UHR debates two-thirds funding rule

The Undergraduate House of Representatives debated for over an hour this week about the regulations placed on the House by the Joint Finance Policy. Specifically, the debate was over policy mandating that the House fund only two-thirds of any capital outlay requests made by student organizations.

Student organizations can request funds from two different accounts. The first is the prior year account, which is used for short term or single use expenses such as travel and registration fees. The second is the capital outlay account, which funds long term multiple use expenses, such as athletic uniforms and technical equipment. In prior years, organizations were restricted in their funding based only on their tier, need and the item requested. However, the recently amended JFC policy further restricted capital outlay expenditure, capping the available funding at two-thirds.

Representative George Ray and Senator Grant Farmer submitted a bill proposing an amendment to the current JFC policy, striking the two-thirds rule. "The issue we are considering here is how we do our jobs, whether we use our best judgment to do our jobs or if we just let policy blindly dictate what we do," Ray said.

In previous years, the House has entertained lengthy debate over financial minutia, actively choosing what percentage of requests to allocate funding to. This year the House has been much more willing to simply amend a bill to meet JFC policy and pass all financial allocation requests. Proponents of the amendment argued that the two-thirds mandate eliminated the legislative responsibilities of the House, making the process automated.

While no organizations had come forward to argue that the two-thirds restriction was prohibitive to their needs, many representatives expressed the concern that expensive capital requests would be eliminated, as groups would be unable to fund even a third of the price without the help of Student Government Association. Organizations are responsible for raising the final one-third of their capital needs on their own. They have the options of fundraising, raising organizational dues, achieving corporate sponsorships or requesting money from the Student Foundation. SGA is expected to be a last resort in their attempts to raise capital.

Representative Chirag Arya presented an argument for the amendment using economies of scale, stating "Bigger organizations have a clear advantage when it comes to dues, fundraising and networking. That makes it easy for large organizations to have capital bases, but more difficult for smaller organization to have the same advantage. We are effectively penalizing organizations based on their inability to fundraise, which is discriminatory," Arya said.

Representative Carlos D'Almeida presented the counter argument. "This policy was set as a last resort as a means to help organizations that come to us receive a specified, non-discriminatory amount. In my mind, it seems unbelievable that there are organizations that would be completely unable to find any other money," D'Almeida said.

The two-thirds requirement was designed to help limit the financial allocations made by SGA, which is responsible for maintaining available funds to organizations throughout the year. Should SGA be unable to fund all requests, the mandatory student activity fee could be raised.

The House passed the bill with a vote of 29 in favor and 12 against. This will merely stand as the opinion of the House, as the Graduate Student Senate failed the bill.

In order for any changes to be made to the bylaws of SGA or the JFC policy, both bodies must have passed the bill with a two-thirds majority.

While organizations are still limited to two-thirds the amount of their capital outlay requests according to JFC policy, it is possible for the bodies to suspend the bylaws and fund a request in full.

"Essentially if an organization can prove that their expenditure will benefit the entirety of campus, and not just one person or one organization, then they should be able to get full funding. For example, the astronomy club that was funded in full this week will allow anyone to use their equipment. They are providing a service to all of campus," said Grant Farmer, Graduate Senator and co-author of the bill.

While the bill did not technically pass the legislative process, it is the hopes of its proponents that it will encourage more discussion over all bills, including financial allocations, in both bodies.

"Getting new representatives to speak on issues of policy like this makes them more comfortable speaking to the House, makes them more active. I think it helps them get the idea that we have a vested interest in what we are doing here, and that what we vote on is part of something bigger," Ray said.