Winter break is only a week away, but Marquette Student Government wasn’t ready to leave until trying to iron out one last piece of first semester legislation at its Dec. 10 meeting.

Turns out legislation recommending the university provide a new free ID card to any student needing one will still have to be discussed when senators return in January.

A motion to send the recommendation back to committee was approved 16-14 after extensive Senate debate.

Legislation authors Kaleb Vinehout, a freshman in the College of Engineering and Adam Ryback, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration, said it was unfair for students to have to pay for a new ID if it’s unusable due to normal wear and tear. The present cost of a new ID at Union Station is $10  — a price that increased $5 within the past week.

A new ID would be restricted to those whose card was broken, defaced or unusable due to the magnetic strip wearing down.

Much of the debate had to do with an alleged lack of research done by its authors. Julie Praxmarer, a senior in the College of Education senior, said the legislation should have been researched more and needed to reference the budgetary problems that might occur as a result of the university paying for replacement IDs.

However other senators said students shouldn’t have to pay for a replacement ID after normal wear from use.

“They increased the fee of a piece of plastic to $10,” said Bill Doerrer, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences. “The university is effectively punishing us for going about our daily life.”

Doerrer further argued that choosing not to pass the recommendation because of budgetary concerns was inconsistent with MUSG’s purpose and previous actions, including passage of recommendations calling for a new Rec Center and termination of the university’s contract with Sodexo.

Joey Ciccone, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Science, agreed, saying it is MUSG’s job to figure out students’ problems, and the university’s job to figure out how to budget for these recommendations.

Another problem leveled against the legislation by opponents was that it did not specifically state who would or would not be covered by the ID initiative. Raviinder Gil, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, said the legislation would make it possible for any student to get an ID every year, further adding to financial considerations.

Vinehout and Ryback said the legislation’s wording was specific enough to protect against such a situation.

Ryback even offered an amendment to the recommendation that would have allowed only Union Station to define what would qualify as a defaced ID.

Eventually, however, opposition led to the Senate referring the recommendation to committee via a motion by Paige Jorgensen, a senior in the College of Communication. Revised legislation on the IDs is expected to return to the full Senate at a later date.

In other news from the meeting:

• The Senate approved the appointee for next year’s financial vice president, Mike Thiel, who will take over for Jon Giel.
• Giel said the Men’s Club Baseball team appealed the SOA Committee’s decision not to grant the team funds for this period, which was overturned. The team ended up receiving $2,130.
• Sen. Drew Halunen said he had spoken to Residence Life and that mail room hours in residence halls would be standardized throughout campus next semester.