Legislation
Introduction
This site explains the legislative side of the Assembly and the GSG. Any graduate student enrolled at the University of Maryland College Park is a member of the GSG and is thus able to effect change through proposing legislation for consideration by the Assembly.
Deadlines for Submitting Legislation
The deadline for submitting draft resolutions or amendments is three weeks before the Assembly meeting at which the author would like to present the legislation. The drafts must be submitted to the Ways and Means Committee.
How to Submit a Resolution
Resolutions are statements of sentiment. The GSG can resolve many things: to support an idea or notion, to reject the idea of a policy or procedure, to align itself with another entity, anything really. Below, you'll find a template that you can use in the formulation of your own resolution to be submitted to the Ways and Means Committee and brought before the Assembly. You'll also a find a sample of a resolution that was approved by the Assembly.
How to Submit a Bill
Bills are statements of executable action. Most bills that come before the GSG will either establish a budget, or enact changes to the GSG Bylaws or Constitution in the form of an amendment. Below, you'll find a template you can use in the formulation of your own amendment to be submitted to the Ways and Means Committee and brought before the Assembly. You'll also find a sample of an amendment that was approved by the Assembly.
What to Do Now
Now that you've drafted your own legislation, what's the process through which the legislation will be brought before the Assembly?
Send your legislation as an e-mail attachment to the Ways and Means Committee at gsg-wam [at] umd.edu. The Chair of Ways and Means will contact you for additional information if any substantive changes need to be made.
Submitted Legislation
You can track past and upcoming legislation here to see if it has passed, failed, or been referred to a committee for review or modification.