Get to know your ASOSU: The House of Representatives

Part II

Q: How is the House of Representatives different from the Senate?

A: According to Speaker of the House Drew Hatlen, while the Senate deals more with ASOSU statutes and internal functions, the House of Representatives handles judiciary and fiscal matters, and deals directly with the ASOSU budget. "A lot of what our committees do is budget-focused," Hatlen said.

Bills originate in the branch of Congress that handles the issue addressed in the legislation; for example, a bill regarding ASOSU pay increases would originate in the House of Representatives. Regardless of where a bill or resolution starts out, it must also be approved by the other branch of Congress in order to be passed, as stated in the ASOSU Constitution.

While House representatives serve one-year terms, senators serve for two. The reason for this, Hatlen said, is to give those who are interested in student government a chance to serve in a more "introductory" role that requires only a one-year commitment. If students continue to want to be involved in ASOSU, they might go on to run for a seat in the Senate.

Q: How do the committees within the House of Representatives work?

A: The House of Representatives contains three committees: Ways and Means, Appropriations and Budgets and Educational Activities. In addition, the Joint Committee of Congressional Correspondence contains members from both the House and the Senate.

Ways and Means

According to Ways and Means Chairperson Douglas Van Bossuyt, the committee is "the fiduciary watch-guard of ASOSU." It reviews and approves the annual ASOSU budget, which is then submitted to the Student and Incidental Fees Committee. In addition, the committee reviews and approves any mid-budget-cycle changes or requests.

The committee occasionally discovers financial or budgetary irregularities, according to Van Bossuyt, and has discovered several since the beginning of the school year.

"Our job in this situation is to find the budgetary issues, root out the true nature of the problems and fix them in a fiscally responsible manner that protects the student fee dollars that the students of Oregon State University have entrusted to ASOSU," Van Bossuyt said.

Appropriations and Budgets

The Appropriations and Budgets committee plays more of an advisory role, Hatlen said. The committee works directly with the SIFC, hearing and reviewing all of the different budget proposals being presented.  

Once the budget proposals have been reviewed, the committee presents its recommendations at the joint session of Congress, where the budget proposals will be approved or denied, according to Representative Andrew Struthers.

Educational Activities

"Traditionally, Educational Activities was a committee in Congress that helped manage all the student organizations and student activities on campus," Hatlen said.

While the committee still exists, a separate Educational Activities entity has since been established outside of Congress and the two work in cooperation with one another.

According to Hatlen, the original committee will likely be phased out by the end of the academic year and replaced with a new committee that has yet to be decided upon.

Joint Committee of Congressional Correspondence

This committee contains members from both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Its role is to maintain a line of communication between both houses of Congress. A committee member is always present at each meeting of Congress to report the happenings of the respective houses.

Q: Why should students care about the House of Representatives?

A: The House works directly with ASOSU's budget of approximately $1.2 million, and is tasked with making sure the money is being spent appropriately.  

"The House of Representatives is where financial decisions affecting ASOSU are made," Van Bossuyt said. "In years past, the House has helped to fund special workshops for various student groups, pushed to have important speakers brought to campus and worked hard to rein in wasteful spending."

In addition, according to Hatlen, the House is a great starting point for those who are new to ASOSU.

"If people are advocates for students and want to get involved, it's a great place to start," Hatlen said.

Kristin Pugmire, senior reporter

737-2231 news@dailybarometer.com