Legislative Council
What is Legislative Council?
Legislative Council (LC) is RHA’s bi-weekly organization gathering and business meeting, which is attended by representatives from each of our Hall Councils, the RHA Executive Board, and Bill Authors who are proposing legislation. During LC, RHA allocates funds to build community on campus and discusses initiatives going on around campus to improve life for residents. Hall Council Officers can submit a bill to (1) procure funding for an event, (2) procure funding for an initiative, (3) propose a resolution, or (4) propose an amendment to our Governing Documents. The meetings are open to the public, but only Hall Council representatives have voting rights. Bi-weekly Legislative Council minutes can be found here and presentation slides can be found here.
Dates, Time, and Location ▼
LC meets every other Wednesday at 7:00 PM in the Smithgall Student Services Building (“Flag Building”) Room #117. You may be required to tap your Buzzcard to get into the Flag Building at that time, but all students should have access through the end of Legislative Council. There are two entrances into Room #117—a main set of double doors in the front and a single door in the back of the lecture hall. Those attending LC late should enter through the back door to minimize disturbances.
❗ Off Weeks
Note that LC does not meet during the summer, dead weeks, finals week, or weeks with official school breaks; external organizations seeking funding from RHA should plan accordingly and only submit legislation when LC is in session.
Meeting Structure & Logistics ▼
LC consists of 7 main components:
- Roll Call—attendance is taken, and quorum is verified.
- Open Forum—attendees can speak freely on any topic they find pertinent.
- Community Session—the Executive Board facilitates collaborative discussion among Hall Council Officers in attendance and/or other educational, informative sessions designed to reinforce RHA concepts, training, and development.
- Executive Updates—all members of the Executive Branch give updates on pertinent RHA happenings.
- Old Business—bills that have been previously tabled are considered, in the order that they were submitted.
- New Business—bills that have not been previously tabled or heard are considered, in the order that they were submitted.
- Special Business—Executive Orders, Elections, and any other miscellaneous business is handled.
We try to stick to the following schedule for LC:
- 7:00 – 7:20pm: Open Forum & Community Session
- 7:20 – 7:30pm: Executive Updates
- 7:30 – 8:00pm: Old, New, and Special Business
Bill Authors should arrive by 7:00pm (in case we’re running early, which we often are) and be prepared to present their bills during Old or New business.
All Georgia Tech affiliates have speaking rights at LC, but only voting representatives (as defined in our Governing Documents, and most commonly Hall Council Officers) have voting rights.
Looking to Submit a Bill?
Please check out this page for information on how to submit a bill, whether or not your bill is best suited for Hall Council or Legislative Council, and advice and best practices for Bill Authors.