The Associated Students of the University of Missouri, a student lobbying group, has fought for years to pass legislation that would give the student representative to the UM System Board of Curators a vote on the board. And students in the group don’t want to give up fighting after Gov. Matt Blunt vetoed the bill last week.
ASUM met Saturday to discuss its strategy to lobby legislators to override the veto. That would take a two-thirds vote in both the Missouri House and Senate. This session, the Senate passed the bill 31-2 and the House passed it 100-47, which is seven votes short of a two-thirds majority after absent representatives are factored in.
The veto session begins Sept. 10, and so far the curator bill is the only one to be vetoed by Blunt. ASUM legislative director Ally Walker said via teleconference at the meeting that she wasn’t worried about getting a two-thirds vote in the Senate, but that Majority Leader Charlie Shields could potentially sit on the bill and keep it from being brought to the floor. Walker said she also wanted to speak with legislators that are outspoken against Blunt to keep them from shaking things up and rather have them look ahead at the task at hand.
“We need to move forward in a positive, pro-student way,” Walker said.
ASUM board chairman Craig Stevenson said he hopes to unite the Missouri Federation of College Republicans and the Young Democrats of Missouri to support the bill.
“I want to form a coalition to show this is not a partisan issue,” Stevenson said. “It’s a student issue.”
ASUM also plans to hold a student lobbying day at the Capitol, have letter-writing campaigns and create an official statement and response to Blunt’s veto, all in an effort to get the General Assembly to override the veto. Stevenson also created a Facebook group to promote awareness.
