This past Friday and Monday, next year’s student budget was being continuously discussed by members of ASCC. Although the budget proposal for all clubs and programs is not yet done, they were able to get pass half of it as Commissioner of Budget and Finance Ariel De Los Santos said, “From where we started meeting till now we’ve done over half of it, so we’re expecting to finish everything, an estimate of it by next meeting which is next week.”
When all the funds get distributed upon all the request by the committee, it still will need to get through senate for approval.
“…we are going to be able to go through all the request by next meeting. But depending if we are able to meet the amount of budget that we have already. If not we will have to go back to other request and were we can cut just to meet the amount that was allocated for the budget. And after that we would have to purpose a budget it would have to go to senate and there would be a big discussion,” de Los Santos said.
According to the Program Facilitator of Student Equity, Cross Culture and Title IX Resources Amber Dofner, about $1.6 million as been “tentatively” approved out of the total amount of $2 million.
“I think if I am not mistaken there has been about $1.6 million that was approved tentatively. Once we are done approving everything, of course there is still cuts that need to be made and you know at the end of it, there might be funds that can be reallocated so it is really hard to say- there is really not an approved amount, it really is a tentative amount,” she said.
These funds are used to try to benefit the students of Cerritos College to make education fun. One example of that can be seen from the meeting was a discussion regarding two clubs, Puente and MEChA and their events for Cesar Chavez Day. Since both clubs have that event the committee had to discuss the distinctions in funds.
“There are two events for the Cesar Chavez [Day] that I could recall. Each club, Puente and MEChA have decided to do [two] different events on the same day. Actually I believe [they] just did those exact events last week for Cesar Chavez Day but they were recreating the march to Sacramento and also a performance […] two things that were funded and tentatively approved by the Budget and Finance Committee [for next year],” said Dofner.
These two events, although they have the same name, had to be funded separately. It is these kinds of items that the committee had to talk about and approve.
The next meet will take place on Friday, April 14 and will be a few more weeks until everything is finalized.
As de Los Santos says, “Next week we’ll just be finished as a committee discussing it but the whole budget process still going to be a few more weeks.”
