CU Student Government Legislative Council members approved an election reform bill Thursday night that, among other things, caps campaign and individual spending for CUSG elections at nearly one-tenth the spending that was seen in the last election.

Effective immediately, candidates for Representative-at-Large may not spend more than a total of $200 on one campaign, originally $500. Candidates for executive positions may not spend more than $500 in furtherance of their campaign, originally $1,500. As a package ticket, Tri-Executive campaigns, which include President, Vice President of Internal Affairs and Vice President of External Affairs, may not spend more than $1,000 — unchanged from previous limits.

The CU Student Government headquarters located in the University Memorial Center. (CU Independent/James Bradbury)

Senate races had no campaign expenditure limit prior to Thursday’s meeting. The new bill caps Senate races at $200.

“We can really make a difference in making sure that the best count is always in the room, like I believe it is right now,” said Tyler Quick, the VP of External Affairs.

Quick and Zeke Johnson, Vice President of Legislative Council, authored the bill to address the intense campaign spending that they saw last spring.

“It has disadvantaged both conservative and progressive tickets, and most of all, it’s disadvantaged independent tickets,” Quick said.

The council took just under four hours to amend and approve the election reform bill. Its changes take effect five weeks before the fall legislative council election, being held Oct. 22-26, 2012.

After three years of service and being added as a co-author of the election reform bill because of his contributions Thursday night, Law School Senator Ryan Tyson announced his retirement from the CUSG Legislative Council before adjournment.

“This was a great way to go out,” Tyson said.

Contact CU Independent Opinion Editor Alison Noon at Alison.noon@colorado.edu.