Students encouraged to lobby state Legislature
Students interested in changing state Legislature policies that have led to increasing tuition prices are encouraged to become involved with one of two groups on campus, said Les Essig, Associated Students of Utah State University president.
“There are a lot of students who talk, but only a few who act,” Essig said. “We encourage any students who want to get out and make a change to come join.”
The Public Affairs Board and President’s Cabinet will give students the opportunity to participate in lobbying with the state Legislature, Essig said, as well as becoming involved with other university and political issues.
“Utah State has 20,000 students across the state. We could be a huge voice at the state Legislature if students voted and if students cared,” said Tagg Archibald, ASUSU executive vice president. “Tuition is going up because the state Legislature has cut funding.”
While both groups are involved with political issues, Archibald said, both are non-partisan and unaffiliated with the College Republicans and College Democrats.
“We are a politically active group, but we don’t take a political side,” Archibald said. “The Public Affairs Board is a non-partisan group that has three main goals.”
Archibald said those include lobbying student concerns to the Legislature, carrying out university projects such as student voter registration, and representing university and student concerns at the city level.
Archibald said the board also has a representative attending Logan City Council meetings and working with Essig on the booting issue.
One specific goal of the Public Affairs Board this year, Archibald said, is to repeal House Bill 331, which makes achieving residency and lower tuition rates difficult for out-of-state residents.
Archibald said it is very possible that through the work of students, that bill could be repealed this year.
“We are completely reformatting how we are lobbying the state Legislature,” Essig said.
Essig is a part of the Utah Council of Student Body Presidents [UCSBP], a subgroup of the Utah Student Association, which includes student body presidents from all nine state institutions of higher learning, as well as three private institutions including LDS Business College, Westminster and Brigham Young University.
“We have been organizing across the state with other student body presidents to find out what we want to be our three platform issues,” he said. “We are also in the process of hiring a full-time lobbyist.”
That full-time lobbyist is the group’s new executive director, Carrie Flamm, who Essig said will help lobby student issues from across the state.
“Our approach is a little different this time around,” Flamm said. “We are really focused on a unified voice. We’re more productive when we’re unified.”
Flamm said in addition to lobbying, she will be responsible for training groups on campuses that will be working with the Legislature, including groups at USU.
Flamm said the three issues UCSBP will present to the Legislature are not finalized, and will not be announced until next Tuesday.
“We’ve picked issues that will affect all students across the state,” she said. “Our goal is to represent and promote student interest.”
The main goal is to improve higher education, Flamm said.
Archibald said there will be several opportunities for students to travel to Salt Lake to lobby with the state Legislature, including an annual ice cream scooping event with senators and legislators. Archibald said the ice cream is something the legislative members look forward to every year, but this year’s event will be used to prove a point, he said. Right now, Archibald said, the board is involved in researching the issues they plan to present.
“The last couple of moths have been a madhouse getting students to register to vote,” Archibald said. “Things have quieted down, but in January and February with the Legislature coming into session, things will get crazy again.”
Students who want to become involved with the Public Affairs Board can expect a one-hour time commitment each week, Archibald said, with meetings for the board being held at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays.
“If students have recommendations, we are more than willing to hear them,” he said.
Essig said any student interested in joining either group can come to the Student Involvement Center, Room 326 of the Taggart Student Center.
“Students should come with an excitement and an energy to want to make a change,” Essig said.
-bnelson@cc.usu.edu