Legislation proposed at the Associated Students of Madison Student Council meeting March 10 would allow the council to seek legal counsel over the University of Wisconsin’s use of $180,000 in segregated fees taken out of the council’s reserve fund last summer.
Rep. Max Love introduced the legislation, saying he felt it was not too late for ASM to look into the segregated fee sweep, which the university used to pay state bills in June of 2009, even though it is nearly a year after the fact.
Upon investigating the legality of the situation, Love said there was enough ambiguity to seek legal counsel, though any further action on the matter has not been determined.
However, Chair Tyler Junger felt the benefits of avoiding a lawsuit with UW would be greater than the benefits of pursuing it.
Junger proposed in his report to the council a Memorandum of Understanding be drafted instead of pursuing litigation and legal counsel. This course of action would allow for safeguards between ASM and UW so there would be no more segregated fee sweeps in the coming years, despite the fact ASM would not get the funds back.
If ASM were to lose a lawsuit, the decision could determine segregated fees were state dollars and would take the power to control the fees out of students’ hands, Junger said a legal win would grant ASM $180,000 and protection from any further sweeps into segregated fees and the reserve fund.
There are discussions in place with UW administration to discuss a possible memorandum as soon as today, Junger said.
Love felt it was not in the best interest of the council to draft the memorandum, and though his legislation directly opposed Junger’s report, he said he did not propose the legislation to be confrontational.
Junger conceded the legislation is admirable, but one of the problems with it is the debate over seeking legal counsel comes almost a year too late.
There are legal arguments on both sides for the legality of the segregated fee sweep, Junger said.
Student Council representatives inquired as to whether it would be possible to pursue a memorandum after seeking legal counsel and litigation.
Junger said UW would have much less incentive to work with ASM if legal action were pursued.
The legislation will be voted on at the next council meeting March 17.
Also at the meeting, the referendum to allow students to vote on the name for the new Union passed to be put on the ASM spring election ballot without debate.
An act that would require all committee chairs to submit a written report of their committee’s work and progress or not receive their monthly stipend was voted down after some debate.
Shared Governance Committee Chair Melissa Hanley said sometimes she has had too much committee work on her plate, and she did not have time to write a report.
Student Activity Center Governing Board Chair Katy Ziebell said there will be discussion of the future process of office space allocation in her committee’s upcoming meetings.
