Instead of using nearly half of its remaining project fund to cover an estimated $9,810 budget deficit, ASMSU representatives voted Thursday to approve a new contract with its two legal attorneys.
The new 10-year contract will save MSU's undergraduate student government more than $30,000, including $15,000 next year.
"Concerns were expressed with issues on budgetary concerns," ASMSU attorney Brian Jeffries said. "We hope to help alleviate some of those concerns."
ASMSU attorneys Jeffries and James Newton see several thousand students each year on a range of legal issues, such as handling minor-in-possession charges or landlord problems, Student Assembly Chairperson Missy Kushlak said.
The plan gives the two attorneys a 3-percent pay cut for the current fiscal year, with no pay increases from 2004 to 2006.
ASMSU will pay $301,627 each year for all legal services over the next two years.
The current contract caps increases at 6 percent, but after the new contract takes effect June 1, future pay increases will not exceed 3.5 percent per year.
Jeffries said the cuts are tied directly to faculty salaries.
In return for the proposed pay cut, ASMSU agreed to a longer-term contract than in previous years. The attorneys have worked at the university for 20 years.
"It's an asset to have people who have great experience with MSU," said College of Natural Science representative Bhooma Aravamuthan, who sponsored the bill.
Student Assembly External Vice Chair Andrew Schepers said use of the service has increased substantially in the past few years.
"They're vital as an institution and to students," he said, adding that if the contract weren't approved, the assembly would be defeating goals it set to reach out to undergraduates.
"This organization is in good hands for the next 10 years, and their law firm is in good hands with us for the next 10 years," Schepers said.
Earlier this semester, the Council of Graduate Students accepted the same contract.
Because the new contract affected next year's budget deficit, the proposed budget will not be voted on until the assembly's final meeting next month.
For more information on ASMSU or its Legal Services, visit http://asmsu.msu.edu.
