Henry Beck, a
sophomore at Colby College and a Waterville city councilman, and Alex Cornell du Houx, a
Bowdoin College senior and Iraq War veteran, spoke at a press conference with House
Speaker Glen Cummings and Senate President Beth Edmonds.
by Ramona du
Houx
Upholding
Students’ Rights —
Maine has a
tradition of encouraging college students and its citizens to vote. The state has one of
the highest voter turnout rates in the nation. When a bill that would limit college
student participation in the voting process hit the docket in the Legislature, college
students around the state mobilized and traveled to Augusta. The bill — An Act
Concerning Student Voter Registration, LD 203 — would make it illegal for nonresident
college students who live in dorms to vote in the town where they attend college.
Over a hundred
college students waited four hours to testify to uphold their legal right.
Henry Beck, a
sophomore at Colby College and a Waterville city councilman, and Alex Cornell du Houx, a
Bowdoin College senior and Iraq War veteran, were invited to speak at a press conference
with House Speaker Glen Cummings and Senate President Beth Edmonds, before the hearing on
LD 203 began.
"I bridle
at this bill because I feel like we are really trying to get young people involved in the
voting process. Anytime we put up barriers such as this we send the message that we
don’t want you to vote," said Edmonds.
"Research
has shown that if you can get a person to vote once, they are almost five times more
likely to become regular voters in their lifetime," said Cummings. "We need to
encourage people to get out and vote, not discourage them by making it more
difficult."
"This bill
sends the wrong message to members of the college community who wish to become civically
engaged. We are trying to encourage students to stay in our communities, yet this bill
disenfranchises and discourages students from living and working in Maine. Living in a
dorm room should not make us a second-class citizen," said Cornell du Houx.
The United
States Supreme Court has established through Simms v. United States that students have the
right to vote where they are domiciled.
"LD 203
tries to take away a basic right for college students, guaranteed under the Constitution.
The Supreme Court has said that student status means nothing, military status means
nothing. It’s where you live, where you consider your home that counts. It’s a
right, not a privilege. This bill discriminates against students. Where you are domiciled
is where you consider your home," said Secretary of State Matt Dunlop.
Secretary of
State Matt Dunlop testified, upholding college students’ Constitutional right to vote
in Maine.
"What if a
student, who comes from Bar Harbor, but attends UMO changes his residency because he is
now at college. Are we telling this Maine citizen he can’t vote? The bill is worded
so that a student would have to establish residency before they became a student. So are
we to say students don’t partake in the same rights that all of us do under the
Constitution?"
The bill was
sponsored by Republican Rep. Gary Knight and supported by the Maine Republican Party when
they included the bill in their e-mail blast to activists across the state.
"LD 203 is
a partisan attempt to limit the voter turnout of students across Maine," said Henry
Beck, also president of the Maine College Democrats. "Most college students are
liberal at the polls and certain Republicans are trying to disenfranchise our vote for
partisan political reasons."
Most Maine
colleges, private and public, have programs where students become active in their local
towns — from tutoring, becoming mentors, planting trees, food drives, or building
houses. Student community participation went up 20 percent from 2002 to 2005, so did their
civic voting participation.
"We
contribute to our communities," said Bowdoin College student Tom Charpentier, who
grew up in Connecticut. "This is my home now. I am a resident of Maine."
Charpentier has considered making Maine his home after he graduates.
"As a
college professor I see students work very hard to engage themselves in the political
process," said Cummings. "It is vital that we send the right message and let
them know that their voice is important and their participation is crucial."
Impassioned
legislators also testified against the bill, echoing Cummings’ message. The presence
of so many college students during the week at the state Capitol is testimony in itself of
their determination to be politically engaged. The outcome of LD 203 is still pending.
Sen.
Rotundo, Rep. Cravan and Sen. Marrache prepared to testify on behalf of college
students’ rights.
Making
Education More Affordable —
Andy Bossie is
an energetic, intelligent senior at the University of Southern Maine, who has deep
concerns about the future of Maine and Maine’s students. Over the course of his
college career, some of his friends were forced to drop out because of the exorbitant
costs. Frustrated, he took action and started contacting people to form what would become
Opportunity Maine.
By September of
2006, Bossie would have over 500 volunteers helping him to realize his vision of a Maine
where students are rewarded with tax credits for attending college and working in Maine
after graduating.
"A year
ago Andy Bossie came to me with a problem. We were able to connect him with a network of
allies that crossed party lines — and geographic and demographic divides," says
Justin Alfond, Maine state director of the League and sitting member on the Opportunity
Maine Steering Committee. In addition to helping Bossie build what would eventually become
Opportunity Maine, the League also provided expertise in fundraising, innovative
youth-driven field campaigns, and access to their communications channels.
Andy Bossie
announced that Opportunity Maine volunteers succeeded in getting enough signatures for a
referendum that offers tax credits for obtaining a degree in Maine and working in the
state.
Last March the
secretary of state confirmed Opportunity Maine had collected enough signatures to put a
ballot question out to voters. Organizers ended up submitting more than 73,000 signatures
to the secretary of state’s office, which accepted 63,285 of them.
The question,
"Do you want to allow a tax credit for college loan repayments to any taxpayer who
earns a future college degree in Maine and continues to live and work in Maine?" will
appear on the ballot in November 2007, unless the Legislature enacts it first.
"It would
be wonderful if the Legislature enacted the bill, ‘An Act to Allow Tax Credits for
College Loan Repayments,’ but if they don’t, I believe the citizens of Maine
will. A lot of people need to leave Maine after they graduate, because they can’t
afford to pay their student loans," said Bossie, who will graduate with $27,000 in
outstanding student loans. "We have a wide variety of support from labor, business,
and community groups. Keeping motivated graduates in Maine can only help the economy and
position the state better in the global economy."
Opportunity
Maine estimates that a worker in 2008 will earn over $16,000 per year more with a
bachelor’s degree than with a high school diploma, and $10,000 more with an
associate’s degree.
Labor and
businesses leaders see the tax credits as a way to help Maine businesses by providing a
better-educated workforce. Maine’s rate of degree holders is 30 percent lower than
that of the rest of New England.
"Companies
will come to Maine when they know that we have a better skilled workforce as a result of
the tax breaks," said Bossie. "The proposal will also give businesses an option
of making the student loan payments for eligible employees. Then they can take a tax
credit for themselves."
Most of the
students across Maine who worked on the campaign won’t benefit from their efforts
directly, because the measure is not retroactive.
"We did it because we know
how hard it is," said Nicole Brown, chair of the University of Maine System student
government. "Young people working hard to get a degree shouldn’t have to be
burdened with debt."
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