UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, November 20, 1995
5A
Senate finance committee usually passes the buck
Group reviews bills before ratification
By Sarah Wiese
Kansan staff writer
Getting involved in Student Senate's committee system is easy.
Being on the finance committee isn't.
But finance committee members don't seem to mind.
As one of the busiest and least understood of Senate's five standing committees, the finance committee decides if campus groups will receive funds from Senate and how much money each qualified group will receive.
Finance committee members endure lengthy meetings and see more bills than any other committee. In fact, 32 of the 38 bills that the full Student Senate has voted on this semester had been passed by the finance committee.
The finance committee has about 30 members who regularly attend meetings. Only seven are returning members and 10 are senators, said Alan Pierce, finance committee chairman.
Finance faces more criticism
than the other four committees combined, he said.
"Any time you question an organization about specific facts, you're going to step on toes," Pierced said.
The other committees only consider the intent and merit of bills. Finance must assess whether bills follow the budget code in Senate's rules and regulations, as well as the committee's basic funding guidelines.
This is the group that's inexorably linked to denying the Feminist Collective Force funding, based partially on the premise that its name was too offensive.
Sean Haley, committee member, said the circumstances surrounding the bill were atypical. Attendance was low, and only 17 members voted. Although the 10-7 vote provided a simple majority, a two-thirds majority was needed for the bill's passage.
"I feel that it has cast a dark cloud over the finance committee," Haley said. "It was biased by the ignorance of a few people."
But Haley and other finance committee members aren't second-guessing their decisions to join the committee.
Kelly Hansen, committee member, said being on finance was
challenging because there was much to consider about each bill.
"It's more visible than other committees because the decisions we make tend to attract more attention," she said. "There seems to be more at stake."
Because most bills go through finance, finance committee members gain a strong understanding of Senate, said Ward Cook, committee member.
"I knew that if I joined the finance committee, I would know what was going on much more rapidly," he said.
Some students think finance is too conservative. If so, one would expect that many bills would be voted down. Despite often intense debate, the finance committee has voted down only one of the 32 bills it has seen this semester.
Cook said that finance dealt with student issues and that political views didn't dictate members' votes.
Andy Obermueller, returning committee member, said he thought the committee's wide spectrum of viewpoints led to fair judgments.
"As long as we find some middle ground, I think we're a pretty good representative body," he said.
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