As student groups eagerly wait for decisions by the Student Association on their funding for next year, the Judicial Review Board’s decision to halt the budget process is becoming increasingly controversial.

Calling the funding freeze ‘outrageous,’ a former Student Association parliamentarian, David Panetta, challenged the authority of the JRB to halt finance board hearings as charges are heard against Comptroller Maggie Misztal, who leads the finance board.

‘There’s no mechanism for them to do what they’re doing, which is suspend the hearings,’ said Panetta, a junior supply chain and finance major. ‘I don’t think there’s any precedent for this.’

Since the case against Misztal hasn’t yet been resolved, Panetta said that, under the SA Code of Statutes, the JRB does not have the authority to take any action until they’ve deliberated and reached a conclusion on the case.

‘They can overturn it and refer it back to the general assembly, but that happens after a hearing,’ Panetta said. ‘And that hasn’t happened yet.’

Joan Gabel, the current parliamentarian, defended the decision and the reasoning behind it.

‘It’s not a punishment issued by the JRB,’ Gabel said. ‘It’s stopping the process until we’ve figured things out.’

If the JRB finds the charges against Misztal require action, there may be changes in the finance board’s membership or the way funding is allocated to organizations, Gabel said. If this happens, any decisions that the board makes while Misztal is under review could be revoked.

‘If the hearing process is indeed corrupt and is a problem, the findings of the finance board are going to be invalid,’ Gabel said. ‘It would be really silly to have all the hearings, pass all the budget bills, then have the JRB tell us it was all for naught.’

Panetta said that this is simply going against the codes, however. Gabel’s report bases the JRB’s mandate to stop the process on the Disciplinary Actions portion of the Judicial Code Statutes – which does conflict with her decision that the holdup is not a disciplinary action.

‘The JRB doesn’t have the right to take actions to penalize the finance board until after they’ve had the hearing,’ Gabel said.

Also, Panetta said that the JRB’s power to take action requires a hearing take place and they come to a conclusion. Such a hearing will occur tonight at 9 in the Schine Student Center.

Gabel said that the JRB is handling the process this way to ensure the money is handed out fairly, and little time is lost if the case is decided against Misztal.

‘There’s such a wide variety of rulings that the JRB could issue, they felt it was best to stop the process until the hearing is resolved,’ Gabel said. ‘If that process is not completed in that way, all of the budgets, essentially, are the result of a corrupt process.’

The stall has kept the finance board from beginning the process of deciding how funding for next semester will be allocated to student organizations. At the same time, student organizations are waiting for word on the level of funding they’ll receive, unable to begin planning activities or programming.

Gabel said that it could be even more damaging if the finance board completed its recommendations, and student organizations began their work only to find out that the JRB decided the budget process was invalid.

‘It’s not such a big problem that hearings are stalled right now,’ Gabel said. ‘We want to make sure it’s done right, and we’re making every effort to make sure it’s done on time.’

Groups like University Union often book performances far in advance, and say they require an idea of the money they’ll have before they begin scheduling events. As the JRB review stalls the budget process, many fear that funding issues won’t be resolved until February.

Other groups, particularly student publications, often rely on advertising revenue from student groups trying to get attention for their events. These publications are left in an even more awkward position by the delay.

‘It has a serious effect on the caliber of our acts,’ said Sherlen Archibald, a member of UU Concerts and the finance board. ‘For the sake of everyone else on campus, we need to get to work.’

Archibald said that the holdup would make it difficult to complete the 20 to 30 hours of work that goes into the yearly block party, and that booking quality acts occurs long in advance of the show. If the budget is not resolved until next semester, UU would likely not offer programming until March.

‘Especially for anyone who has anything early, they’d have real problems,’ Panetta said. ‘Suspending the hearings on the word of one person is holding up a very big process.’

Gabel said that if the charges are not substantiated, the budget would likely be finished by the end of the semester. If the case against Misztal has merit or becomes complicated and requires additional time to resolve, however, there could be further delays.

‘I think there’s a possibility they won’t get it done,’ Panetta said.

Andrew Lederman, the president of SA, said that both Panetta and Gabel make good arguments for their cases, but ultimately, Gabel interprets the law as the parliamentarian.

‘While the complaint is completely valid, and this needs to be investigated, I personally am not 100 percent sure we need to interrupt the process, but it’s not my place to make the determination,’ Lederman said. ‘The parliamentarian has the power to interpret the laws as she sees fit. Joan really has the letter of the law.’

Meanwhile, Lederman told SA members on Monday night to be ready to pass the budget at a moment’s notice if necessary to ensure one is in place by the end of the semester.

The finance board was halted when charges were filed Nov. 17 that allege Misztal made negative comments about the National Pan-Hellenic Council’s budget proposals to members of other organizations and didn’t give them an equal opportunity to receive funding.

Jason Jackson, president of NPHC, Alpha Phi Alpha and the one who filed the charges, said his intention was not to hold up the budget process, but to ensure that the results would be fair.

The budgets were originally slated for passage at Monday night’s SA meeting.

‘Ultimately, the fact that these things are coming up means people care about the system,’ Archibald said. ‘But the process of how to go about doing it is up to discussion.’

Published on November 30, 2004 at 12:00 pm