Andrew Kidd ASM Finance Committee Chair

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Letter: ASM finance committe balancing a thin budget

Not every registered student organization seeks funding from the Associated Students of Madison. If I were to list every group that did not receive funding from ASM the list would be incredibly long because it would include all the groups who did not apply for any of the Operations, Event or Travel grants that Finance Committee allocates as well as those denied funding, which is miniscule compared to the amount not requesting. There are over 800 RSOs on campus and many seek funding in other ways. As to why we are running out of Event Grant funds for the academic/fiscal year, it’s because we have nearly allocated all of it. We have had an exceptionally large number of grants this year because of certain changes outside our control.  The MultiCultural Council changed its funding stream to limit how much it can grant to organizations. ASM Finance Committee changed its policies to help more groups access funding this past year and will continue to do it at the end of this academic year. Also, due to the construction of the new Union Theater, many groups who use this venue events had to contract with other, more expensive venues, including the Overture Center, which has refused to offer cheaper rates.