Associated Students, Inc., is proposing a $61,416 increase for Student Leadership in its budget for next year, making it the budget?s largest increase in student fee allocations from last year.

The increase comes in spite of cuts in several other areas. The increase will bring ASI?s total budget to $368,326, up from $306,910 this year, if the ASI Board of Directors ratifies the overall budget proposal at the 3 p.m. public meeting today. Leadership is fully funded by student fees.

The ASI Leadership program consists mainly of the board, the board?s activities and projects, the ASI elections and many of the service representatives working in the ASI Government Office in the University Union.

“In many ways it is not an increase,” said Carol Ackerson, executive director of ASI, who devised the budget.

There are many new items in its budget that were included in other programs? budgets this year, Ackerson said. Increased printing fees, election costs and public relations costs that were once the responsibility of other programs, account for much of the budget increase in Leadership, according to Ackerson. The largest amount of new items were brought over from the Campus Life and Community Service programs, according to ASI President Jason Bryant.

“We just moved the budget items over here,” Ackerson said.

According to Bryant, bringing the new items to Leadership will help the next board keep track of the funds.

“It actually does make great sense,” Bryant said. “We have bundled the money into a central location.”

Events that were run in conjunction with Leadership and other programs, will now be paid for solely by Leadership. This avoids having to divide up the cost for these events among multiple programs, Bryant said.

The $138,882 that Leadership is proposing to spend on student personnel could also change, according to Ackerson. It is currently budgeted at $18,932 more than this year.”This number assumes that we will have a full board all year round,” Ackerson said.

The student personnel budget could be lower if fewer board members work over the summer, or if there are vacancies in ASI positions, Ackerson said.

There has not been a proposal to cut personnel, as there was in the Children?s Center, according to Ackerson.

“It [a decrease in staff] is more important in the Children?s Center because there were a lot more people in that staff that were at minimum wage,” Ackerson said.

Rising minimum wages have hurt the programs that have large numbers of minimum wage earners, Ackerson said. This included the Children?s Center, whose director submitted a budget proposal that cuts its $40,000 evening program, citing rising staffing costs as the main reason. Leadership was able to avoid this because most of its employees already earn above minimum wage or are on monthly salaries, Ackerson said.

At this point, the increase in personnel budget only reflects rising minimum wage costs, not board salary increases, Ackerson said. However, a committee will be meeting to discuss future salaries, she said.

“It is required that they meet annually,” Ackerson said.

Bryant did not think that next year?s board would be receiving pay increases.

There will also be a $5,000 increase rent for the ASI government office, Ackerson said.

Paul Ueckert, chair of the Finance and Budget committee, expects the budget to pass, and believes the Leadership increases are justified.

“I?m supporting the overall budget,” Ueckert said.

ASI?s budget proposal will be voted on today at 3 p.m. at the Foothill Suite on the third floor of the University Union. The meeting is open to all students.