The ASUNM Senate approved a bill that would raise the student government fee paid by undergraduate students from $14 to $20, and several other pieces of legislation during its first meeting of the semester Wednesday.
Bill 3B, which passed unanimously, would increase the amount of funding available to student groups by about $200,000.
At the same time, it would decrease the amount allocated to the Student Publications Board from 12 percent to 8.1 percent. The board publishes the Daily Lobo, Conceptions Southwest and Best Student Essays.
If ratified during the student election in April, the percentage change would not lower the amount of student fees paid to the board - about $47,000 per year - because of the overall increase in student government income, supporters say.
During the past two years, Associated Students of UNM have repeatedly tried to garner student approval for a fee increase in response to ever-increasing budget requests from student groups that the Finance Committee is unable to cover. The $14 fee has not increased since the mid-1970s.
"We're working with a 1970s budget and 2002 prices," said Sen. Paul Campbell, who sponsored the bill.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
President Andrea Cook, addressing the Senate before the meeting, reiterated the stance she took at a Jan. 16 Finance Committee meeting, asking senators not to request more money from students as a tuition increase looms. During the committee meeting, she said supporting the bill while lobbying against tuition increases amounted to "talking out both sides of the mouth."
Sen. Tim Serna disagreed, telling senators that the extra $6 would only be noticed by the student groups that benefited from the increase.
"We're not talking out both sides of our mouths here," he said. "There will be some great improvements that will shine on this campus."
Sen. Jason Shaffer agreed, adding that the Student Publications' percentage - which became a point of strong contention last semester - would not be an issue with this bill.
"The corrections that need to be made have been made," he said. "We're giving the $6 right back to students' pockets through these organizations."
During last semester's student election, voters rejected Constitutional Amendment Four, which would have increased student fees to $20 but would have lowered the publication board allocation to 6 percent.
Before going to student vote, the bill must go before Cook, who has the authority to veto it. Cook could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
During the same meeting, the Senate passed several other bills, including a standing resolution that outlines the specific duties of a senator; and a bill that clarifies the deadline for Election Code violation fines, as well as the penalties for failure to pay fines.
The Senate also resurrected three ad hoc committees formed at the beginning of last semester - Campus Safety, Public Relations and Technology and Communication.
The committees, which are made up of volunteers from the Senate, work to achieve various goals throughout the semester.
