by Maria Nosal / SGA reporte

The executive council of the Student Government Association vetoed a bill granting the OrangeBand Initiative money, but the Student Senate voted to override the veto Tuesday night.

Student Body President Tom Culligan said the bill was vetoed by the executive council for three different reasons. The bill requested money both for fall and spring action campaigns, which is not allowed according to the SGA contingency rules. Also, the $200 requested was not in line item format, which is required. Lastly, the SGA was not certain if the money would be spent only on JMU students or the nonprofit, nationwide organization of OrangeBand.

"I still feel uncomfortable with mine and my constituents’ student fees going to fund the nonprofit organization," sophomore Sen. Brendan Travis said.

Kai Degner (’03), coordinator of OrangeBand, made a distinction for the senators between the JMU chapter and the national nonprofit OrangeBand.

"You need to think, do the issues executive [council members] had with the bill really cause that big of a problem?" sophomore Sen. Stephanie Genco said. "What would our constituents say if we tell them we vetoed an OrangeBand bill because of subtleties?"

The OrangeBand bill was the first bill given to the Senate asking for money.

"Every organization on campus knows that money is given on a first-come, first-served basis," sophomore

Sen. Ryan Powell said. "OrangeBand is doing everything they are supposed to be doing right; worrying about money for other organizations shouldn’t be a reason not to pass this bill."

The OrangeBand bill was passed with a two-thirds majority, overriding the executive’s veto.