Zero-funding seven organizations and making major cuts is the Government of the Student Body Finance Committee’s solution to GSB’s $406,000 deficit.

With two weekend sessions of regular allocation hearings over and the final one scheduled for this weekend, GSB is still dealing with a $144,000 shortfall.

The initial shortfall resulted in cuts for many student organizations that rely on GSB funds.

“The situation is, we have cut $262,000, and we have a good deal more to go,” said David Boike, GSB finance director. “Everything else is a secondary concern for me.”

After what he described as a brutal “budget balancing” session this weekend, Boike said the finance committee will present a recommendation to the GSB senate that it zero-fund the following groups: Cyclone Leadership Organization, International Student Council, ISU Public Interest Research Group, National Association for Interpretation, National Pan-Hellenic Council, Team PrISUm and Women in Science and Engineering.

According to GSB bylaws, the senate can either accept, reject or send specific recommendations for a group’s allocation back to the finance committee for reconsideration.

The finance committee is required to honor recommendations made by the senate. Rejection by the senate results in no funding for groups.

The Cyclone Leadership Organization has been targeted, finance officials said, because it is not meant to be funded through the regular allocations process. Boike said the International Student Council duplicates services already provided.

The National Pan-Hellenic Council, finance officials said, is not open to all students and is therefore unable to receive funding.

The finance committee also recommended not funding two “pre-professional” organizations, Women in Science and Engineering and the National Association for Interpretation. GSB bylaws don’t allow pre-professional groups to be funded.

Organizations that have seen the most severe cuts so far are the ISU Financial Counseling Clinic, ISUtv and the ISU Marriage and Family Therapy Clinic, which have had submitted budgets cut by $10,000.

One group that has received a zero-funding recommendation from the committee is the Public Interest Research Group, which earlier this year attempted to gain student-funded office status to support a professional staff.

A bill to change GSB bylaws to include the group as a funded office failed to receive the necessary two-thirds senate majority. However, Public Interest Research Group officials said at the time that they felt confident the finance process would leave them with enough funding to support these things.

The Public Interest Research Group was zero-funded for a number of reasons, including duplication of services, questionable partisanship and lack of funding to expand services.

“They do service projects like lobbying that fall within the purview of the GSB Director of Government Relations,” he said.

Boike said he doubted the groups claim of being non-partisan.

Chelsea Lepley, president of the ISU Public Interest Research Group, responded to the claims by saying she understood the concerns about her group, although she said the group has never engaged in partisan activities.

“We are a political group,” she said. “Sometimes people mistake that for being partisan, but we’re not. We’ve never supported a candidate, and we’re not affiliated with a political party through funding or ideology.”

She also said the group does not duplicate GSB services.

“GSB doesn’t actually perform any of the services that we do,” Lepley said. “They talk about the possibility of performing the services … but it’s just not something that’s been done.”

Lepley said if the organization is zero-funded by the senate, it would still exist as a club, but would not be able to achieve any significant goals.