The OU Undergraduate Student Congress saw five appointment bills and a bill recommending legislators stop introducing bills that seek to limit gender-confirming care during its Tuesday meeting.
Rep. Ezra Koenig presented a bill to urge Oklahoma representatives and senators to keep the standing 2SLGBTQ+ laws surrounding health care, education, freedom of expression and civil rights.
They said the bills going through the State Legislature that seek to limit gender-confirming care are extremely harmful and could have many unforeseen and negative consequences not only to 2SLGBTQIA+ people’s physical and mental well-being, but also to businesses, medical professionals and programs such as OU’s Crimson and Queens.
Hudson Haskins, Congress Outreach, Safety and Concerns Committee chair, asked Koenig if they would be willing to change the language on their bill from “less assertive” to “more general” language to be more appealing to conservative legislators. However, they said that as someone personally affected by the state bills, they said they feel it isn’t the “right time” to be silent.
“We (as congress) do need to make that proactive step and say, ‘Hey, we want to look at possibly how big this impact will be,’” Koenig said. “Not even just for 2SLGBTQIA+ citizens, but also for organizations financially, such as the facilities like OU Health that now have limited funds for practicing gender-confirming health care.”
Koenig’s bill passed unanimously. This was their first piece of legislation.
Emelie Schultz, Student Government Association vice president, presented four acts seeking to appoint directors for the Firch-Schultz administration’s communications, exterior, interior and inclusivity departments to replace herself, Jayke Flaggert and Easton Holloway from the Lissau-Akuffo administration.
She nominated Michael Stoyak for director for the Department of the Interior, which was left vacant after the failed nomination of Paige Chandler, who was later named senior adviser for the Lissau-Akuffo team.
The Department of the Interior "advocates for the position of the SGA as it pertains to internal university affairs,' according to the SGA Code Annotated, and it addresses all on-campus issues like student health and wellness, on-campus sustainability and parking.
She also nominated Jordan Brown for director of the Department of the Exterior, which acts as a liaison with city, state and federal officials; Jessica Zimmerman for director of Communications; and Dala Korkoyah for director of Inclusivity.
Congress Chair Abby Halsey-Kraus said Stoyak and Brown, who are both representatives in congress, are allowed to keep their seats if they wish, as a representative seat is not considered “high ranking” as defined by the Code Annotated.
All four of the director bills passed with a vote of 19-0-2, with Brown and Stoyak abstaining to avoid a conflict of interest, and will be seen by the Graduate Student Senate for further consideration.
The Firch-Schultz administration also nominated Randi Wright as election commissioner following Layni Thompson, who was elected last semester. Wright worked under Thompson last semester, and Schultz said she and Firch were blown away by Wright’s qualifications and drive for the job.
“Randi has a great passion for the position and is very dedicated to increasing transparency of people running for SGA,” Schultz said. “She wishes to make rules more accessible for the everyday student and is very excited to continue to work with us after last semester.”
The bill passed unanimously and will be seen by the Graduate Student Senate.
Halsey-Kraus also presented an appointment bill for her successor after her acceptance of the Congress chair position left the Congressional Administration Committee chair vacant. She nominated Rep. Tucker Dunn to her previous position and said she is fully behind Dunn as the right person for the job.
“The Congressional Administration Committee chair position is one that’s very near and dear to my heart, so I think it says a lot that I am the one up here appointing Tucker,” Halsey-Kraus said. “I would not be here standing up here giving you all my confidence if I didn’t believe that he would do the most amazing job.”
Her bill passed unanimously, and because it is a congressional bill, it will not need to be seen by the Graduate Student Senate.
Rep. Carter Strickland presented his bill, which sought to amend the Code Annotated’s section on the Crimson Leadership Association, as he felt the listed expectations and responsibilities of the chairs were outdated and did not reflect the current inner workings of the association.
He said he believes the proposed amendments will make the Code Annotated more realistic to what is “actually happening” in the Crimson Leadership Association’s Monday meetings.
“(This bill will make the Code Annotated) more realistic because it is what is actually happening every Monday in those meetings and throughout the week for its leadership and its members,” Strickland said.
His bill passed with one abstention — his own, due to a conflict of interest — and will be seen by GSS. This was Strickland’s first bill.
Congress also saw an auxiliary bill that allocates SGA funds to 20 OU organizations and associations. This bill also passed unanimously and moves to GSS for further consideration.
This story was edited by Alexia Aston and Jazz Wolfe. Francisco Gutierrez and Alexandra Powell-Lorentzatos copy edited this story.
