By Marissa Warden

The Financial Affairs Committee was granted the jurisdiction to approve funds up to $500 without the approval of the Legislative Body at Tuesday’s MCSG meeting. The resolution was designed to reduce the amount of time LB spends debating and voting on funding allocations.”It takes up a lot of unnecessary time when we have a committee talking about it already,” FAC Chair Laura Bartolomei-Hill ’10 said. “We approved $30 once [at an LB meeting] and it took five minutes, which adds up. The LB meetings could be better spent not repeating conversations.”

The resolution is not without stipulations. The FAC is required to have a two-thirds vote among its members to approve funds. All student organizations can also immediately appeal the FAC decision to the LB if they have concerns with the funding allocations. And, in accordance with the FAC’s commitment to transparency, the FAC chair must report a summary of all expenditures at the LB meeting and post it on the MCSG website.

Bartolomei-Hill stressed the transparency and open communication that would occur under this resolution to ensure all funding allocations would be handled in an appropriate manner.

“Part of the resolution is for the FAC to be in constant communication with the organizations requesting funds and let them know about their right to appeal to the LB,” Bartolomei-Hill said.

There were some reservations expressed by members of the Legislative Board because the FAC is not solely comprised of elected representatives.

“There are four or five members of the FAC that are not student representatives,” Academic Affairs Chair Aaron Brown ’10 said. “Students who are not elected will have the opportunity to manage more money without much oversight.”

When the resolution was introduced last week, some members were skeptical, Brown said. However, after provisions were made to increase transparency, it became more widely accepted. The amendment passed with a unanimous vote.