The University of Wisconsin Student Services Finance Committee met Thursday to discuss student hourly salary budgets for the General Student Services Fund, whose applications close Sept. 25.

Registered Student Organizations can receive GSSF funding, which draws from the Student Segregated Fee, after a hearing where the SSFC determines the organization’s eligibility, according to the GSSF website.

The SSFC has previously waived the expectation that a budget proposed by a student organization should not include costs of student hourly positions if they exceed 60% of an RSO’s budget.

Latinx History Month theme ‘Transplanting Traditions’ honors Latinx influence on society

Associated Students of Madison Chair Kevin Jacobson said wage inclusion in GSSF budgets had been waived in the past because wages for student workers rose while services offered by RSOs haven’t increased at the same rate.

“We’ve actually done this for the past few years in a row,” Jacobson said. “And that’s because we’ve raised the wage both years. The wage for ASM has gone up about 42% in the past few years. So it’s putting a lot more strain on this formula than it has been before because it’s putting more and more money on the salary side while not increasing the services on the supply side,” Jacobson said.

SSFC representatives disagreed on the importance and function of the 60% budget requirement. Where some representatives argued for the removal of this condition, others called for the maximum percentage for all student organizations to be raised.

Rep. Harris Jacobs was in favor of the maintenance of the 60% requirement, while Rep. Alex Beer said this percentage should be raised to 72% to account for the 8% inflation rate and the 2022 wage increase for student workers from $12 to $15 an hour.

UW ad-hoc study group to offer recommendations on improving Black experience on campus

Following the extensive discussion, the SSFC passed a motion to raise the 60% to 75% wage allocation requirement for the 30th session, capping the percentage of an RSO’s budget used to pay its workers.

SSFC chair Quinn Wakley said the committee would revisit the issue in the spring to provide a long term solution to the issue surrounding balancing the budgets of student organizations’ salaries and other expenses.

SSFC’s next meeting will take place Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. in the Student Activity Center on East Campus Mall.