After more than an hour of debate, Student Senate passed a special allocations bill Monday night granting The Singing Statesmen $3,191 to perform at a national music conference.

With about 30 Singing Statesmen members present to ask for support, Senate passed the bill 19-3-5.

When The Singing Statesmen were invited to perform at the Convention of Music Educators National Conference in Milwaukee, the music department originally requested $4,515 from Senate’s special reserve to fund travel, lodging and meal expenses, according to the bill.

The Finance Commission voted 11-3-1 in support of this allocation.

After the commission’s approval, The Singing Statesmen reviewed its request and updated it after deciding to try new fundraisers to make additional money.

The group decreased its request to $3,191.

“We decided to . to show how much this means to us as an organization,” said Reid Larsen, treasurer of The Singing Statesmen.

Senator Dylan Jambrek said he is disappointed that their request went down, because based on the special allocation request, Singing Statesmen members pay about $360 each year for various expenses.

“To ask them to pay more is unfortunate,” Jambrek said. “The Singing Statesmen is an amazing program that I think we should fund.”

Finance Commission Director Thomas Holtan, who is also a member of the Statesmen, said the national convention is an “extraordinary event” and a great opportunity for UW-Eau Claire.

“It’s a great way, not only for The Singing Statesmen, but the university to put its voice out there,” Holtan said.

While the majority supported the bill, some Senate members had hesitations.

Some questioned whether the $51 for meals requested for each of the 66 members going to the convention was too much.

“That just seems a little extreme to me,” said Aaron Brewster, Information Technology director.

Brewster moved to amend to the request, which would allocate $40 to each person, lowering the total amount to $2,465. Senate voted against that amendment.

Public Relations Director Jacob Boer voted against the bill, saying he didn’t think The Singing Statesmen’s opportunity is an “extraordinary circumstance,” which is one of the requirements for a special allocation.

“It’s always a good opportunity . There are dozens of clubs, teams . that are eligible,” Boer said. “My sympathy goes out. I’ll buy a CD, but I just feel like the money has to come from somewhere else.”