Snooki inspired NJ Senate Bill to limit speaker fees

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

I heard this reported on 101.5 this morning as Snooki was paid $34K as a commencement speaker.
But since she wasn't a commencement speaker and was an act hired for entertainment, paid by students with their own entertainment fund.. I don't think this bill would prevent that.

USNEWS link

NJcom link

GOP Assemblyman John DiMaio (R-Warren) has waged a battle to pass what's become colloquially known as the "Snooki bill," which would curb university speaker fees at public universities by capping them at $10,000.

The wellspring of DiMaio's ire is the $32,000 honorarium paid in 2011 to Nicole Elizabeth "Snooki" Polizzi, the star of MTV's reality series that ran from 2009-2012.​

 

[PhilaPhans]

And this will do nothing to stop the money spent on graduation. Obama, for example, waived his fees. But the need for extra police and other logistical things had it costing way more than the speaker fee.

 

[srru86]

While it might be outrageous to pay Snooki this much, or anything, Big time corporate speaker types get much more than that. Would DiMaio be opposed if we were to pay oh, I don't know, Condeleezza Rice her standard fee to speak on campus? Hint: it's well north of that.

Regardless this was paid for with student fees, not taxes. Why is the legislature telling students how to use their money? This is America I thought the government was supposed to stay out of telling people how to spend their money.