OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion

The Student Government Association (SGA) voted on proposed changes to the policy that governs how the mandatory student fee is allocated this week. The changes, including a name change from Joint Finance Committee (JFC) policy to Student Activity Fee Allocation policy, were proposed to promote equity in the allocation process. The new policy gives more weight to the JFC by requiring a two-thirds vote to pass a bill if it is not amended per JFC recommendations rather than a "regular majority" vote to pass a bill. This requirement is a fair way to make sure that SGA policies and procedures are only overruled for clear and necessary exceptions.

However, the Undergraduate House of Representatives (UHR) and Graduate Student Senate (GSS) passed different versions of the bill. GSS made a few minor changes to the original policy. However, UHR seems to have missed the mark by removing two full articles. UHR's version scraps a new appeals process for bills that are not approved and also removes the two-thirds requirement if JFC recommendations are not made-essentially reverting to the previous policy.

Members of UHR said that the amendments were necessary to ensure separation of powers. However, the changes simply put the task of ensuring that bills are meeting SGA policies in the hands of the JFC before they are brought before both governing bodies. All bills will still be voted on by both houses, only with stricter requirements if a bill requests funding above set policies.

The JFC is composed of people appointed as experts on allocation policy and both houses confirm each member. The UHR should trust the members of the JFC, which has equal representation from both UHR and GSS, to do their jobs.

Following JFC policy except in rare, valid cases will help prevent groups from claiming that SGA disperses money in a biased manner. Thus, implementing and following the new policy will help protect SGA by making it more difficult to overrule policy.

A conference committee composed of members from both houses will revise the policy this week and a new version will be presented. Hopefully the wisdom of the graduates will prevail in the new version and the two articles removed by UHR will be reinstated. It would be prudent for both UHR and GSS to pass the new policy sooner rather than later, as any additional delay only prevents student organizations' bills from being funded. If both houses work together to agree on a fair, clear policy, organizations' bills can realistically meet JFC recommendations before they come before UHR and GSS.