The Student Services Financial Committee voted Thursday to approve an internal budget of $154,628.55 for the 2015-16 school year.

SSFC had originally proposed a budget of $141,028.55, which would have zeroed the budget for member stipends of $20 per meeting. After debate, they agreed to maintain the same level of pay and passed the budget with a 9-0-1 vote.

SSFC also unanimously voted to increase the training budget to $1,400 from a proposed $800. The 2014-15 training budget was $15,000.

During the budget hearing, Rep. Todd Garon questioned whether there was a way to reintroduce a lower stipend.

Chair Devon Maier said it was a question of whether SSFC agreed that they should be paid for their work and retention of membership.

“Twenty dollars a meeting is a decent number to work out,” Maier said. “That or zero, let’s keep it to one or the other. Lowering the money to $10 is kind of semantics. That would be more so looking fiscally responsible than actually being fiscally responsible.”

In past years, SSFC members were paid for fifteen hours of work and meetings that went till midnight, Maier said. Now there are eight hours of work involved, he said.

Maier said he did not think anyone used SSFC as their primary job, but sat on the committee for the value of the position. The stipend was also used to encourage attendance, he said.

“Attendance is a different issue,” he said. “It’s improved largely because of ASM hiring processes and the press office. The quality of leadership has improved.”

Garon also questioned whether SSFC leadership positions were given the stipends in addition to their salaries.

The intention was that leadership positions would not receive the stipends, but Maier said this has not worked in the past and was an issue that needed clarification. In the spring, legislation will be passed to resolve this issue, he said.

SSFC Vice Chair Thuy Pham made the motion to increase the SSFC member stipend to $13,000, but Rep. Jessica Franco-Morales made a motion to amend the stipend to $14,000.

“Next year, we’re in a situation where there is a lot of turnover and open seats,” Franco-Morales said. “Depending on who gets elected and who gets nominated, the situation could be very different.”

Rep. Sam Domach said SSFC was giving its member the benefit of the doubt for having perfect attendance. SSFC should be keeping in mind previous attendance, Domach said.

The motion fell back to $13,000 and passed unanimously.

The next SSFC meeting will be Monday.