The Government of the Student Body’s financial situation was bad before, but Wednesday’s meeting may leave it much worse, two top GSB officials said.

A number of spending bills on the agenda for the last meeting of the 2003-04 senate have cast the future of next year’s GSB into doubt, with finance officials projecting a particularly grim picture of next year’s senate funds.

Having already spent a large chunk of its $1.5 million in student fee money through Regular Allocations, the senate will likely have to find money for several new bills elsewhere.

There are four funding bills up for vote Wednesday: a bill which would fund various small expenses among sports clubs, and bills that would fund the Public Interest Research Group, Team PrISUm and the Financial Counseling Clinic.

Together, the total for the four bills will add up to nearly $100,000 — money finance officials say is likely to be taken from already strained special projects and discretionary fund accounts.

The result, said David Boike, GSB finance director, may not be favorable for the next group of senators to lead Iowa State’s student body.

“This year’s senate is leaving next year’s senate with a lot less money than [the current senate] started off with,” Boike said. “The current senate doesn’t understand the concept of fiscal responsibility.”

If the four bills are added to those already passed, the special projects reserve account, used primarily to buy capital items for groups, will fall far below its $150,000 safety point, which represents 10 percent of GSB’s operating cost.

The discretionary account, which the senate uses to send groups to special events, will dwindle to $5,000 for each of GSB’s three sessions in the next academic year.

The reduction in available funds for next year’s senate would likely result in even less money for student groups next year.

“It means that, should the bills pass, the senate is robbing Peter to pay Paul,” said Tony Luken, speaker of the senate. “In their unceasing quest to fund their pet projects, they’ve forgotten about the next senate.”

Luken said the senate’s spending this year equated to a “scorched earth” policy, leaving nothing behind for those who follow.

Current GSB President Mike Banasiak, who will leave office this month, said the concept of leaving GSB funds so low was a matter of concern, especially if next year’s senate encounters a similar situation to the $140,000 allocations shortfall GSB faced this year.

“The senate made a choice, and the choices they made, they’re going to have to live with,” he said. “So will the next senate. The situation could have been handled better. I would like to have seen better foresight on the part of the senate.”

Banasiak noted his term had not yet run its course, and he may still have a few things to say about the senate’s spending decisions. He indicated the possibility of using his presidential veto power if he felt it was required.

“Many people have come to me and spoken about these issues,” he said. “I’m prepared to do what’s necessary.”

William Rock, vice speaker of the senate and GSB vice president-elect, supports the Public Interest Research Group. He said he weighed the situation carefully before throwing his weight behind the organization.

“It was a really tough decision for me,” he said. “I knew funding would be tight, but for PIRG, we had enough. Then we had this slew of other funding bills, which I hadn’t counted on. We don’t have room to fund everyone, so it’s going to have to come down to a choice.”

Despite the current situation, Rock said he had no plans to abandon his support of the Public Interest Research Group, saying it would be unethical for him to back down at this point.