The UF Student Senate passed its 2024-2025 budget bill Tuesday night with bipartisan support, ensuring another year of funding for Student Government, Student Engagement, the Reitz Union and RecSports. The Senate also passed the second and third volumes of the “Stop the Stall” bill, which places time limits on committee reports and minority reports.
The new budget increases the funding of Student Engagement, the conglomeration of Sorority and Fraternity Life and Student Activities and Involvement. It increased staff salaries by 22% from $1.8 million to $2.2 million, and increased student salaries by 23% from $144,000 to $178,000.
Budget Committee Chair Damian Rodriguez (Vision-Off Campus) told the chamber money needed to be shifted from Student Government to Student Engagement to avoid having both departments pay salaries. He said the reallocation was based on the prioritization of certain departments and the salaries of Student Government employees.
The new budget also increases funding for administration agency programs by $2,500. Some of the funding will go toward the newly created Gender and Sexuality Protection Agency (GASP). The agency is “committed to safeguarding and advancing equality for all genders and sexualities on campus,” according to its website.
The Vision-majority Senate voted against a Change-sponsored amendment to the budget which sought to increase student organization funding by $200,000, a 15% increase from $1.3 million to $1.5 million.
Of that $200,000, half would have come from Student Government Productions, which is responsible for organizing concerts and other campus events. A quarter would have come from ACCENT, which invites speakers to the university, and the last quarter would come from Student Government Projects, a part of Student Government’s administrative account.
In a statement to The Alligator, Rodriguez said funding Student Engagement and GASP were two of the bill’s major achievements and expressed hope Student Engagement’s creation will lead to money being “distributed more efficiently for years to come.”
“As always, I wish there was just more money to give, but with no significant increases in the overall budget we dispersed all we had as best as possible,” he wrote.
Senate Minority Leader Anamika Naidu (Change-Beaty Towers) said the vote results were disappointing, but passing a budget was still necessary.
“The budget didn’t really go how we wanted,” Naidu said. “We are glad to have passed something so that [RecSports, Student Government, Student Engagement, and the Reitz Union] can have money for the upcoming fiscal year, but we are definitely not happy with the specific allocation.”
The Senate also approved volumes two and three of the “Stop the Stall” bill, along with an amendment supported by both caucuses. Support for volume three followed partisan lines, but volume two received bipartisan support after an amendment that revised volume two’s five minute limit on committee reports to ten minutes and its three minute limit on ad hoc committee reports to five passed.
Previously, there had been no limit to the amount of time that a committee report could take. Minority reports, where any dissenting committee members can present their arguments against a committee’s report, will still be limited to ten minutes under the bill. Prior to its passage, minority reports did not have a time limit.
The Senate passed the first volume of the bill June 4. It reduced public comment in the Senate Chamber from five minutes to three and restricted senators from participating in public comment.
Previously, senators could sign up for five-minute speaking periods during public comment at the start of each Senate meeting to discuss any topic of their choosing.
In a statement to The Alligator, Senate Majority Party Leader Julia Seifer (Vision-Off Campus) said the bill’s passage will hopefully lead to a more efficient Senate.
“I am hopeful that the Senate is taking big steps toward increasing productivity in the Senate Chamber. I’m proud of all the work we have done so far, and I hope to see more students come to our meetings.”
Contact Avery Parker at aparker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @AveryParke98398.
Avery Parker is a third-year English and History major covering university affairs for The Alligator. Outside of reporting, Avery spends his time doting on his cats, reading, and listening to music by the Manwolves.
