A historical vote late Tuesday night drastically restructures
the funding process for student organizations. The bylaw changes
will redistribute allocations, close deliberation meetings, seal
voting records and permit organizations to apply for funds on a
quarterly basis.
The Undergraduate Students Association Council voted 8-2, after
hours of discussion on the proposed changes. Financial Supports
Commissioner Alex Gruenberg and Facilities Commissioner Pavan
Tripathi, citing concerns of the proposal’s lack of openness,
were the only dissenting votes.
“To deprive people of a full debate is a disservice to the
people,” Tripathi said.
The majority of the council disagreed, comparing the
restrictions to those of other campus funding committees.
President Allende Palma/Saracho said the clause is justified by
the need to prevent lobbying and that permitting open access
muddles the focus of such committees.
The changes to the bylaws will require that all funding
deliberations of the Finance Committee and Budget Review Committee
be held in closed session, with a compilation of results presented
to council and the general public.
The Constitutional Review Committee, which is responsible for
reworking the bylaws and presenting their recommendations to
council, state that closed sessions are meant to ensure voter
integrity.
Ashraf El Naga, external vice president of Muslim Students
Association, gave his approval of closed sessions for finance
committees. “Because it is (behind) closed doors, I think the
people within will have the ability to make their decisions without
being influenced,” Naga said.
USAC’s explanation has left other student leaders
unsatisfied.
“I think the closed session funding hearings are
absolutely unjustified,” said Matt Knee, chairman of the
Bruin Republicans. “I don’t see why there can’t
be transparency in this matter, unless the people doing the budget
have something to hide.”
In the past, base budget allocations have been under fire from
some student groups as being inconsistent and inequitable.
Accusations have emerged that councilmembers and budget review
committee members, the majority of whom campaigned together under
the Students First! slate, award the largest funding amounts to the
constituent groups who historically support them during
elections.
Under the new bylaws, base budget allocations would be made
quarterly instead of annually, which USAC says will increase
accessibility for all groups, and that greater frequency of
application allows new student groups to receive funding
sooner.
Currently, groups such as Students for Tsunami Relief, which
formed in early winter quarter, have no access to student
government funds to cover their basic operational costs as the base
budget for the entire academic year is allocated during the
summer.
But the bylaw changes could put the administrative burden of
thrice-yearly applications and the uncertainty of consistent
funding on student groups.
“Considering all the arcane bureaucracy and piles of
paperwork, it’s very difficult to be constantly using USAC
without a whole lot of help and the support of the people
inside,” Knee said.
The changes will also formally allocate 40 percent of the
previous fiscal year’s total surplus to the Undergraduate
Students Association Programming Fund.
The change was aimed at “prioritizing what we want to
allocate the surplus to,” said Anneli Villarin, chair of the
Constitutional Review Committee. The remaining surplus will be
allocated to capital items and to augment contingency funds at
council’s discretion.
Also, the Budget Review Committee previously required all four
committee members to be in attendance in order to proceed with
business, but under the new bylaws three members will comprise
quorum.
With reports from Tyson Evans and Narges Zohoury, Daily
Bruin senior staff.