Issues with the bill
- Dining was not consulted
- Names of sponsors were not legally obtained
- Language in bill is not the same as the petition students originally signed
- Not all sponsors are students at Ball State
- Little research was done
- Bill was pushed into Student Senate too soon
The legislation for more fresh fruit and vegetables was tabled at the Student Senate meeting on Feb. 10.
Sen. Jacob Peterson proposed the bill, but it was not originally set to be presented on the senate floor at the meeting.
The legislation arose after students approached Peterson last week about the idea. The students started a petition, which collected more than 400 signatures overnight and is now standing with more than 600 signatures from students, faculty and more.
Read more about the original petition here.
Several senators brought up issues concerning the bill, such as a lack of research and confusion in the bill's language. Dining also had not yet been contacted to discuss whether the bill is feasible, and some sponsors did not know their name was being used in the legislation.
Peterson said he had hopes of the senate collaborating on the bill to move it along the chain of command but was disappointed in the results.
“I have empathy; I understand where [the senators] were coming from. I’m just disappointed that there wasn’t much collaboration,” Peterson said. “I understand that there were flaws, I understand that there could be problems, and I understand that more research is needed, but at the same time, I wanted the room to come together and break it down and put amendments on it.”
However, Student Government Association President Jack Hesser said he was excited to see Peterson push for something so many students are passionate about, despite the outcome of the bill's proposal.
“I think it’s really exciting to see [Peterson] grab onto something that clearly has students passionate,” Hesser said. “The role of senators is to act on the behalf of students, and that’s what [Peterson] was trying to do today, and I appreciate that.”
Peterson said his next step will be to revisit the bill from scratch to fix problems, as well as research more into its possibilities, which may set the bill back.
The bill is still in the works, but Peterson said he is excited to work with senate to pass this bill.
“I’m looking forward to the next opportunity to go back and do research, and hopefully the collaboration will start up later,” he said.
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