Any member of the Student Senate can introduce a resolution, bill, or constitutional amendment. If you would like to see a particular piece of legislation introduced but are not a member, reach out to anyone who is a member, particularly your class representative, and ask them to author it.
All legislation is voted on the week after it is introduced unless it is tabled, or unless Article V, Section 8-V of the Constitution is suspended. During this week, Senators can meet with each other or with students to discuss amendments to the legislation. At the Senate meeting following this “cooling off” period, Senate discusses the piece of legislation and votes on any proposed amendments to its language. The legislation is then voted on and either fails to pass or takes effect.
If you are a member of Student Senate looking to write a piece of legislation, please follow the steps laid out here.
- See if there are alternatives to writing legislation. Many problems can be solved without writing a bill or even a resolution if you simply talk to the right people in Senate or the college administration. It takes time to debate bills and resolutions, so make sure your legislation is truly necessary and/or helpful.
- Reach out to the relevant people or groups. This step is not actually mandated in any rules, but Senate has an obligation to reach out to other stakeholders in the Pitzer Community that are affected by or involved with a piece of legislation. Please try to be considerate by including these voices in the process of crafting bills and resolutions.
- Figure out what category the legislation is in. Legislation can be a resolution, a bill, or a constitutional amendment. Unlike in previous years, constitutional amendments are no longer categorized as bills.
- Write the legislation. Use the relevant template below and fill out all the relevant information, although you may leave the bill/resolution/amendment number blank. Working with Google Docs can be helpful if you are writing alongside multiple collaborators.
- Submit your legislation to the Secretary. All Legislation must be submitted on Thursday before 12:00 midnight if you would like it to be introduced at the Student Senate meeting that following Sunday. If the legislation is saved as a Google Doc, you may submit it by sharing it with [email protected] and granting full editing privileges. You may also simply email in your draft as a Word document or something similar (no PDFs please).
Once the legislation is submitted, you may only edit it further by proposing amendments to it on the Senate floor.
If you are not a member of Student Senate, contact either the special representatives, committee representatives, and/or a member of the Executive Board for further assistance.
Templates for Legislature
Template for Resolutions
Template for Amendments
Template for Bills
Style Guide for Writing Legislation
