SGA bill causes budget debate

By Sarah McClellan
Skiff Staff

Student Government Association members made an unprecedented move, Tuesday, when they passed a bill that increased a proposed budget by 50 percent.

Amnesty International, a group that writes letters to governments that violate human rights, proposed a budget of $1,000 for the upcoming Human Rights Week.

SGA’s finance committee allocated the group $1,500.

“My committee felt that it would be a better program if they had a little bit more money,” Deanna Bennett, finance chairwoman of House of Student Representatives and SGA treasurer, said. “They really wanted to get their budget as tight as possible, so they had a better chance of it getting passed.”

Bennett also said the Programming Council members who are on the finance committee were more aware of the cost of an event than the members of Amnesty International.

“When recalculating the budget, we figured the $1,000 was not correct,” Bennett said.

Members of Amnesty International said they did not expect to receive extra money.

“We were surprised that we got more than we asked for,” Wes Longhoffer, coordinator of Amnesty International, said. “But we know we can use all the money for the organization and for TCU.”

However, some members of SGA did not agree with the amendment that was passed.

“It was just fundamentally wrong,” Brian Casebolt, academic affairs chairman, said. “I just felt to be fiscally responsible we should use discretion in only giving what they asked for. We should have looked at it more seriously.”

Sara Donaldson, former SGA vice president, said a negative precedent has been set by giving more money than was proposed in the budget. She also said in light of SGA’s $23,000 budget cut, an extra $500 shouldn’t have been doled out.

“SGA’s budget itself was drastically cut because of an error and yet they gave more money,” Donaldson said. “It doesn’t seem fiscally responsible.”Chelsea Hudson, SGA permanent improvements chairwoman, said the extra $500 did not come from a part of the SGA budget that was affected by the recent cuts.

“With the problems of the budget, everyone’s having to cut back, except for the special projects division,” Hudson said. “There’s a little over $5,000 there, and it’s not being cut and no one’s been asking for it.”

Hudson said she did not see a problem with the amendment.

“SGA is an organization that knows how to do things right,” Hudson said. “And sometimes to do things right you have to do them different.”

Sarah McClellan
s.l.mcclellan@student.tcu.edu