An Apportionment Board bylaw to be approved by administration, passed in Student Senate last week could make the AB reserve fund a little tighter in the future.

The bylaw now only automatically grants funds to AB’s student fee-funded boards: Dramatic Players, University Board, Student Government, Sports and Recreation and the AB itself.

Before, non fee-funded boards could request funds from AB in cases such as an emergency or planning events, but now have to appeal to one of the AB-funded boards to plead a request for monies from the AB.

The original bylaw was meant to limit funds to the AB-funded boards, but the new bylaw will only clarify wording, said AB chair Amy Leonard.

“It’s already in the bylaws that only the five fee-funded boards get money, but this has been overlooked,” she said previously. “We’re just changing the wording because groups in the past have tried to find loopholes.”

Athletics was the only non fee-funded group that has asked the AB for funds in the past, but the new bylaw does not eliminate opportunities for non fee-funded boards, said Bill Davidson, speaker of the Student Senate.

“I think athletics is happy. I think they realize the window is still there,” he said. “It came to our attention that you could go through the funded boards. We saw that as an opportunity to (oversee) the allocations a little more.”

The bylaw could result in a pool of funds for the AB-funded boards since non fee-funded boards have to convince the AB-funded board to make a presentation for them, said Tim Edwards, chair of the Student Senate Diversity Affairs Committee.

“I don’t like the whole set up. To me, it put a monopoly (on the funds),” Edwards said. “I don’t want somebody else to do my proposal for me.”

Edwards, who voted not to pass the bylaw, said this gives the funded boards too much say in allocating funds.

“It really isn’t about the wording. This gives the five fee-funded boards too much power,” Edwards said.

He said non fee-funded boards may have to wait too long for funds because they have to go through AB-funded boards, but Leonard said the request could be completed in a minimum of a week.

Any delay could be because non fee-funded boards have to appeal to a funded board, the funded board presents the request to AB and Student Senate must approve the allocations after AB hears the presentation.

“It just adds one more check that should have been there in the first place,” said Ronnie Deedrick, student vice president for academic affairs.

The AB is not cutting off any other board that needs money past their original budget.

“Every other group has their own money. I feel that it (AB funds) should be able to go to other boards on campus if we deem it a good use to get their funds,” said George Lesica, senate External Relations Committee chair.

At last week’s senate meeting, he said the the bylaw change will keep future AB members from stumbling over bylaw wording.

“The reason I like this so much is because of the clarification. It’s basically just a small wording change that makes the wording clear,” Lesica said. “This makes it clearer so they don’t have to come back to do a history of the bill.”

Besides appealing to the AB-funded boards, non fee-funded boards can also apply to become an AB funded board.

“My concern was I wanted other people to get money, but I wanted it to be harder,” said Donna Fernandez senate Student Relations Committee chair.