The Associated Students at the University of New Mexico passed a bill to make more room to fund student organizations special requests during the full senate meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 8.
Bill 4S gives ASUNM more flexibility to allocate money toward appropriations — one-time funding requests — and fall budgets of student orgs.
Beginning this past fall, each undergraduate now pays an increased student fee of $35 per semester. Student publications receive 8.5% of the collected amount, while the remainder pays for everything ASUNM does.
The ASUNM lawbook specified must save exactly 7% of their portion for appropriations and student org budgets submitted in the fall. However, Bill 4S now allows ASUNM to save more than 7%.
With Bill 4S, ASUNM will now save around 10% for appropriations and fall budgets, according to senator and chair of the finance committee Silas Wyatt.
“This year, for example, we’re expecting a lot more money, and we have found in the past that appropriations are underfunded and we always end up sort of moving money around or dipping into our reserves to fund appropriations because so many student orgs need them,” Wyatt said.
ASUNM plans its budget from projected revenue from the undergraduate fees rather than previously collected money, which has been difficult to calculate this year, according to ASUNM President Ian May.
“In a normal year, we would feel very comfortable about our projections,” May said. “This is the first year of the new fee, so the projections are a little bit scary and we have to be a little bit more careful.”
UNM’s student government also approved six student org appropriations — labeled 9S through 14S — during the meeting, totaling $11,217.
Bill 2S alters the prepositions of the ASUNM lawbook, putting “at” in place of the first “of” in every instance of “Associated Students of the University of New Mexico” — turning the “Associated Students of the University of New Mexico” to the “Associated Students at the University of New Mexico.”
Both bills passed unanimously. May told the Daily Lobo he expects to sign all the appropriations and bills.
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The full senate meets again on Wednesday, Feb. 22. Full senate meetings are open to the public.
Gabriel Saiz is a beat reporter at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com
