The University of Wisconsin's Student Services Finance Committee decided budgets for the 2006-07 fiscal year for the Jewish Cultural Collective, the Student Leadership Program and the Child Care Tuition Assistance Program Monday, and decided to postpone a decision on the Tenant Resource Center.

The committee spent the majority of the meeting deciding JCC's budget, which had been pushed back for two meetings.

SSFC's major budget cuts included $19,500 from JCC's Major Event Series program, $4,500 from the Israeli Film Festival and zero-funding of the JCC Coffee House program.

JCC listed the Major Event Series and the Israeli Film Festival as their top two priorities in the organization's budget.

Representative Adam Schlicht said despite the cut to the Major Event Series program, the budget still "leaves the organization with a lot of room to grow and innovate with $30,000."

The cut was made primarily to reduce the number of speakers at the program.

A majority of the committee members felt cutting funds from the Coffee House program — which showcases student artists — was justified because "students shouldn't get paid to entertain," according to Representative Barbara Kiernoziak.

However, the committee spent more time on the decision to cut funds from the Israeli Film Festival.

Representative Zach Frey called the cut "ridiculous" because the committee also cut funds to the program's food budget.

"We're ignoring the time and effort they put in," he said. "To cut from the organization's two main priorities is unfair."

While some committee members felt JCC could get funds for the festival elsewhere based on previous years, representative Lorenzo Edwards, Jr., disagreed.

"[Outside funding] shouldn't be a deciding factor," he said. "We don't know the availability of these funds."

SSFC Vice-Chair Eric Saar argued that with the "cost-effective" cut, the program would "continue to be successful."

After the committee passed the budget, JCC Financial Manager Andrew Rubin expressed disappointment over the "significant" cuts in the budget.

"Given that we told them what our number one and two priorities were, we were very disappointed that they made those cuts," he said.

Rubin estimated SSFC had made a 28 percent cut in the Major Events program and a 40 percent cut to the Israeli Film Festival.

Despite the cuts, Rubin said the organization was "overall pleased" and "appreciative" of the money received.

The committee also decided the SLP budget, cutting mostly food and beverage funds to different programs and funds for a speaker at the membership development and recruitment conference.

Representative Kellie Sanders supported the cut in funds for a speaker because the event is not open to the entire campus.

"It is completely irresponsible [to fund an event] that not everyone is able to go to," she said.

SLP Co-Coordinator Alison Hamer said the committee was "fair in what they allocated," and "had good reasoning for their decisions."

"We're happy with what they gave us," she said. "We'll continue to give the level of programming with the funds given."

When deciding the CCTAP budget, the committee decided to cut $40,000 from the childcare fees grant program.

According to Saar, the organization "hasn't lived up to what they requested," and suggested the committee cut the money to "avoid bureaucracy" later in the year when the organization returns the money back to the committee.

"Just because the money is returned doesn't mean it goes back to the students," Representative Jackie Goessel agreed.

The TRC budget was tabled until SSFC's next meeting on Thursday.