GSSF Concerns with the New ASM Consitution

We, the undersigned, present our concerns about the proposed changes to the Associated Students of Madison (ASM) constitution. As organizations funded by the General Student Services Fund (GSSF) and students served by these organizations, we are most deeply impacted by these changes. The matter in which these changes have been proposed and debated has isolated the voices of many students and the leadership of several GSSF-funded organizations. Our specific concerns with these changes are as follows:

1. A presidential structure politically undermines GSSF funded groups because it increases the likelihood of violations of viewpoint neutrality.
2. Students voices will be marginalized by the ability of the president to appoint committee chairs and judges with life terms. This alters the power structure in such a way that students and organizations who are well-versed and educated on a multitude of issues are not given an appropriate say in decision-making that directly impacts the students they serve and the campus as a whole.
3. Removing the Student Councils (Senate) ability to strike line items of GSSF budgets increases the likelihood of vital campus organizations being zero-funded as a means of preventing specific line items from receiving funding.
4. This structure gives veto power to one person, which then requires a two-thirds majority vote to override the veto. There is a decreased likelihood of a two-thirds majority occurring, therefore the Senate has significantly less power than that of the former Student Council.
5. Even in the current structure the Grassroots Committees do not communicate effectively with their reciprocal GSSF-funded organizations and the new structure will hinder this communication further.

To address our aforementioned concerns, we demand the following:

1. That the formation and protection of a multi-party political system be added to the proposed constitution. Political parties ensure that the voices of students are heard and that elected officials are held accountable outside of their appointed office. This has the added benefit of increasing student involvement in our student government.
2. That term limits be included for the president and her cabinet, understood as any officials appointed by the president, with the exception of judges.
3. That a system be put in place that fosters communication between our student government and GSSF-funded organizations.
4. That a system be put in place to educate government officials on the philosophy of each respective Grassroots Committee and the correlated services provided by GSSF-funded organizations.