Under the Associated Students of Madison bylaws and Wisconsin state statutes, the Student Services Finance Committee is an independent organization. During its meeting Monday night, SSFC will seek to reaffirm their independent status with legislation.
Under ASM, the three branches, Student Council, SSFC and Student Judiciary, all operate as independent groups.
“We do work together but the Student Service Finance Committee doesn’t report to the Student Council,” SSFC Vice Chair David Morel said.
Chair Colin Barushok, Morel and Representative Jordan Gaal are co-sponsors of this legislation, which cites Wisconsin state statutes naming them as the body that allocates segregated fees and bylaws giving them “overall responsibility for all segregated fee funded areas.”
Morel added that the only time that Student Council would directly take a look at the allocation of segregated fees is with ASM’s internal budget. However, they have no influence over how they allocate fees for General Student Service Fund groups.
He stressed that this legislation was not reactionary, but rather a manifestation of internal discussion to make sure everyone was on the same page.
“Nothing is changing; this has always been the case,” Morel said . “SSFC has always been committed to making funding decisions in a viewpoint neutral manner and that charge will never change.”
