The Campus Student Government Fee Increase, Measure 67 failed with a 61 percent vote. A 66 percent vote was needed to pass. The measure would have raised the current $7 quarterly Measure 8 fee to $20 beginning in the fall 2017 quarter to further fund the Student Union Assembly (SUA).
Tamra Owens, current and re-elected SUA vice president of student life and author of Measure 67, has no plans to draft a new referendum for next year.
The SUA currently operates on a budget supported by a $100,000 carryforward associated with leftover funds from its adviser’s leave of absence last year, but these funds have been mostly exhausted, as of March. Operating on the same budget as this year would put the SUA in a $30,000 deficit next year, Owens said, so the budget will have to be reconsidered in the next meetings.
Measure 67 was needed to continue SUA’s funding more costly events like the Daniel Caesar concert and Hari Kondabolu comedy show this year. Many other student events also sponsored by the SUA, like the Holi Festival, will likely lose funding because the SUA will have to cut its programming budget to accommodate other, more mandatory costs.
The SUA is mandated to increase its adviser’s salary by 3 percent and benefits by around 3-5 percent each year, and this funding will most likely come out of the programming budget. To cope with rising minimum wage associated with intern pay, Owens said the SUA will most likely cut intern hours instead of the programming budget.
The measure was also needed to continue support for SUA’s food pantry and its future is now uncertain. The pantry will not be open in summer session and the SUA will search for outside funding to keep it open next year.
The results for Measure 68 will be announced at 6 p.m. tonight. The SUA will discuss next year’s budget at its next meeting on June 6.
