Article
III: The Legislative Branch
Section 1: The
Legislature--Election and Qualifications
1. The legislative power shall be vested in a Legislature composed of a House of Representatives and a Senate.
2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of two representatives from each class. For the purposes of this Article, students shall be assigned to a "class" by the Director or his designate based on age, school grade level, or other considerations he deems appropriate. Representatives shall hold office for one year and until a new House of Representatives is elected and installed.
3. The Senate shall be composed of four Faculty members and four Students with the provision that there shall be one student from each grade level (Freshman, Sophomore, Senior, and Grad), one faculty member from the Junior Division, one faculty member from the Senior Division, one faculty member from the Fine Arts and one faculty member from Housing.
4. The House of Representatives shall be elected in the following manner: Students shall be nominated by petition and they shall compete for elections only within their class. The candidate must have not less than ten percent of the students in his class endorse his petition. If ten percent of the class is less than two people, a petitioner must have the signatures of at least two people. A person may sign only two legislative petitions and the petitioner must be a member of the endorser's class. These petitions must be presented to the Election Officer. The Election Officer shall hold a secret ballot election according to the law. Those two candidates with a majority and the largest number of votes shall be declared the winners. Should only one person receive a majority in the General Election, he shall be declared a winner and a run-off will be held the following day between the two remaining candidates with the highest number of votes. That candidate who receives a majority of the votes will be declared the winner. Should no candidate receive a majority of the votes in the General Election, a run-off election will be held the following day among the four candidates with the highest number of votes. Should no two candidates receive a majority of the votes in the run-off election, those two candidates with the highest number of votes shall be declared the winners.
5. Student Senators shall be elected in the following manner: Students shall be nominated by petition and they shall compete for election only within their class. The candidate must have not less than ten percent of the students in his class endorse his petition. If ten percent of the class is less than two people, a petitioner must have the signatures of at least two people. A person may only sign one senatorial petition and the petitioner must be a member of the endorser’s class. These petitions must be presented to the Election Officer. The Election Officer shall hold a secret ballot election according to the law. The candidate with a majority and the largest number of votes shall be declared the winner. Should no candidate receive a majority of the votes in the General Election, a run-off election will be held the following day among the smallest number of candidates whose votes total a majority of the votes cast. Should no candidate receive a majority of the votes in the run-off election, the candidate with the highest number of votes shall be declared the winner.
5. Any full-time student may qualify as a candidate for the House of Representatives or the Senate, provided he is a member of the class which he is elected to represent.
6. Faculty members of the Senate will be chosen in a manner agreed upon by the faculty.
Section 2: Speaker of the
House--Election and Qualifications
1. A Speaker of the House shall be elected at the first regular meeting of the House of Representatives and shall hold his position for one year and until a new House of Representatives is elected and installed.
2. To qualify as a Speaker of the House, a student must be a member of the House of Representatives.
3. In case of the permanent inability of the Speaker of the House to discharge the powers and duties of his office, he shall be succeeded by a student elected from and by the House of Representatives. A student from the class of the former Speaker of the House will be elected by that class to represent it as a Member in the House of Representatives. In case of temporary inability of the Speaker of the House, the Vice President will act in his place.
Section 3: Duties of the Speaker of the House
The Speaker of the House shall preside over the House of Representatives in the absence of the President and the Vice President, or at the request of the President. He shall have authority to call meetings of the House of Representatives, provided he gives reasonable prior notice to all sitting members of the Executive.
1. A President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall be elected at the first regular meeting of the new Senate; he shall hold his position for one year and until a new Senate is elected and installed. Nominations shall be taken from the floor, and the President Pro Tempore shall be chosen by a majority of the Senators.
2. To qualify as President Pro Tempore, a faculty member or student must be a member of the Senate.
3. In case of permanent or temporary inability of the President Pro Tempore to discharge the powers and duties of his office, he shall be succeeded by another faculty member or student elected from and by the Senate. In case of permanent inability, another faculty member of the same staff position or student from the same class will be elected to the Senate.
Section 5: Duties of the President
Pro Tempore
The President Pro Tempore shall preside over meetings of the Senate in the absence of the Vice President or at the request of the Vice President. He shall have authority to call meetings of the Senate, provided he gives reasonable prior notice to all sitting members of the Executive Branch.
Section 6: Secretary of the Senate
Appointment and Qualifications
1. A Secretary of the Senate shall be appointed by the Vice President at the first regular meeting of the new Senate; he shall hold his office for one year and until a new Senate is elected and installed.
2. Any student or faculty member may be the Secretary of the Senate, provided he holds no other office in the Government.
3. The Secretary of the Senate shall keep, take, and maintain custody of the Minutes of the Senate shall be the custodian of all other official records of the Senate. He shall, no later than the close of each session, deliver all Senate records to the Student Government Advisor to be archived.
4. Further duties of the Secretary of the Senate may be specified by Act of the Legislature of by Rules of the Senate.
1.
One half of the members of the House of Representatives shall
constitute a Quorum, with the provision that at least one elected
representative from each class be present.
2. One half of the members of the Senate shall constitute a Quorum, with the provision that at least two faculty senators and two student senators are present.
Section 8: Powers of the
Legislature
The Legislature shall have power to:
1. Lay and collect reasonable taxes on: (a) any monies paid by the GPGC to students as allowance, salary, or otherwise, (b) revenues or income of any student operated enterprise, (c) any student privilege or special activity requiring special regulation by the Government or which exists in derogation of common rights; provided, however, that any measure imposing or increasing any tax shall originate in the House of Representatives. This power shall include authority to direct GPGC staff to deduct the amount of the tax from any amounts payable by the GPGC to a student, before the student receives any such amounts;
2. Appropriate monies collected from taxation or from other sources to fund the operations of the Government, to benefit the students, and for other public purposes;
3. Amend the Code of Student Behavior and pass other laws regulating the conduct of students;
4. Provide for the licensing and regulation of student corporations, businesses, enterprises, and other for profit activities;
5. Enact laws providing for the efficient and effective operations of the Government;
6. Carry out all functions assigned to it by this Constitution and enact measures necessary and proper for the effectuation thereof;
7. Enact laws to protect student rights, privileges, and liberties.
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