UT Student Government passed its 2025-2026 budget 34-1 on Tuesday after the budget was tabled last week due to concerns from SG representatives and constituents.
In total, $115,812 is allotted in the 2025-2026 budget, a $2,000 decrease from the previous year. Additionally, this budget increased funding for student organizations to $35,000, up $10,000 from last year. Jace Jones, chair of the Financial Affairs Committee, said SG’s goal this year was to give more money than any other past administration to student organizations.
The budget failed to pass after it was tabled on Sept. 2, Jones said. He said the budget was sent out late, prompting questions from assembly members on specific provisions.
“(For) a lot of the (representatives), that was their first time seeing the budget,” Jones said. “A lot of them did not necessarily know much about how SG finances work … (having) that week break really helped them a lot, (allowing them) to truly understand what was in the budget and the role that student government finances play.”
According to the budget, there are multiple deferred items requested by the vice president, which are not immediately approved but can be revisited and possibly funded by the Special Projects budget in the future. These items include $11,000 for fall tailgating, $5,056 for entrepreneurship mixers and $13,561 for individual days to recognize UT’s 15 colleges.
Joshua Bober, a Plan II and mechanical engineering sophomore, raised concerns on behalf of friends who served in the former agencies, which the executive alliance abruptly disbanded last week. He said he worried the funding for these former agencies would be redirected to these events.
“Just the intention of them requesting something like (these events) creates a communication barrier,” Bober said. “It’s something that we as a student body don’t really understand.”
Bober signed up to speak during the open forum of the assembly meeting, but according to the assembly minutes, assembly members and Vice President Thierry Chu used up the entire 20 minutes.
“It’s blatant misuse of legislative authority,” Bober told the Texan.
Ryan Faidley, the vice chair of the Ethics and Oversight Committee, successfully filed a motion to recess the assembly meeting to allow Bober a chance to speak, according to the assembly minutes.
Liberal Arts Representative Andrew McKiernan, the only member to vote against the budget, said at the assembly meeting he was confused about why the financial affairs committee meeting convened to discuss the budget on Sept. 2 without a 48-hour advance notice. He said he was concerned the budget was rushed through the financial committee, circumventing standard SG processes.
“The reason we did meet right after assembly (last week) was to meet the speaker’s deadline that legislation had to be submitted that Tuesday night,” Jones said at the assembly meeting. “If the bill wasn’t up this assembly, then student organizations would not be funded.”
