The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Supreme Court approved a revised elections code increasing the spending cap by $50 for presidential candidates, bringing the amount to $550.

Associate Justice Allison Komara said she believes the increased spending cap would benefit students in light of other changes made to the code this year.

For example, this year's code states that professional services provided without charge will count against a candidate's spending limit.

"I think that that helps to level the playing field a little bit," Komara said, referring to the increase.

The Senate and the Court have been debating the spending cap issue since the Senate approved a $700 cap at its Dec. 9 meeting.

Both bodies must approve the code, which provides a set of rules governing USG elections, before campaigning can begin.

The Court rejected the $700 cap because it felt the $200 increase would put "economically challenged" students at a disadvantage.

The 2004 elections commission appealed the Court's decision to reject the cap to the administration, but a three-person committee appointed to review the appeal decided it was an internal matter.

The Senate introduced a resolution at its Feb. 29 meeting to set the cap at $600, but some senators felt the Court would not approve a $100 increase from last year. The code requires a unanimous vote if passed after the second Wednesday before Spring Break.

The Senate approved the $50 increase after some senators said the Court approved an amendment last year setting the cap at $550.

However, Komara said last year's spending cap was $500, and the Court did not pass an amendment increasing it to $550.

South Halls Sen. Andy Banducci said although he was under the impression last year's spending cap was $550 when he voted to approve it, he is happy it passed.

"At this point, I just want to have a code," Banducci said. "I would have preferred to see it not go up, but I'm just glad to see that the Court approved it, and now we can worry about election session."

Town Sen. Mike Yohannan said he is not happy with the $550 cap. "I really do think that setting a spending cap at $550 for a campus of 40,000 students is not only unfair to the people who run, but it almost gives you an incentive to cheat," Yohannan said.

Head Elections Commissioner Tim Dorman said he is glad the code passed because the code is not as ambiguous as last year's code. "I'm a little disappointed about the process that it was approved by, but there's not a whole lot you can do about that," he said.