When students go to vote in the second round of Associated Students elections tomorrow and Wednesday, they will see a new question on the ballot.

Greg Gemson, the ASA task force director, said it will ask students if they support changing the funding mechanism for the Arizona Students Association (the statewide student lobbying organization) from a flat $35,000 taken from student fees to a fully refundable $1 per semester per student fee.

The proposal, which would double ASA's budget, was set up by the ASA and has been passed by the Undergraduate Senate and the Graduate and Professional Student Council, Gemson said.

He said with a bigger budget, ASA will be able to do more things, and it can put money into scholarship funds and new student programs.

He also said this new referendum would make ASA a self-sufficient organization, and it would put the control in the hands of the students.

As it is now, Gemson said, ASA is not independent because it is partially funded by the Arizona Board of Regents. This policy was set up in ASA's constitution back in 1974, when it was formed.

"This creates a conflict of interest for ASA, because if you're funded by the body you're supposed to lobby, like the Regents and the legislatures, then there is conflict," Gemson said, "But if students fund it, there's no conflict."

In response, ASUA President Ben Driggs said, "Fortunately we have a great relationship with our regents - they are supportive."

Gemson also said student funding would ensure that the group would remain on the University of Arizona campus to represent students.

The fee would be collected when students pay tuition each semester, similar to the way the Student Recreation Center fee is charged.

Gemson said ASA is thinking of publishing its budget each semester so students will know what their dollar is going toward.

The way funding is set up now for ASA, at the beginning of the year it gets a check for $35,000 from each of Arizona's state universities, adding up to $105,000 total.

Gemson said the $1 per year ASA now collects from UA students comes from locally retained fees within students' accounts. At the other two universities, the ASA fee comes out of students' tuition dollars.

Gemson said, if the referendum passes, students will have to pay the fee when they pay tuition, but they can get it back if they are dissatisfied with the fee or with ASA's performance.

ASA has not decided yet exactly how this mandatory refundable fee will be returned, he said.

Students will either send a postcard to the ASA central office in Phoenix, and their $1 plus postage will be sent back, Gemson said, or the refunds might be handled on campus by the Bursar's Office.