Sacramento area colleges may soon have a regional student government association that lobbies against fee increases. Associated Students vote today whether to support the legislation to create the organization.

The organization, which will be known as the Sacramento Association of College Governance Organizations, or Sac Go, was formed in response to the lack of a coordinated effort between the schools of the Sacramento area to lobby and rally against fee increases last semester.

Student body presidents for each of the schools in the Sacramento area have been meeting together over the summer to examine the benefits of a regional student government, which would look out for the interests of all students while keeping with the needs of its own student body.

ASI President Joshua Wood, who introduced the legislation, said once ASI approves the legislation it is likely that a new elected position will be added to the ASI board for a representative that will sit on the organization’s board.

“We are the capital city university,” Wood said. “We have a responsibility to lobby for students at the capitol.”

Last semester, many different schools set up rallies at the capitol, but they were on different days and at different times, so there were no large groups to protest at once. The new organization wants to change that.

Sac Go would make sure that all of the schools were publicizing the same rallies so that the student presence at the capitol would be much more influential.

Some of the issues that it would like to address in the organization are student fees, campus safety and regional transit for students.

It would eventually like to create regional policies on security and safety issues so that students could feel safe on any of the campuses in the area.

The schools in the greater Sacramento area that will sit on the Sac Go board include Folsom Lake College, UC Davis, Sacramento City College, Cosumnes River College, El Dorado College and American River College. The only school that has not agreed to send a representative to the Sac Go board is Sierra College.

“We would really like for Sierra to get involved in the organization,” Wood said. “I think they will change their mind once they see that the organization is really going to work and how influential it will be.”

The biggest speed bump for the piece of legislation is a request by Wood for $50 from the board projects fund that would be used to create a Web site for the organization.

Since the fund is low this semester because of cutbacks made in last year’s budget, the board said it would like for Wood to look for a way to make the Web site without needing the $50.

Wood said he does not think that the organization will need the $50, but he has requested it in the case that there will be a charge to create the Web site. The other schools involved will be contributing equally to the creation of the site.

Luke Wood, vice president of academic affairs, said the $50 should not be a problem for ASI because of how important the organization will be to ASI and the students it represents.

“This is a way for us to make a coordinated effort to lobby the capitol on behalf of students,” Luke Wood said. “We’re in the shadow of the capitol right here and this project could be so powerful.”