The Inter-Residence Hall Association voted against a bylaw amendment which would have allowed IRHA to give a maximum of $500 to organizations that seek funding from them.

After an hour of debate at its Thursday night meeting, IRHA members voted 7-11 against changing the bylaw.

The bill was written because there is no provision in IRHA’s bylaws which allows a cap to be put on how much money the body can allocate to groups, said Kyle Perkins, Towers Residence Association president and the bill’s author.

Drew Larson, treasurer of the Union Drive Association and junior in accounting and economics, said he favored the bill because $500 is a reasonable amount to give to organizations seeking money for any event, including fund-raisers.

Larson said groups should be able to function effectively with $500.

He said if organizations need more money for an event, IRHA is more than willing to hear their case.

Larson said his main concern with allowing fund-raising groups to be allocated more than $500 is the possibility of the groups making a profit off of residence hall students’ money.

Larson also argued that some students are being charged twice for services IRHA funded groups provide.

He said this is because students are being required to pay admission fees while already paying for services through IRHA’s Discretionary Account.

The cap would force IRHA to not give such groups as much money, requiring them to be more financially responsible, Larson said.

Danny Short, president of the Union Drive Association and sophomore in mechanical engineering, said he was opposed to the bill.

“[IRHA] shouldn’t have to have more than two-thirds vote if we want to give [the organization] more than $500,” Short said.

He said he thought members of IRHA were trying to make their jobs easier by not having to consider funding on a case by case basis.

The purpose of IRHA is to review each bill to decide if the organization deserves money, not lump them all together under the failed bill, said Brandon Gray, Richardson Court Association at-large representative and junior in journalism and mass communication.

Bryan Reiter, Towers Residence Association at-large representative and sophomore in pre-business, favored the bill.

He said it would set a standard so IRHA could stop funding at a certain point.

Organizations will still be able to ask for as much money as they think needed to fund events.