At what cost?

-- John Helebrant

Governor Pawlenty has no intention of raising taxes. In fact, he promised “no new taxes” during his campaign and wants to keep that promise. However, Minnesota is facing a serious deficit and some decisions need to be made pronto. If taxes are not increased, where will the money come from?

Well, it has to come from somewhere, so why not education? Minnesota has some of the highest academic test scores, graduation rates, and college entrance exam scores in the nation. Arguably, these impressive scores may be because the Minnesota Legislature devotes over 40% of their budget to education.

But if higher education funding is funneled elsewhere, what will happen to students who want a decent education? Obviously, colleges and universities will have no choice but to raise tuition and it will be harder and harder for average-income students to afford. Eventually, the only Minnesotans that will be able to afford education are the rich. So what do we do?

Besides education, another major concern of Minnesotans is our state road and highway system. To be blunt, it’s falling apart due to rising metropolitan populations and the natural forces of winter. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce proposed a five-cents-per-gallon gas tax. Pawlenty opposes this idea as it goes against his “no new taxes” vision. But without a tax of some kind to take care of this very large problem, education, as well as other valuable programs, will take a hit.

Road and highway infrastructure projects are costly. It’s a good idea to examine different approaches to pay for them so we can concentrate some of our resources on other important programs. Roads are only one example of problems that plague Minnesota at the moment, and there are alternative options available to remedy those other situations as well. Pawlenty’s “no-new-taxes” policy is unrealistic. He needs to jump on the bandwagon with groups like the Chamber of Commerce and the state Legislature and examine the proposals they’ve made.

Many Minnesotans oppose higher taxes, which is understandable. But which Minnesotans will pay the price? Rather than spreading a tax among the good people of Minnesota, specific groups will be hit hard in the pocketbook—namely, those seeking an education. This is unacceptable.

Students face the question, “Will I fork over more with a tax increase, or a tuition hike?” Many students can’t afford the cost of school, so some apply for financial aid while others take out gobs of loans—all so they can get their hands on that four-year degree. And that degree is no guarantee of financial success.

We need to direct funding back to education and initiate a tax that pays for other projects. For example, the gas tax is a good idea because gas and roads go hand-in-hand. You fill up your tank, drive down the road, and contribute to the wear and tear of our roads; it’s common sense to pay a tax to fund these much-needed projects. However it’s not common sense to funnel funds from education to pay for other state projects simply to perpetuate a “no new taxes” stance.

Eventually, our needs will far outweigh our ability to pay for them unless we cut funding for everything, or initiate a tax increase. While a nice road and highway infrastructure sounds good, I’d rather see education remain affordable and help Minnesota stay at the top. Is that too much to ask?

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Viewpoint:

Is the price of Pawlenty’s ‘no new taxes’ promise too high for students to bear?