ASUSU lobbyists visit the hill

my article from the 2/22/08 edition of The Utah Statesman

More than 10 ASUSU student lobbyists went to the state capitol Wednesday to give Aggie Ice Cream to Utah state representatives and senators to lobby for bills that, if passed, would directly affect USU students.

House Bill 196 is a bill for tax-free textbooks and, if passed, "would take the sales tax off of college textbooks. However, this bill is facing opposition in both the House and Senate," said Ashley Johnson, executive vice president of ASUSU.

Another current bill that could influence students is Senate Bill 103, legislation on higher education enhancements, that would allocate $3 million to USU programs, Johnson said.

"Some of the things that the money would go toward would be faculty improvement, expanding partnerships, improving our math and science program, and just all the areas that need help and additional funding," she said.

While this bill has a lot of support, budgeting has become a problem, Johnson said.

"They have only set aside so much funding that they are giving to education this year, and since we had a really great year last year, we might have trouble getting the full amount," Johnson said. "But we are lobbying really hard to make sure that Utah State gets as much of $3 million that they can."

The third bill the students lobbied for was Senate Bill 180, the Legacy Scholarship bill, which would give money to all qualifying college students and provide incentives for Utah students to go to college, Johnson said.

"Senator (Lyle) Hillyard's bill would give money to all upcoming freshmen, who have done well in high school and have been able to tackle a rigorous course load and maintain an A and B average," she said. "The bill would also help first-generation college students in their families obtain financial help. It's an incentive for Utah students to work hard in school and go to school in Utah."

Alexander Erickson, student lobbyist for USU, said, "I like Senate Bill 180. It has a lot more practicality in the fact that it's not as expensive, and right now the state capitol is facing a budget deficit, and they are trying to cut spending in places that they can."

"Overall it would be really helpful if USU students and their parents would call their specific representatives and senators and say, 'Hey, if House Bill 196 comes up, please support it,' because higher education is very expensive, and anything that helps alleviate that is helping Utah in general, because people who receive degrees of higher education will eventually be some of the greatest tax payers, and will be future contributors to the economy," Johnson said. "We also think that the money saved on textbooks would be spent on local businesses, so it would help generate local economies. We think that economically it would be beneficial long-term."

Nick West, student lobbyist for USU and ASUSU Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences academic senator, said, "I think the most important thing, when we think about student lobbying, is the fact that our representatives need to know that students care. We have had representatives come up and tell us that the fact that they see students out there is something they really want to see."

Johnson said any student can get involved in lobbying.

"We put out applications for lobbying internships at the beginning of every school year, and you have to be a junior with good academic standing," she said. "If you aren't involved in the lobbying internship, we still let students come down to lobby."

Johnson said ASUSU student lobbyists will also be going down to Salt Lake City a few more times this year. Any students interested in going down can contact her at ashley.johnson@aggiemail.usu.edu.