With eyes set on next semester’s legislative session, three members of the Associated Students of Madison Legislative Affairs Committee announced their candidacy for committee chair Monday.
Carmen Gosey, Caroline Russell and Kate Jungers explained what kind of issues they would pursue should they be elected chair. All candidates put emphasis on financial aid and working to retain members for next semester.
Gosey said she is interested in increasing financial aid accessibility and lobbying against freezing the federal Pell Grant, among other issues. Sparked by semester-long discussions about the state budget, Gosey said her interest in college affordability would be a priority.
“Working on the biennial budget is really exciting … because it works toward affordability for students,” Gosey said. “That is something that I really, really care about.”
Russell used her experience with student government at Madison Area Technical College as the backbone of her candidacy and described her experience of working with groups to advocate for students.
With a heavier focus on campus, Jungers said she will push current bills by committee members like the Responsible Action Bill and online voter registration and plans to work with University Affairs to confront the issue of sexual assault at UW-Madison.
All said they see the position as a way to facilitate work on issues proposed by committee members to encourage participation.
“I would like to pick issues … that everyone has a little bit of a stake in, because if [committee members] are motivated, that’s when [they] are all going to do the most work,” Russell said.
The Student Council is scheduled to hold the election Friday.
