The Transparency in Executive Agencies Act was an uncontroversial piece of legislation that would have increased transparency in the Accent Speakers Bureau and Student Government Productions. Both of these agencies receive almost half a million dollars of student funding each year.
Transparency is a point that both parties had on their platforms during this past election season, but it is still not being realized in Senate.
Simply put, the Transparency in Executive Agencies Act requires Accent to publicly release the names of those individuals who receive complimentary or VIP tickets, like those given for floor seating in the Seth Meyers show two weeks ago.
The release of these names used to be done on a regular basis by Accent chairmen and treasurers in the past but was inexplicably stopped two years ago.
The current Accent Chairman, Corey Portnoy, claims the Student Senate does not have access to these lists because “all tickets are complimentary,” but I ask you, as a student, if you think this is fair.
If you are waiting for a show hours before it starts and someone waltzes past you to special seating, aren’t you entitled to know who that is, especially when your activity fees pay for the shows?
The Students Party attempted to reach across the aisle and fulfill a promise of transparency to The Gator Nation, but this bill was not even discussed in Senate. The Judiciary Committee ruled that the bill should not be heard based on the vague idea of “implication” that the judiciary chairman himself could not even define.
This piece of legislature was struck down by six senators in a shady committee meeting so that no student would see Unite corruptly vote against it.
The Unite Party message is clear: No transparency. Not now, not ever.
The only way students can have an open and free government is by getting involved and taking action now.
I urge all interested students to apply for open Senate seats, the cabinet positions that are opening in early April and positions in Accent, SGP and any other executive agency to put the students back into Student Government.
Applications can be found at sg.ufl.edu under “Apply Now” at the lower left-hand corner.
Matt Pesek
Student senator
