The one thing that many Americans don’t have is the one thing that Student Government Association (SGA) has found itself with: A surplus of money.

After not funding a few groups that have been funded in previous years, SGA is looking for ways to spend its surplus budget that currently stands around $44,000.

“We decided not to fund some of the student media,” said senior and student body president Macy Koch. “Since we didn’t fund those groups, we decided to keep the money in the budget. Groups can come in and request money so we wouldn’t have to do the spring budget hearings again.”

According to Koch, any group on campus can request to receive money from SGA. The only condition is that it must be a student-run organization that has been active for at least four weeks. From there, it can fill out a budget request form, which is then sent to SGA.

“We fund anything,” Koch said. “We try not to fund groups that are strictly academic, but there’s a fine line there.”

Koch said that travel expenses are not funded by SGA’s budget nor are events that have alcohol present during them. She added that academic groups can be funded, but groups need to be looked at very carefully to make sure that not every person in the group is majoring in that department.

Junior and SGA treasurer Elsen Hoxhalli added that every organization gets a copy of the finance code.

“As long as the organization complies with the code, they can get the funding,” Hoxhalli said.

Hoxhalli said that this semester, groups have requested funds almost every other week.

“Sometimes we get new requests, and sometimes it’s an old organization that’s redoing their request to comply with the finance code,” Hoxhalli said.

If no groups request money, Koch said it will not go to waste.

“Even if groups don’t come to SGA, we’re coming up with our own ideas,” Koch said. “We’re trying to come up with permanent items and different services rather than programs. We’re always brainstorming ways to use that money.”

Koch said that this could mean items such as tables and benches for students to use, as well as other ways of improving Simpson’s campus.

One of the most recent budget requests approved was for the Sports Management Club. According to the meeting minutes, the $400 approved for the club was for fundraising purposes. The rules of the finance code state that this is the maximum amount allowed for fundraising events; however, the club can come back and request more money in the future.

While some campus organizations seek money from SGA, others get money from other means. Junior Lex Cochrane, president of the Comic Book Club, said her organization has not requested money from SGA because they want to use them as a back-up plan.

“We haven’t asked yet because we’re trying to earn as much as we can on our own,” Cochrane said.

Koch said that every group should know that they can come to SGA for money, as long as it is two weeks before the scheduled event is to take place.

“I’m sure there are groups that aren’t aware of our budget, but most groups should know,” Koch said. “And we try to reach out to every group.”