Students will vote on a referendum in the upcoming Undergraduate Students Association Council election that would increase the #UCLAWellness fee to fund campus organizations.

The Resources First Referendum would approve an increase in the #UCLAWellness fee by $4 per quarter. The fee increase would improve funding for Campus Assault Resources and Education program, Bruin Dine and the Economic Crisis Response Team. In compliance with UC policy, 25% of the funds generated will be returned to the student body through financial aid.

“The return-to-aid generated by undergraduate students shall be reserved for undergraduate student financial support, and the return-to-aid generated by graduate students shall be reserved for graduate student financial support,” a UCLA spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The fee will also be subject to adjustment every academic year to address changes in inflation, beginning fall 2028.

Chiara Frank, the USAC Student Wellness commissioner, said the idea for the referendum originated after the Los Angeles County wildfires in January and added that an expansion of funding will make services on campus more accessible and effective.

“If there’s more funding, there can be more staffers,” said Frank, a fourth-year neuroscience student. “There can be individuals who can then work with students – whether it’s a need for housing, whether it’s different types of financial crises – and then being able to seek that support and have more individualized support.”

The Campus Assault Resources and Education program – an organization that provides support services on campus for victims of sexual assault – would receive half of the revenue generated by the fee increase.

The referendum will give a sense of security to patients of CARE, said Kat Contreras, the policy committee chair of IGNITE, a nonpartisan women’s empowerment organization.

“Title IX is an investigative body, so it’s a bit more confident to know that there’s somebody who’s just there to believe survivors and to provide care and not necessarily interrogate,” said Contreras, a second-year public affairs student.

She added that she feels a $4 increase to quarterly fees is “a small price to pay” to make sure victims of assault have resources at their disposal.

Bruin Dine, a student-run organization that, according to UCLA, holds food recovery events three times a week to aid students facing food insecurity, would receive $0.30 for every $4 fee increase raised in the referendum. Bruin Dine has created nearly 14,000 meals for students and staff since fall 2022, according to the referendum’s supplemental language. The referendum also says the organization will use the funding to continue its operations while expanding advocacy and research efforts.

Bruin Dine will lose access to the grant that funds its operations at the end of spring 2025, and the referendum would help create a stable funding source, said Bruin Dine Internal Vice President Joanne Sarsam.

“Food is so necessary to your well-being. It’s necessary to ensure your personal stability,” said Sarsam, a fourth-year computational and systems biology student. “If you don’t have a stable source of food each and every day, it becomes a top-of-mind issue for you.”

Sarsam added that Bruin Dine has also created a sense of community for those who regularly attend events, and that food connects students socially and culturally.

The Economic Crisis Response Team, a group of organizations that supports UCLA students facing financial crises, will receive $0.70 from every additional $4 fee levied by the referendum. The response team will redistribute the funding from the referendum to aid students struggling with economic hardships that could impact their wellbeing and academic success, according to the referendum’s supplemental language.

USAC General Representative Tommy Contreras, who represented the referendum at the 2025 USAC election debates, said the referendum aims to meet the student body’s immediate needs.

“It is not meant to be a long-term solution, but it is meant to provide the immediate relief that we feel the community needs right now,” said Contreras, a third-year political science and public affairs student who is running to be the council’s internal vice president.

All referendums that change student fees must be approved by a majority of voting students – with turnout from at least 20% of eligible voters – according to the USA Election Code. Voting for the 2025 USAC elections will be open on MyUCLA from 8 a.m. Friday to noon May 16.