After being zero-funded by the Government of the Student Body last year, the Iowa Student Public Interest Research Group is again asking GSB to consider its case.

A bill to gain funding for ISPIRG is up for discussion at Wednesday’s GSB senate meeting, and a bill to make the group a student-funded office of GSB will be introduced. Chelsea Lepley, president of ISPIRG, said she hopes to delay the discussion of both bills until the Nov. 17 senate meeting because she wants to give senators more time to discuss issues they may have with the bills.

“Last year, I think some GSB members felt like, ‘GSB should be doing this kind of stuff, so we’re not going to fund someone else to do it,'” Lepley said. “But we’ve proven our worth. People were waiting to see that we can do something worthwhile, and now we’ve done that.”

ISPIRG is a nonpartisan group that brings students’ interests and concerns with societal problems to legislative bodies. ISPIRG sponsored the New Voters Project this semester, Lepley said, and is beginning work on decreasing the environmental impact of the university through recycling.

During regular allocation funding process for student organizations in April, last year’s senate reversed its own recommendation to fund a full-time campus organizer for the group and voted against all funding 16-15. Lepley said that earlier that semester, after talking with the GSB finance committee, the group decided to not pursue the option of becoming a student-funded office, which would put it under different regulations than other student groups and give them priority attention in the allocation process.

Jason Carroll, vice chairman of the GSB finance committee, said the budget ISPIRG turned in this year included a salary for a full-time organizer. The finance committee cut out nearly $15,000 that would have gone to pay for that person’s salary and travel costs, leaving ISPIRG’s budget at $2,862.81 for mostly operational and programming expenses.

“We didn’t feel a paid organizer was necessary,” he said. “A lot of student groups would benefit from having one, but they don’t, either.”

GSB Finance Director Kristi Kramer said that if GSB were to fund a salary, it would like to know who the group would be selecting to serve in that position. As of yet, ISPIRG does not have a campus organizer. Funding for a campus organizer could still be reinstated, she said, if the senate requests it, but she doesn’t think the funding should come from the special projects account, which is meant for capital projects.

“Maybe last year they didn’t get a fair chance in the finance committee,” she said. “Perhaps they do deserve some sort of special chance, but I don’t think this is the appropriate way to go about that.”

Lepley said she is still hopeful that her group will attain student-funded office status and receive the funding it originally requested.

“It could happen, but I’m not sure about the likelihood of it,” she said. “I think a lot of senators are beginning to realize the importance of our group.”

The GSB meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union.