The new Student Government legislative body introduced its first bills during the general assembly on Tuesday, including legislation to implement digital student IDs, establish an online portal for legislation and create a newsletter for alumni.
The assembly referred all three bills to their respective committees and it will vote on the bills at next week’s special session on April 28. President Hudson Thomas co-authored the digital ID bill.
Jeremiah Clarke, the Ethics & Oversight Chair and bill co-author, introduced a resolution calling for digital student IDs, which he said would reduce the inconvenience and cost associated with lost or damaged physical IDs. The proposed system would allow students to access campus buildings and sporting events using smartphones or smartwatches.
According to the bill, other schools have already implemented digital IDs, including the University of Alabama and the University of Oklahoma.
“(Digital IDs) is something that other SEC schools have, other Texas schools have and some of the schools have across the nation,” plan II freshman Clarke said. “It just makes sense for students, (and) it makes sense for the administration.”
Clarke said the goal is to implement digital student IDs by the fall, but the University has not confirmed the timeline.
Zach Lacy, the chief of staff and bill co-author, said the main hurdle would be changing the equipment used to scan student IDs in campus buildings. He said Thomas has met with the Office of the President and the Office of the Dean of Students to discuss the plausibility of digital IDs.
“All that we’re trying to do is to get (the bill) passed so it shows student support, so that when executive is working throughout the summer and through the next weeks to get it implemented, we can say that we have the entire student government behind us — not just the executive branch,” government and philosophy sophomore Lacy said.
According to the bill, the bill authors are still discussing the digital IDs to determine their cost, which the University would likely cover.
Financial Affairs Chair Jace Jones and Governmental Affairs Chair Nina Raich introduced a bill to create Longhorn Legislature Online, a platform designed to house SG legislation. Jones said the legislation is currently only available through the SG Google Drive, which many students find difficult to navigate.
“What we’re going to do is we’re going to try and create some software that will be a part of the (SG) website, that will serve as a bill tracker where you go and search a bill with certain things like who the author is, what committee it is and whether it has passed,” business sophomore Jones said.
Raich also introduced a bill to create an alumni-focused newsletter. According to the bill, the newsletter would highlight passed legislation, spotlight standout members and share student life updates with UT SG alumni.
“We have a lot of folks that are in student government that then moved on to government positions and work within the Texas capital and with broader politics in Texas, but also in various nationwide positions,” Raich said. “Tapping into that network would be a great thing for all of us here, and the first way to do that is to simply connect and reach out to them.”
