Editor's note: This story has been changed due to misinformation.
The University Affairs Committee met Wednesday afternoon to finalize a new draft of Senate Bill 17 — a proposed law that aims to allow ASU students to vote on whether same-sex marriage should be legal in Arizona.
SB 17 has made little headway within the Senate thus far, but will be re-proposed to the Undergraduate Student Government Senate on Tuesday by the grassroots movement Arizona Vote for Student Equality.
The bill was introduced to the USG Senate on Sept. 20, but because of poor wording, it was sent back to UAC for further drafting, said vice chair of the UAC and sustainability junior Songling Du.
In the past three weeks, the UAC has been working diligently to collaborate with representatives from Arizona Vote for Student Equality in order to reword the bill in a way that would make it less of a partisan issue.
SB 17 has met harsh opposition from members of USG’s executive branch.
“My concern (with SB 17) is that the USG is a bipartisan organization and our job is to not take stances or to even be discussing partisan issues,” said political science senior and USG President Jacob Goulding. “Same-sex marriage is a partisan issue and is inappropriate to be discussed by the student government.”
Representatives from the Arizona Vote for Student Equality declined to comment for this story.
“Many of the senators and the executive branch (of USG) are afraid that the passing of this bill will show imbalance within USG,” said Du.
The Arizona Vote for Student Equality has approached both NAU and UA student governments with the same bill and both student governments refused to allow the bill to be introduced to the Senate. ASU’s Tempe USG is the only student government body thus far to have allowed the bill to be introduced.
The new draft of SB 17 will have its first read before the Senate on Tuesday, and is scheduled to be voted on next month.
Reach the reporter at doberhau@asu.edu
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