Associated Students of Madison voted to shelve the “Ice Cream for All” legislation indefinitely Wednesday night and discussed the internal budgets of both the Student Services Finance Committee and Student Council.
Introduced in September, “Ice Cream for All” would have condemned university-sponsored events that served Babcock ice cream. The Council voted to indefinitely postpone discussing the legislation because enough progress had been made with the university to table it.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal, labels for individual flavors were added so students know which flavors contain beef gelatin. The Wisconsin Union Council Dining Advisory Board also recommended including at least one gelatin-free flavor in their catering menu.
ASM also discussed their internal budget at the meeting.
Chair Billy Welsh said it is the responsibility of student council to do their best to make the budget as accurate as possible to benefit students.
“We at ASM have the duty to go through our own budget to maximize services to students,” Welsh said.
SSFC Chair Jeremy Swanson presented his organization’s $177,566.22 budget for the upcoming fiscal year, down from the committee’s $191,963.47 budget from last year.
SSFC used the approved budget from last year as a precedent for the creation of the new one, Swanson said.
Swanson said the committee was able to lower their budget because unallocated funds have never gone over $5,000 each year.
“There are two words to describe this budget: fiscally responsible,” Swanson said.
Rep. Ruben Moreno raised concerns about ASM’s administrative staff not receiving increased funds for a cost-of-living raise in the budget.
Swanson said SSFC does not decide how much staff members get paid. Instead, the university’s recent four percent increase in hourly wages will set their raises.
Representatives also raised questions regarding the high amount Student Council budgeted to fund student organization events for students with disabilities.
Equality and Inclusion Chair Agalia Ardyasa said ASM is still crafting terms of agreement with University of Wisconsin’s McBurney Center for students with disabilities. For the past year, there hasn’t been an agreement between ASM and the McBurney Center.
Ardyasa said most of the money supports deaf and hard of hearing students, and said it can be hard to predict the amount of students that require help each year.
Until terms of agreement are reached with the McBurney Center, Student Council has proposed that $10,000 dollars be budgeted toward funding events for students with disabilities.
SSFC’s proposed budget was approved by Student Council. At ASM’s next meeting, their internal budget will be debated and voted on.
