President Tessa Veksler’s recommendation to reallocate the Associated Students Program Board rollover funds to the Finance and Business Committee violates legal code, the Associated Students Judicial Council announced in a May 8 email. 

Following the ruling, the Associated Students (A.S.) Judicial Council subsequently lifted the injunction it placed on Association’s 2024 budget deliberations after A.S. Program Board (ASPB) Commissioner Kathryn Supple filed a petition with the Judicial Council on April 22, alleging Veksler’s legal code violations.  

ASPB is an entity within A.S. that plans concerts, screenings and other entertainment events for the UCSB student body. Like other A.S. entities, ASPB is funded through student lock-in fees, which are voted on and reaffirmed every two years. 

Rollover funding results from entities not spending the entirety of their budget — money that is not spent in a given year rolls over to the next year. According to Supple, ASPB currently has $2.5 million in funding from rollover, which is what Veksler recommended be reallocated to the Finance and Business (F&B) Committee.

Before making a decision in Supple’s case against Veksler, the Judicial Council heard testimony and evidence from both sides. After deliberation, the council ruled in favor of the petitioner — Supple — which prompted the council to lift the injunction.

Fourth-year political science and communication double major Veksler did not immediately respond to the Nexus’ request for comment.

“The money to be spent by A.S. Program Board is a lock-in fee, and therefore cannot be reallocated to other organizations within A.S. by the executive,” the Judicial Council’s decision read. “The Judicial Council finds it crucial that the decision to move funds from the Program Board to F&B be under the discretion of the Program Board.” 

The decision cited that Veksler’s recommendation violates specific instances of legal code: A.S. Legal Code states that members of ASPB are to “act as primary board of approval for all Program Board events and expenditures” and that “all financial expenditures must be approved by a majority (50%+1) of the voting membership of Program Board.” 

“The Petitioner cites both Article XII §3(E)(13) and §3(F)(7) of the A.S. By-Laws, alleging that the respondent did not seek voting approval of the A.S. Program Board when suggesting the reallocation of rollover funds, and approval was not given by Program Board,” the decision read. “The Judicial Council finds this to hold true after reviewing testimonies submitted by the petitioner.”

“The Council reviewed UC Santa Barbara Campus Regulations Section VI, which states that ‘Compulsory fees may be established, adjusted, or eliminated upon approval by an election’ and that ‘any reduction or elimination of a compulsory fee must consider any contractual agreements,’” the decision continued. “We subsequently find that the President’s proposal to repurpose A.S. Program Board’s funds obtained through lock-in fees violates this provision, as indicated by the petitioner.”

The Judicial Council said in the email that former ASPB adviser Marilyn Dukes’ testimony was “very helpful” in the council’s decision in the case.

“The testimony of Marilyn Dukes, former adviser of Program Board for 34 years, proved very helpful and served as evidence of precedent on the matter of reallocating lock-in fees,” the decision read. “The Council thus finds that it is not within the power of the Executive to move the funds gathered through lock-in fees for one organization to another.”

Supple said she appreciates the council’s consideration of Dukes’ testimony in their decision.

“I am really happy that they specifically mentioned that they took into great consideration the evidence the testimony submitted by Marilyn Dukes, because she’s been someone that has been really helpful throughout this entire process,” Supple said. “I really valued everything that she had to say and all of her input and she was extremely helpful.”

Supple said ASPB is currently working on a plan for how to utilize the $2.5 million in rollover funds. She emphasized that ASPB has previously been and continues to be open to co-sponsoring events with other entities.

“Something that everyone has been working on is taking all of this into consideration — all of the discussion about our rollover — and really working on creating a solid plan to spend down our rollover and increase collaboration within the organization,” Supple said.

A version of this article appeared on p. 6 of the May 16, 2024, print edition of the Daily Nexus.

Alex Levin

Alex Levin (he/him) is the University News Editor for the 2023-24 school year. Previously, Levin was the Assistant News Editor for the 2022-2023 school year. He can be reached at alexlevin@dailynexus.com.