Hatch and Dutcher promise to roll back college tuition

Gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch and his running mate Judi Dutcher paid a visit to Minnesota State University, Mankato, on Thursday to tout their plan for reducing state college tuition. Hatch said that tuition at Minnesota's colleges and universities has gone up 50% since Pawlenty came to office, "and that doesn't include fees."

Hatch spoke of the modest beginnings of many of Minnesota's governors, including Elmer Anderson, who was an orphan; Arnie Carlson, who grew in in a New York City tenement; and Rudy Perpich, who picked up coal along the railroad tracks so the family could heat their home. Hatch even pointed out that Gov. Pawlenty grew up the son of a truck driver.

The difference between Pawlenty and the others, he noted, was that Anderson and Carlson, both Republicans, and Perpich, a Democrat, believed that the state's role in educating Minnesota's young people was a key element in building a prosperous economy. Pawlenty is a product of Minnesota colleges and universities, he added, yet now as governor he's "pulled up the ladder of opportunity behind him."

Hatch pointed out that an education at the U of M in the late '60s when he went to school was $125 per quarter. Yet he told of a young woman who recently graduated from the U of M Morris with $50,000 in education debt. He also noted that one out of five potential students would like to attend a community college but cannot do so because of the high cost of tuition.

Hatch said that the state could easily roll back tuition to 2002 levels by using funds gained from closing a tax loophole for corporations reporting offshore passive income. "The Supreme Court has acknowledged that the law is poorly written," he said. "It's very easy to fix the law simply by fixing the language." He noted that Pawlenty has vowed to veto any such language change.