By Max Kronstadt
Last block, CCSGA passed a resolution supporting Proposition CC, a statewide referendum on the ballot this November. Prop CC would allow the Colorado state government to keep and use the excess tax revenue that currently must be returned to the people. This is required by spending caps in place under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, that mandate return of revenue barring voter approval each year, which is often hard to come by.
CCSGA supports Prop CC for a number of reasons, not just its name. TABOR’s spending caps have handicapped Colorado for decades, making it difficult for the state government to keep up with increasing costs, let alone fund programs in order to improve quality of life. Prop CC would increase the state budget by hundreds of millions each year, which would be primarily used to improve roads and infrastructure as well as increase funding for K-12 and higher education. Though Colorado College, as a private school, would not see any of this higher education funding, we should oppose tuition hikes wherever they happen, and stand in solidarity with our peers at public institutions who have been squeezed by consistent cuts in spending on public higher education.
If you are registered to vote here in Colorado Springs you should have received a ballot in the mail. To vote, fill it out and put it in the mail, drop it off at the box at 30 South Nevada Ave., or give it to one of the volunteers tabling in Worner next week or the week after. Student volunteers will be collecting ballots at the front of Worner from 12–1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday of second week and all afternoon Monday and Tuesday (election day) of third week.