University of Colorado Student Union

    Legislative Council

April 17, 2007                                                                                      67LCB1-Crew

Sponsored by:                          Charles Gilford                         Tri-Executive

Authored by:                            Andrew Aitchison                                 Tri-Executive

A Bill to Correct Inequitable Funding of the Colorado Club Crew Team

                                                Bill History

During the Spring UCSU Election of 2006, the Colorado Club Crew team chose to forfeit all funding from Club Sports for four years in favor of running a referendum for funding.  This referendum would assign 45 cents per student per semester for four years to the Crew team if passed.  The Crew team ran this referendum before the Student Organizations Committee was deleted or the Student Group Funding Board was created and with the explicit understanding that, if passed, the referendum would form a binding contract.  The Crew team’s referendum did indeed pass in the Spring of 2006.

In the Fall of 2006, legislation was passed by UCSU to delete the Student Organizations Committee and create the Student Group Funding Board.  In February of 2007, further stipulations were added to the newly created SGFB Code, specifically Section 505 which states, “Any student group whose primary function is participation in competitive athletic events is ineligible for funding by the SGFB.”  Similar to the transition of referenda from binding to advisory and the creation of the SGFB, the addition of Section 505 was an unforeseeable and unpredictable turn of events for the Crew team. 

Recently, the Crew team was turned down for funding by the SGFB due to stipulations in the SGFB Code, and their continued ineligibility for Club Sports funding has prevented them from attaining any form of monetary support for one full year.

Bill Summary

This bill would allocate the Colorado Club Crew team the full amount of funds that would have been allocated in the Fall of 2006 and the Spring of 2007 by the referenda passed in the Spring of 2006.  This amount totals $25,088 and would be drawn from UCSU SOR funds as a one time expenditure. 

THEREFORE BE IT ENACTED:

Section 1: $25,088 will be transferred from the UCSU SOR fund to the Colorado Club Crew team’s account maintained within the Club Sports department of the Recreation Center.

Section 2: This will be a one time expenditure intended to correct past inequity and will in no way affect future consideration of the Crew team’s funding sources.

Section 3: This bill shall take effect upon passage by the Legislative Council and upon either obtaining the signatures of two Tri-Executives or the elapse of six days without action by the Tri-Executives.

Vote Count

4/26/07                                                    Passed                                                         17-1-0

5/3/07                                                     Passed                                                          14-4-0

5/9/07                                           Vetoed by Tri -Execs

___________________________                                    ___________________________

Boyce Postma                                                                   Andy Aitchison

Legislative Council President                                               Tri-Executive

___________________________                                    ___________________________

Ashley Nakagawa                                                               Charles Johnson

Tri-Executive                                                                       Tri-Executive

TRI-EXECUTIVES VETO

May 8, 2007

From:   Ashley Nakagawa

Tri-Executive

University of Colorado Student Union

Charles Johnson

Tri-Executive

University of Colorado Student Union

To:       Boyce Postma

Legislative Council President

University of Colorado Student Union

Medhat Ahmed

Legislative Council First Vice President

                University of Colorado Student Union

            Christina Prairie Chicken

                Legislative Council Second Vice President

                University of Colorado Student Union

Dear President Postma:

We are most concerned with the recent passage of 67LCB#1 -Bill to Correct Inequitable Funding of the Colorado Club Crew Team. Its establishment of a precedent for the funding of club sports teams by UCSU Proper and use of SOR funds as a resource for student groups is unfortunate. This may result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in ramifications, ultimately is to the detriment of UCSU cost centers, and more importantly to the student body as a whole.

Upon passage of this bill, there would be no reasonable method for denying student groups and club sports access to the SOR Account and would wholeheartedly undermine The Student Group Funding Board.  

The reason the Club Crew team and Andrew Aitchison (main author of the bill) have chosen the number $25,088 is because this is the exact number that Club Crew would have received, had their referenda been binding.  Student groups running referenda in spring of 2006 were very aware that referenda run at this time were advisory.  They were notified by both Sylvia Khaton, UCSU Office Manger and again at the mandatory referenda meeting by then Election Commissioner Corey Fitze.   This means that the Club Crew team should have been aware that the referenda that they ran was advisory, not binding.  If this bill were to be enacted, then UCSU would be implying that the referenda were indeed binding and we would be in violation of both UCSU policy as well as The Supreme Court’s decision on March 22, 2000 in BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SYSTEM, PETITIONER v. SCOTT HAROLD SOUTHWORTH et al. No. 98—1189.

“To the extent the referendum substitutes majority determinations for viewpoint neutrality it would undermine the constitutional protection the program requires. The whole theory of viewpoint neutrality is that minority views are treated with the same respect as are majority views. Access to a public forum, for instance, does not depend upon majoritarian consent. That principle is controlling here.” 

This would expose UCSU, The University of Colorado, and ultimately the students to potential lawsuits for violation of student group’s first amendment rights.  

While 67LCB#1 includes the word “equitable,” it does not seek to give the Club Crew team funds that would be in equal to that of other Club Sports teams.  The allocation of student fees that are almost five times that of any other team hardly appears to be equitable.  The appropriate amount would be $5,600, the amount that the highest funded club sports teams receive under the Recreation Center. 

If the UCSU Legislative Council deems $5,600 too low, the proper venue for allocating money to club sports teams would be through the Recreation Center’s budget.  This should have been done through raises in the Recreation Center budget during hearings for the fiscal year 2007-2008, which we both supported.   Despite this, there were significant cuts made to the budgets of many cost centers and it is not “equitable” in our minds to exercise the SOR account for $25,088 when many of our important cost centers are trying to find ways condense their budgets. 

It is with all of this in mind that we choose to exercise our Executive Veto with 67LCB#1. 

Sincerely,

Ashley Nakagawa        &         Charles Johnson

UCSU Tri-Executive                             UCSU Tri-Executive

Cc:       Simone Atencio-Martinez

            Erik Bondurant

            Abdallah El-Yacoubi

            Dustin Farivar

            Ryan Hatch

            Kathy Havlik

            Chance Heath

            Bill Holway

Jamin Kimmell

Veronica Lingo

Julian Martinez

Brad Miller

Andrew Mohler

Obinna Onyeali

Daniel Ramos

Kathryn Skrobacz

Brian Tannenbaum

Theim-Kim Trenbath

Members of Legislative Council

University of Colorado Student Union