGA to keep publicly accessible records of funds donated by student organizations to SGA campaigns. 

Currently, all candidates running for SGA Senate are required to record donations throughout the campaign using financial disclosure forms. Speaking in support of the bill, Sen. John Dodd said that “these forms are easily fabricated and are not looked into for irregularities.”

“This bill isn’t about putting focus on candidates. It’s about putting focus on organizations and who they support. I wanted this bill to be a statement on the influence of student organizations and shed light on the influence that they have on campus,” said Sen. Drew St. Charles, the bill’s author. 

Sen. CJ Pearson said the bill would not be useful given the current system.

“This bill would be a little redundant considering the system we already have in place,” Pearson said.

St. Charles said students won’t sift through financial disclosure forms to see which student organizations donate to candidates. 

“Financial disclosure forms are accessible to the public on the SGA website, and these forms list all organization and individual contributors,” SGA press secretary Olivia Davis said in a statement.

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