I was shocked to read The Minnesota DailyâÄôs article âÄúEmmer rallies college students as race heats up.âÄù I didnâÄôt realize that college students could support a candidate who has all but guaranteed the continued skyrocketing of college tuition.
Tom EmmerâÄôs higher education proposal includes a massive $400 million cut from higher education. Where are those cuts going to come from? The University of Minnesota has already made massive cuts, and we canâÄôt afford to make anymore. We canâÄôt continue to be a competitive, viable option for prospective students with continued increases in our tuition and fees. Emmer claims he will not raise taxes, but with the reduction of local government aid (the state funding that is used to pay for most emergency services), cities would be forced to raise property taxes to keep its citizens safe. He claims he would not raise taxes, but he would still force cities to raise their taxes.
Emmer will take Minnesota in the wrong direction. We canâÄôt continue to make cuts to our education system while still vying to attract businesses to the state. We need to tell Emmer that his budget cuts are not welcome at the University.