What the legislature should accomplish in ’07… if it has the guts

1. A statewide smoking ban. Enough of this dilly-dallying already. Arizona’s got it. California’s got it. Colorado’s got it. Connecticut’s got it. Delaware’s got it. Hawaii’s got it. Maine’s got it. Massachusetts’s got it. New York’s got it. Ohio’s got it. Rhode Island’s got it. Washington’s got it.

Heck, even France, home of the Gauloise, is gonna have it!

When is the Minnesota Legislature finally gonna “get it”?

more inside2. Guaranteed health care for all kids. Well, maybe it won’t be put into place in ’07, because it will take some doing to to make the transition. But we can always hope!

3. Find a way for motorists to pay for roads. Makes sense, don’t ya think? Many Republicans think so. Many Democrats think so. It seems only the Governor doesn’t think so. Why? Who knows?

Note to Legislature: Pass a gas tax increase, make it annually adjustable according to inflation, send it to the Guv, let him veto it, override the veto. Just think: Five easy steps and you won’t have to deal with it for at least another 10 years.

4. Freeze higher ed tuition for a year, then tell the public institutions to start cleaning up their own act. There’s a lot of inefficiency. I know. I’ve taught in higher ed for nearly 20 years. There are also a lot of hard-working people in higher ed who have some great ideas on how their institutions can be more cost-conscious. Put all those brains to work!

5. Forget the free tuition business for the top 25% of high school students going on to Minnesota’s colleges and universities. It’ll create far more problems than it will solve. I don’t have the space to explain here, but it you’re interested, read this article. (P.S., most educators agree with me.)