On Wednesday Feb. 8, Governor Walker announced his 2017 Biennial Budget. A week later, on Feb. 15, the Student Association President, Jacob Schimmel, proposed a resolution outlining the Student Association’s stance on the proposed budget.

There were two higher education aspects to the budget that the leadership in the Student Association supported in this resolution.

First, the governor proposed a five percent tuition cut across the board for undergraduate students. This cut would take place in 2018 and would put roughly three hundred dollars back into student’s pockets. This tuition cut would then be reimbursed to the university system with thirty-five million from the state.  The second item supported by the Student Association in the resolution was the governor’s one hundred and forty million dollar increase to the university system overall.

In this new budget, the governor also proposes to change allocable segregated fees to be optional for UW students. This involves allowing students to “opt-out” of this program through a process decided by the UW Board of Regents. Allocable segregated fees are paid by students in their tuition bill. These allocable segregated fees pay for several items on campus including multicultural organizations, the Pride Center, Safe-Ride, and international student programs.

The resolution written by Schimmel states, “an ‘opt-out’ option would certainly decrease funding for these entities and likely have a significantly detrimental impact, potentially resulting in cutting off certain services and creating budget uncertainties from year to year.”

Vice President Patrick Brever explained, “Allocated segregated fees make sports teams, musical performances, and clubs possible. The opt-out option will put all of these activities at risk.”

Several senators voiced their agreement and opposition to the Governor Walker’s proposal.  Senator Quaschnick stressed the importance that these segregated fees have for the students, “Without these segregated fees, all of our money, all of our power is gone.”

The Segregated University Fee Allocation Committee, or SUFAC, reported in their 2015-2016 budget that $947,332.00 was allocated to organizations on campus. This included nearly $50,000 for multicultural events, $87,035 for music programs on campus, and over $235,000 for varsity athletics. A full list of the organizations and their allocated amount is available on the SUFAC page through the UW-L website.

Senator Ames, a member of the SUFAC committee, asserted, “If you look at this list, I can guarantee you, you will connect with at least one of these activities and your friends will connect with many with these activities.”

This discussion also prompted Senator Kallis to express what the segregated fees meant to her. “A lot of people don’t know this but, we have the largest pride center in the entire UW System and we have the oldest pride center in the entire UW System. If this opt-out happens the people I love and the people I work for, myself included, are at risk of not having a safe space at all on campus.”

The resolution proposed by Schimmel will be voted on next week, but Schimmel left the senators with a message to think about, “A lot of these legislators don’t know what these allocable fees are and what they do, so it’s going to be on us to educate them. And then, go in and fight for them.”