The Undergraduate Students Association Council Financial Supports Commission is piloting new funding initiatives to subsidize BruinCard replacements and laundry costs.

The commission’s Replacement BruinCard Fund will provide students with a once-per-quarter $10 discount on the $25 BruinCard replacement fee or complete coverage of the $5 fee to exchange an existing BruinCard with a new one. The UCLA Housing Laundry Fund will provide students with a $5 EasyPay deposit that can be used to pay for laundry in university housing.

Financial Supports Commissioner Nico Morrone said the programs exist to ensure students can meet their basic needs. He added that he believes laundry and BruinCards should be free because they are necessities for undergraduates.

The laundry fund is an initial effort toward the long-term goal of making laundry completely free on campus, said Morrone, a third-year financial actuarial mathematics student.

“It is my long-term goal for FSC to be able to fully discount the BruinCards down to $0 for replacement BruinCards, so people don’t have to pay such a ridiculous $25 fee for something that they need to be able to go to UCLA,” Morrone said.

He added, however, that the commission does not have enough funding to fully subsidize BruinCard replacements.

Arleny Pena, a third-year English student, said she had to wait hours to replace her BruinCard because of broken machines at the BruinCard office. She added that she was frustrated further by having to pay to replace her BruinCard.

Pena said she has been similarly frustrated with doing laundry in university housing. She added that she believes laundry in university housing should be free.

“It’s just not worth it, having to pay money on top, especially when they’re always breaking down,” Pena said. “To avoid paying and having to do my laundry, I have to go every two weeks back home, and that’s like an hour or two hours away.”

Trent Williams, a first-year music performance student, said he believes the funding programs will be beneficial to students, especially those with budgetary restraints.

“These funds going towards just the small things are good and important because it can really impact people if they’re not in the best financial situation,” Williams said. “It’s good that there’s support for everyone.”

Applications for both funds opened Feb. 10 to all currently enrolled undergraduate students, Morrone said. The UCLA Housing Laundry Fund application also requires applicants to live in university-owned housing.

Applications to the fund will be approved at weekly USAC meetings. Morrone said applications will only be rejected if a student applies to one of the funds multiple times in one quarter.

Each program currently has $2,000 fully funded by the Financial Supports Commission, Morrone said. He added that the application will temporarily close once that initial money is used while other funds are secured.

“I have a few plans on how to secure more funding once I’m able to prove that this is supporting students,” said Morrone. “I don’t have too many concerns about securing more funding when the time comes, but there might just be a few weeks where the forms close for a bit while I am securing that funding.”

Though Morrone said the future of the funding programs will depend on the upcoming USAC elections – which are set to occur in May – he said he hopes future Financial Supports commissioners will continue the programs.

“FSC’s agenda is that every basic need at UCLA should be included in tuition,” said Morrone. “That’s why I have the application as open as possible, where anyone can apply, because at the end of the day, it’s laundry and it’s a basic need, and everyone should be able to have access to it.”