Skip to main content

101st Senate Legislation

Every two weeks, the Rules and Judiciary Committee meets to consider Bills and Resolutions.

A bill shall be any written motion before the Senate which seeks to accomplish any task other than those which can legitimately be accomplished by resolution.

A resolution shall be any written motion before the Senate which seeks to:

  1. Approve appointments of the USG President, the Speaker, and Finance Committee Chair;
  2. Establish of the Standing Rules of Undergraduate Senate;
  3. Require of reports from organizations receiving funds from Student Government;
  4. Propose Constitutional Amendments;
  5. Propose Referenda;
  6. Bestow, honor, or appreciate any individual or organization affecting the Students of the University; and/or
  7. State the opinion of the Senate on any matter or calls for action by any external agency not under the jurisdiction of the Senate.

Authorship of Legislation

  1. The principal sponsor of a piece of legislation shall be the member of the Undergraduate Senate, USG President, or USG Treasurer who introduces the bill or resolution.
  2. A need that can be addressed by the Senate may be written and placed in proper form by any person familiar with the legislative process. The author of the legislation shall then find an authorized sponsor, who shall act as principal sponsor for the legislation.
  3. All legislation shall be given a title by its sponsor, which shall adequately and fairly reflect its subject matter even when the bill or resolution is amended.

Clauses

  1. Whereas Clause: Bills and resolutions may have optional clauses explaining the need for the legislation which shall begin “WHEREAS,” and shall contain one sentence each, terminating with a semicolon.
  2. Enacting Clause: There shall be an enacting clause in all bills which shall follow any explanatory clauses and shall read “BE IT ENACTED BY THE UNDERGRADUATE SENATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL THAT:”
  3. Resolving Clause: There shall be a resolving clause in all resolutions which shall follow any explanatory clauses and shall read “BE IT RESOLVED BY THE UNDERGRADUATE SENATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL THAT:”

Voting

  1. Any member of the Senate may vote yea, nay, or abstain. An abstention vote shall not be counted in the final vote.
  2. The votes of each representative for every bill and resolution put to question in Full Senate shall be recorded by the Clerk of the Undergraduate Senate and published on the Undergraduate Senate website.

Click here to view the voting records for the 101st Undergraduate Senate

To view a sample Bill, click here.

To view a sample Resolution, click here.

To view bills and resolutions passed in the 101st Session, please go to our updates page