By Vince Gasparini | February 24, 2025
A bill requiring Student Association Senators to have a designated open line of communication with their constituents garnered 26 co-sponsors before passing unanimously at Wednesday night’s Senate meeting.
Senators raising their hands to indicate they want to be added as co-sponsors of the bill.
Photo Credit: Vince Gasparini / The ASP
The “Constituent Care Act,” submitted by Senators Ryan Goldstein and Luke Johnson, will require Senators to allow their constituents the “ability to submit complaints, ability to submit suggestions, and the ability to submit general feedback,” through a method of communication of the Senator’s choosing, such as a digital form or a physical box.
The bill stipulates that Senators must address and respond to any concern submitted through the method of communication and also provide their constituents the opportunity to meet with them, although they may refuse meetings at their own discretion.
“We were both working hand over fist to get this piece of legislation passed,” Johnson told the ASP following the meeting. “We believe that the constituents us Senators represent should be able to contact us easily and efficiently because without them we’re really doing all of this for nothing.”
The bill passed unanimously through the Committee on Constituent Relations and subsequently through a 5-0-1 vote in the Committee on Rules and Administration before making its way to the Senate floor.
Despite initially having four co-sponsors, 22 other Senators - including several newly-elected Senators attending their first meeting - opted to add their names to the list after Goldstein and Johnson introduced the bill Wednesday night.
“I think the amount of names on this speaks for itself,” Johnson said after the new co-sponsors had added their names.
“It’s very crucial as Senators that we maintain some degree of contact with our constituents,” Senator Jelani Harris, one of the original co-sponsors of the bill, said. “I know we always say ‘let’s reach out to our constituents.’ This is a perfect way to actually start doing that.”
The bill is set to go into effect on March 1.
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