Students’ grip on controlling their student fees in Oregon could slip if lawmakers pass legislation preventing incidental funds from being spent on membership fees for organizations.
House Bill 3600, which was heard in the House General Government Committee, would prohibit student incidental fees collected at Oregon University System schools and the Oregon Health and Science University from being used to pay dues of membership groups such as the Oregon Student Association and the Oregon Students of Color Coalition, both of which have representation at the University.
Currently, annual budget processes allow students to decide where incidental fee money goes on campus, and each year hundreds of thousands of fee dollars go to many organizations to pay for membership and other services at the University.
Rep. Linda Flores, R-Boring, who sponsored the bill, did not return phone calls from the Emerald.
ASUO State Affairs Coordinator Adam Petkun, who attended a public hearing on the bill last week, said the feeling against the bill was so “overwhelming” that he doubted it would see a work session in the future.
“The fee is so important to us because it allows for all thoughts and all expression on campus to be alive,” he said. “Without the fee, students would just get the bare-bones academic experience.”
Since its inception, the bill has drawn fire from many sources in college administrations and student governments in OUS, including ASUO President Rachel Pilliod, University President Dave Frohnmayer and OUS Chancellor Richard Jarvis.
In a letter to legislators, Frohnmayer told members of the House General Government Committee that the student incidental fee process provides students at the University with “essential campus programs and services.”
“The student incidental fee provides an essential learning experience for students, and is a process that has been managed effectively and responsibly on the campus level,” he wrote. “I urge you to carefully consider House Bill 3600 and return the current student choice model.”
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of students controlling the distribution of their student fees two years ago in Southworth v. University of Wisconsin. Now, opponents of House Bill 3600 say it would violate that ruling.
Unless the bill is granted a work session in the Legislature, it will die when the current legislative session ends.
Contact the news editor
at [email protected].