Associated Students Legislative Council held the year’s first meeting Wednesday night, discussing everything from a $12 base fee increase to plans for an Oct. 16 “Get Out the Vote” concert.

Among other topics discussed were A.S. committee appointments and plans for a tri-annual student congress. A.S. Program Board [[(ASPB)]] announced a proposal to increase honoraria given to its members, and A.S. President Cervin Morris presented a student fee increase plan that the organization hopes will alleviate some of the financial pressures accrued in recent years.

Morris’ presentation to council members detailed the upcoming student services initiative fee increase campaign. If passed, the $12 increase to the student base fee would go into the A.S. unallocated fund, from which A.S. Finance Board gives money to student groups and organizations, Morris said.

“We’re trying to really fund a lot of alternative programs we’ve had in the past [and also] the groups that we haven’t,” he said.

A.S. Executive Director Don Daves-Rougeaux said he thinks the initiative has a good chance of being approved by undergraduate students.

“We’ve had pretty popular support the last few times that we’ve run [a student services fee campaign],” Daves-Rougeaux said. “In the regular elections we’ve definitely ran it and we only failed to pass the measure by 2 percent.”

The special election to vote on the initiative is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 4.

In addition to Morris’ presentation, the council unanimously voted last night to approve the list of committee appointments. Such appointments include positions to A.S. Finance Board, Student Lobby and the Isla Vista Tenants Union.

Council members discussed plans for an upcoming A.S. Congress, which Vice President of Internal Affairs Andrea Wells said would try to reach out to student groups and clubs for input on campus issues. The congress, scheduled for Oct. 27, is the first such event in A.S. history.

Wells said A.S. encourages both groups and individual students to attend the meeting and voice their concerns and ideas for the future of the university.

“A.S. Congress is our way of going back to the students and finding out what they want us to do because A.S. is supposed to be for students,” she said. “We’ll also open it up to the general population that doesn’t belong to a club because some people just don’t.”

The Congress will end in a vote to decide which top six issues brought up during the day will be addressed and jointly worked on by A.S. and student groups for the year, Wells said.

Off-Campus Rep. Chaz Whatley said A.S. will be also be reaching out to potential voters at an upcoming “Get Out the Vote” concert to be held Oct. 16 at Anisq’Oyo’ Park in I.V. The concert will feature local bands LaHara, The Irations, Ed Slow, Let Live and Out of the Ashes. The hip-hop band The Far Side is tentatively scheduled to play depending on whether or not enough money can be raised to pay their $8,000 talent fee, Whatley said.

Whatley said she is meeting with various companies and organizations, such as Wells Fargo bank and the Office of Student Life, to seek donations for the $11,500 event. Currently, only $550 has been raised.

Whatley also said A.S. Program Board (ASPB), which is putting on the “Get Out the Vote” concert, will be asking for a $100 dollar increase in their honoraria. Some members of A.S. receive monetary compensation, in the form of honoraria, for the time they spend on committees and working on projects. Currently, Program Board commissioners each receive $400 per quarter, assistants receive $300 per quarter and Leg Council representatives to Program Board receive $250 per quarter. Money for the increase would come from the ASPB lock-in fee.

“How they feel in Program Board is that they do so much work, they put so much time and effort in it, they’ve cut back hours at work [and] some of them quit jobs in order to be able to be an intricate part of Program Board,” Whatley said. “They promote student programming for everybody, and their programs have proven to generate more revenue than any other thing on campus and their events are a big success. Students also look forward to events put on and sponsored by Program Board. Extravaganza is like the most anticipated event of the year.”

All Leg Council members interviewed said Wednesday night’s meeting was a success.

“It’s going to be a good year,” Morris said.