NC State University’s Student Senate held its third meeting of the semester on Feb. 11, 2026. During the session they covered a resolution discussing the funding cut to Student Legal Services as well as a government bill overhauling the Student Senate’s Justice Department.

R 126 – Student Legal Services Protection Act

Resolution 126, short-titled the Student Legal Services Protection Act, was one of the fast-tracked pieces of legislation. Corresponding Senator Katie Stennette drafted the bill with the help of sixteen other co-sponsor senators. “We’re asking that UNC President Peter Hans to not pass this draft regulation as written,” Stennette said during the reading. “We ask the representatives of NC State on the NC Board of Governors or otherwise express their opposition to this regulation as written.”

During the ten-minute period of questioning, Senator Connor Rohlf prompted the Student Body President, Isaac Carreno to elaborate on the details of the drafted UNC System policy. The drafted policy specifies “No more than 5% of annual student activities fee revenue may be allocated to student-run organizations without written justification and approval by the chancellor or their designee,” with 10% being the absolute maximum.

“As to my understanding, NC State does not fall above that 10% threshold,” Carreno explains. “However, there’s still concerns as to what that means and how we will appropriate funds and how student organizations will react.”

Minor amendments were made to the policy for clarification purposes, such as changing the verbiage from ‘regulation’ to ‘policy,’ and the senate moved to a debate period. 

Two pro debates were held, starting with Senator Liam Barry opening with a personal testimony. 

“One of the clubs that I was leadership in was in some pretty serious legal trouble. We hadn’t paid taxes in 10 years,” he said. “Michael Avery was the person that came and helped us out.” Michael Avery holds a position as Staff Attorney as a member of Student Legal Services.

Next, Senator Kaleb Garcia brought up the student legal fees being $8 and how Student Legal Services helps victims of interpersonal violence. 

“One of the things I wanted to mention was they help victims of domestic violence. They help represent them. I think that’s extremely important, as we consider voting today,” Garcia said

The resolution passed with thirty-seven affirmative votes and one abstention.

GB 119 – The Justice Through Service Act

Government Bill 119, short-titled The Justice Through Service Act, underwent a vote during the meeting. Corresponding Senator Ava Butler explained that the main point of the bill is to establish a general attorney position within the Justice Department. 

During the five minutes to sponsor the bill, Butler explains the purpose of the general attorney. “I wanted to make ethics and mediation and student advocacy more restorative rather than punitive, and also getting students the chance to get peer support and advocacy and potential university processes, especially with student legal services being potentially defunded due to that new policy regulation.”

Butler states that Eileen Goldgeier, a former chief legal counsel from NC State and Michael Avery had both reviewed and supported the creation of a general attorney position. “Both approved and encouraged the position as long as the AG focuses on advocacy around the student headbook, code of conduct, as well as student government statutes in the Constitution,” she says.

Student Government’s Chief Justice, Colin Carmichael, provided advice during the bill’s first draft. “I think this is very well written, it’s very well structured …  and I think it also provides support for the whole [Justice] Department, which I think, as we’ve seen this session, is becoming necessary,” he said.

Moving into a twenty-one-minute debate session, Senator Zach Eddinger opened with a con debate. His main concern was the lack of legal expertise and experience of the person acting as the general attorney, to which Butler clarified that the responsibilities assigned to the role, such as university proceedings, are not legal.

Later, Student Senate Pro Tempore Taquan Dewberry offered a pro debate. “Nearly everyone that is employed by the university is required to remain neutral. In fact, the one group that is not is the students. We have hundreds of students in this organization, and thousands, tens of thousands of students we serve; nobody is able to speak up with them the way we can. If we have the ability to add a position that can do that, it can help direct our advocacy efforts back to our students.”

GB 119 passed with 35 affirmative votes, two negations, and one abstention.