Michigan Student Assembly members proved last night that campaign finance reform is not limited to the national level.
At their weekly meeting, assembly members passed a proposal that will cap MSA candidate campaign spending at $500 beginning this fall. After the resolution passed, LSA Rep. Dan Serota said he plans to sue MSA over the legality of the code changes.
Rackham Rep. Josh Trapani, who proposed the code changes, said having unlimited spending on campaigns may restrict some students who want to get involved in student government, but don't have the money other candidates do to win votes.
Trapani said the campaign spending limit would not infringe upon candidates' First Amendment rights.
"I would argue that (the code changes) would definitely not," Trapani said. "I wouldn't support anything that did."
While the majority of assembly voters agreed with Trapani, the resolution was not unanimously supported - it passed 17-5-1.
Serota, who unsuccessfully ran for MSA vice president in last week's election, said he plans to sue MSA because he alleges the code changes violate the legality of the U.S Constitution and the MSA constitution.
Serota said the $500 spending limit heavily favors incumbents who have more name recognition than candidates with no prior MSA experience.
"I believe it violates every students' rights to free speech," Serota said.
Trapani said write-in candidates are not subject to these rules, so they can make the decision to have their name on the ballot. Because of this option, Trapani said the financial restrictions do not impinge on the First Amendment.
MSA Treasurer Jonathan Winnick said the code changes violate students' rights.
"I feel MSA should not be micromanaging campaigns," Winnick said. "In a perfect world, everyone would have equal amounts of resources, but I think it's naive to pretend that world exists."
Winnick said the code changes are an easy target for loopholes and will face consequences down the road.
"This is virtually unenforceable," Winnick said. "You cannot stop a friend of a candidate from spending money to assist him."
MSA President Fiona Rose turned over her gavel during the code changes debate because she said she felt strongly about the issue.
Rose said some course of action needs to be taken concerning campaign finance spending "and the only way to do it is to plunge ahead with this proposal and work form this on enforcing and implementing it."
Anne Marie Ellison, chair of the students' rights commission, said the $500 spending limit does not violate students' First Amendment rights and that $500 is even too high of a limit.
Ellison said candidates still have the opportunity to use other forms of free campaigning, including talking to student groups or being members of student groups, instead of spending mass amounts of money.
Serota said he will file his case with the Central Student Judiciary this week and hopes it will be handled as soon as possible. He said three chief justices will decide the case.
The new code changes also state that candidates must submit their receipts to the MSA election director before using the materials. These code changes, however, do not apply to campaign materials that support a party rather than individual candidates.
Along with the code changes for campaign finance reform, the assembly also supported several other proposals last night.
MSA members recognized the University's need for a men's varsity soccer program and plan to recommend this addition to the Board in Control of Intercollegiate Athletics and the Director of Athletics.
Assembly members also passed a proposal sponsored by Rose that encourages the Office of the Registrar to form a policy allowing students with disabilities to have priority in course registration.