The Associated Students of Madison Student Council met Wednesday evening to discuss amendments to the ASM bylaws and the Continue to Raise Campaign.
Chair of Legislative Affairs MGR Govindarajan spoke during the open forum about the affordable housing crisis. Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway will attend the next Student Council meeting to provide members with the opportunity to discuss affordable housing with city officials. Mecha de UW Madison, Wunk Sheek and the Zoe Bayliss Women’s Cooperative will also be present at the meeting.
Native American Heritage Month keynote speakers talk about Indigenous identities
Nominations Board Chair AJ Butler introduced Legislation 29-1130-01 to the council, which proposes a series of changes to the ASM Bylaws he said will clarify aspects of the bylaws he believes need improvement. This includes simplifying the attendance policy for Student Council members.
Next, the council discussed new business — the Continue to Raise Campaign. The Continue to Raise Campaign calls on the UW administration to officially raise the campus minimum wage from $9 an hour to $15 an hour. It also calls on the administration to commit to regularly raising the minimum wage as the campus area’s cost of living increases.
The cost of living in Madison is 6% higher than the national average and 10% higher than the state average, according to the Continue to Raise Campaign document. The Dean of Students Office has also seen a large increase in students reaching out for assistance in food, housing and financial support, according to the document.
ASM Chair Ndemazea Fonkem motioned to table the vote on the Continue the Raise Campaign in order to get more input from the council. The legislation garnered a lot of attention from the University of Wisconsin administration and the community, Fonkem said.
The council then discussed the ASM Fiscal Year 2024 Internal Budget and voted to increase the hours the ASM Secretary is paid from 3 hours a week to 5 hours a week. The council voted to pass the 2024 Internal Budget.
ASM Student Council will meet again next Wednesday, Dec. 7.
