Senators voted to pass a resolution Monday that opposes a House bill that would prohibit the requirement of on-campus living and meal plans for second year students across the Board of Regents schools.
Most of the meeting’s committee report was spent talking about Resolution 25-7-R, a resolution which stated different reasons on why the SDSU SA opposes House Bill 13-25. HB13-25 is a bill that is scheduled for hearing in the South Dakota House that “aims to prohibit the requirement of on-campus living and purchase of meal plans for second year students across the regental system.”
The bill will be heard in a house education committee today.
Resolution 25-7-R is based on studies that have shown that students who stay on campus for the first two years have a higher GPA than those who have only stayed for one, according to the resolution. The resolution is also based off of a student survey that averaged a 54% approval for dining, and 87% housing satisfaction.
Sen. Benjamin Anderson was one out of the four senators who opposed the resolution.
Anderson argued that the price of housing and dining is “extremely overpriced” for what is given to students. He said that in a free market, if students started moving off campus earlier, the university would have to lower the prices of housing to compete with off-campus options.
“I just want to make it clear I am very much for a free system where students get to decide what they do with their lives,” Anderson said, “not a monopolistic university, telling them where to live and how much money to spend on their housing.”
Sen. Jacklyn Mollison was concerned that HB 13-25 would create a lack of funding for these buildings.
Mollison was against the meal plan, but she was worried that cutting out a portion of the money from the students would cause quality issues with the buildings that students are in.
“That money keeps our campus beautiful, and our buildings nice, and I sure like having working showers,” Mollison said.
The senators voted to oppose HB 13-25, 18-4.
IN OTHER NEWS
The Little International Committee Treasurer Tanner Mathiowetz, addressed the body and gave an overview of what the event entails, how it develops opportunities for students and what the budget covers.
Shelly Bayer and Marj Collins of the Student Engagement Center also addressed the senate.
Collins, who is the director of Student Connection and Engagement, gave an overview of the structural changes that happened last fall when the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Accessibility restructured into the Student Engagement Center.
Collins also talked about the events that the Student Engagement Center is involved with this spring.
