The Madison Fair Wage Campaign, a highly debated topic that aims to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.75, has made waves among UW-Madison students once again.
Each year, student organizations across campus provide the Student Services Finance Committee with a budget, and the SSFC, a branch of the Associated Students of Madison, reviews the budget proposal and allocates the funds. The money is then added on to the following year's tuition.
Frank Harris, executive director of Citizens For Sane Economic Policy, claims ASM unethically passed a resolution to assist the campaign, which is a registered political committee. His principal argument is that ASM is providing student-funded resources to the committee and using UW-Madison list servers which are not available to opponents of this bill.
\The thing that doesn't pass the smell test is that campaign is not a student organization. It's a political committee ... it disembodies and hinders the democratic process,"" Harris said.
Harris said there are two ways the resolution could be overturned: either through the university, or through the state government. The university Board of Directors can overturn the resolution, but Harris does not think this action has occurred in several years. If the government determines state resources were wrongly used, the district attorney's office can investigate alleged wrongdoings, according to Harris.
Erin Johnson, chair of the ASM Legislative Affairs Committee and UW-Madison sophomore said ASM has done nothing wrong. She pointed out ASM is not a state-funded organization and does not receive tax dollars, but is funded by segregated fees, and the ultimate decision about student fee allocation comes from students themselves.
The resolution recently passed the student council with little opposition. Johnson remarked ASM took an interest in the Fair Wage Campaign because it represents the students.
""ASM is unique; it lets every student have a voice ... students have made a stance, and they have the right to have their voices heard,"" she said.
Joe Lindstrom, campaign organizer for the Madison Fair Wage Campaign and UW-Madison senior, said he believes ASM has a long history of helping students, and is delighted to have their support.
""We're excited to have ASM on board, because we know this is a student issue,"" he said. ""We know that students have been leaders in movements like this throughout the history of social change.\
