On Thursday, ASUO President Amelie Rousseau did what she has promised to do since early February; she vetoed the Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee’s final budget because it did not include funding for the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group.
“Last April, students voted that they wanted to fund OSPIRG,” Rousseau said. “It is my job to uphold that desire, and that’s why I said that I would veto any budget that did not include some funding for OSPIRG. We’re not asking for full funding; we’re asking for some funding to legitimize the work that students in OSPIRG are doing.”
On Wednesday night, ASUO Senate approved the final major program budget — that is, the budget of one of its four finance committees — and passed a recommendation onto Rousseau that afforded OSPIRG no money.
Rousseau told the Emerald immediately following OSPIRG’s initial budget hearing that she would veto a budget without an OSPIRG contract. At OSPIRG’s initial budget hearing on Feb. 2, ACFC Chair Brianna Woodside-Gomez motioned to end discussion before taking a vote on funding the contract. That motion was approved with four votes in favor and one opposed.
Those in support of OSPIRG appealed the committee for a second hearing because they said it was an unfair first hearing. Following more discussion, the committee voted once more on whether to leave the group without funding, again tallying four votes in favor of non-funding and one abstention.
Rousseau said in a clarification of her initial veto comment that she wanted to encourage Senate to come to a compromise, but it was to no avail. During a final OSPIRG appeal to the ASUO Senate, 14 senators again voted against funding the group and five voted in favor.
ASUO Sen. Evan Thomas said he respected the opinion of the students who voted but felt that the issue involved more than just the ballot measure.
“I appreciate the students who showed up to the elections’ desires,” Thomas said. “But ‘student want’ isn’t the only reason we as a legislative body passes contracts. There are many other criteria that have to do with ethical, financial and legal aspects that our body was aware of.”
Thomas said senators are currently working on a special Senate meeting to discuss the veto and either a possible override or possible fixes to include OSPIRG.
“I sincerely hope all senators will make whatever meeting we can create,” Thomas said. “A veto in a situation like ours is time-sensitive and makes a big deal, not just for OSPIRG; a veto of the ACFC budget will allow the Exec to play with it.”
Because the ACFC was already funding the capacity amount that it could, the Executive proposed transferring money from the Athletics contract that allows students to attend football and men’s basketball games for free to OSPIRG’s contract, replacing the Athletics allocation with over-realized funds. However, on Wednesday night the Senate used all the money in the over-realized fund to fund other groups’ proposals.
“The Executive has given Senate several options for ways that we can fit everything; those were rejected,” Rousseau said. “At this point, we’re going to have to take a really serious look at what we can move around.”
The president’s efforts to “move around” may entail different things, including taking a closer look at the Athletics contract or Senate’s contract with Lane Transit District bus service.
Rousseau said she would try to work with the ACFC to renegotiate a group rate with LTD, which allows students to flash their University ID and ride the bus for free, to free up money for an OSPIRG contract. She said she felt that not enough was done on the initial negotiation and would like to see if the group rate (per student cost) can be renegotiated.
LTD spokesperson Andy Vobora said the group rate currently being hammered out is a discounted rate because of past budget problems, and the only increase it is requesting now is to get the current rate consistent with other groups.
“We understand the interest in funding OSPIRG, but in terms of LTD, the funds are generated for our program as well,” Vobora said. “I look forward to talking to them.”
Rousseau said she was committed to helping ACFC work on a new contract.
“If the veto is not overridden, then I will make sure I can do that work with ACFC members to get a better budget for all students,” Rousseau said.
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