The Student Services Finance Committee denied UW-Madison's Rec Sports and the Wisconsin Union's budget requests Thursday, freezing the groups' funds at the amount they received last year.
Committee members said since the groups could not provide a detailed outline of how student segregated fees would be spent, they did not feel comfortable approving the budget requests.
"There's no working together on these budgets and these are student fees and they should be our purview," Rep. Tia Nowack said. "There's no consultation here. It's coming to us with the assumption that we'll just approve it and there's no student say in the process at all."
But the committee's decision serves as a recommendation to Chancellor David Ward, who SSFC Chair Sarah Neibart said she would "not be surprised" if he overturned SSFC's ruling.
If he does, Neibart said the committee will take the decision up with the Board of Regents.
Neibart said the committee requested the groups provide the specifics of where segregated fees were going to since December, but the groups could not give them. She said the committee's liaison with the Chancellor's office had been unresponsive to requests to help find the information.
Since SSFC representatives agreed the services the groups provide are vital to students, they voted to fund them at their current levels.
Wisconsin Union President Katie Fischer said while disappointed, she "respects [SSFC's] right to make the recommendation that they did."
Also at the meeting, the committee approved student radio station WSUM's budget at over $400,000.
Committee members commended WSUM for presenting such a detailed budget.
"They did a really fantastic job, they did a really thorough job, and they care deeply about not only presenting us with a fiscally responsible budget, but presenting us with a budget where our seg fees are going," Rep. David Vines said.