Associated Students Inc. is sending four members of Sacramento State’s student government to Washington, D.C., to attend a legislative conference in March. The ASI board debated over how many members needed to go on this trip and the cost of attendance.

The 40th Annual Grassroots Legislative Conference brings together students from across the country to discuss and act on current legislative issues impacting access to higher education. While this year’s conference will be the third straight that ASI members have attended, Director of Arts and Letters Andres Perez opposed the legislation for the trip because of the number of members the board is sending to D.C.

“In past years we only sent one or two people. I don’t think it is necessary to send four people,” he said.

Perez said the cost of the trip could be lowered considerably if fewer people attended. He also expressed reservations about the board’s choice to send all seniors.

“All four of the people attending are graduating,” Perez said. “It would be more beneficial if someone who is coming back next year got a chance to experience this.”

Miguel Cervantes, Felix Barba, Kathryn Kay and Shawn Smith will be representing ASI at the conference.

ASI approved a budget of $4,200 for the four-day trip. The budget covers flights, ground transportation, hotel accommodations, food and incidentals.

The funding is coming from $1,000 in savings from employer-paid health insurance and $3,200 from the Board Project Fund. The health insurance money was left over funds from last year and the Board Project Fund is the general fund that the ASI board can use under discretion.

Director of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies Lauren Haley chose to abstain from voting on the conference legislation.

“I felt it would be more beneficial for more Sac State students to attend a local conference that would teach similar information,” Haley said in an e-mail.

The budget includes a conference registration fee of $225 per person and airfare of $342.40.

The ASI attendees will be staying at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, titled as the “premier gateway to the nation’s capital,” according to the hotel’s website.

The group will be renting a mid-size car for the trip and the gas for the trip is estimated at $100. On Feb. 19, the American Automobile Association’s website cited the average price of gas in Washington, D.C. at $2 a gallon. The Consumer Guide Auto’s website states that the average mid-size car gets 25 mpg.

This means that ASI board members are projecting they need 50 gallons of gas while in D.C. for three days. The projected amount of gas will fuel a mid-size car for 1,250 miles; the District of Columbia is 69 square miles.

Vice President of University Affairs Felix Barba said he feels the conference is a positive way to spend ASI funds.

“We are trying to do the best we can with the dollars we have,” Barba said. “We have to spend money in a way that is helpful for students.”

Barba said he would like to see ASI restructured to focus more on policy. He also thinks there needs to be more feedback from the students on issues that are important to them.

“I want to empower people, but students have to do their part,” Barba said.

Barba said the conference can be a way to increase the board’s knowledge, which can be used to get students involved in meaningful ways.

President Miguel Cervantes said he believes the conference is a valuable and worthwhile endeavor for the board members to attend.

“The conference gives us access to information on federal issues that we don’t normally focus on,” Cervantes said. “National federal acts that affect the university are discussed during the conference. Last year, Sac State helped with the Higher Education Act, which has since been reauthorized.”

The Higher Education Act authorizes the major federal student aid programs that are responsible for the majority of financial assistance to post-secondary students.

Cervantes said Sac State was extended an invitation to attend the conference by the United States Students Association.

ASI’s goal for attending this year is to “fulfill a strategic priority to increase advocacy and strengthen student representation on the national level,” according to the ASI conference legislation.

Cervantes said another purpose of the trip is to gain a better understanding of the USSA and weigh the benefits of membership to the cost of belonging to the association.

The ASI board is deciding whether to join the association.

The fees are $0.25 for each student the campus serves, which at Sac State is approximately 29,000 students. That would put the annual cost of membership in the student association at $7,250.

“By attending the conference, we will develop skills in lobbying, which will allow us to represent Sac State on a larger scale,” said Shawn Smith, Director of Graduate Studies. “With our involvement, Sac State should have a much stronger voice with legislators.”

Crystal Kirk can be reached at [email protected].