Two block funding initiatives are on the ballot for the Student Union elections Wednesday and Thursday. WU’s Emergency Support Team (EST) is seeking to renew its current block funding while the Debate Team is making its first attempt.

According to SU Treasurer Jonathan Frick, student groups that use block funding bypass the SU budget process and go directly to the student body for funds. If two-thirds of voters are in favor of the proposal, the group will automatically be guaranteed a portion of the activities fee that each student pays for two years.

EST is asking for $1.49 of next year’s $283 activities fee and the Debate Team is asking for $3.50. Voting for either of these initiatives does not increase the activities fee by any amount, but simply allocates a portion of it to that certain student group.

“The goal for most groups is just stability: groups need to count on their budget for a long time,” said Frick.

EST’s need for block funding, according to its supporters, stems from the fact that it is a volunteer organization that has high maintenance costs year-round. The organization serves the entire Washington University community, treating everything from cut fingers to heart attacks.

“Due to the high costs of maintaining equipment to the standards of any basic ambulance, EST needs to be able to plan for large expenditures ahead of time,” said EST President Sarah Kovnar. “All of our calls are made free of charge for patients because we receive block funding.”

The amount EST is requesting this year for block funding is $0.50 higher than the amount requested two years ago. Kovnar, however, is quick to point out that “while the activity [fee] has grown by 35 percent since then, EST’s allocation grew at less than one-third of that rate.”

The Debate Team’s block funding proposal is derived from current budget constraints and high traveling expenses. According to Debate Team President Chris Wheat, 25 percent of the group’s budget is automatically cut because SU pays only 75% of travel expenses to competitions. In addition to those cuts, the Budget Committee may choose to cut more if they desire.

“It’s almost self-defeating since we know that, at best, we can only get 75% of our original request,” commented Wheat.

Like EST, WU Debate Team supporters claim it needs block funding to plan long-term commitments such as tournaments and competitions. Wheat emphasized that the team is not entirely sure which competitions will happen until the middle of the summer, making it difficult to plan for the upcoming year in March, when budget proposals are due.

In addition, said Wheat, “The team is growing almost exponentially, and we need the funds to keep up with that growth. Even with the amount of money that we will have [with block funding], we’ll still have one of the smallest budgets of any debate program in the country.”

Students can vote on these block funding initiatives on Wednesday and Thursday on WebSTAC.

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