By snoadmin
Hold on. Let us get this straight – not everyone knows about Proposition 30?
The proposition on the November ballot will temporarily raise the California sales tax and the income tax for households making more than $250,000 a year, if it is passed.
It is the same proposition that, if not passed, will drop a $250 million hammer on the Cal State University’s head. The same one that, if not passed, will cripple Cal State Long Beach’s budget by $13 million. The same proposition that we and other news outlets have been reporting developments on since June, when Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax measure qualified for the November ballot.
This news must have been glossed over between Justin Bieber getting pulled over and the cancelation of Jersey Shore.
The lack of common knowledge on one of the most important propositions on this year’s ballot could not be more frightening. The most blatant lack of knowledge showed itself when nearly half of CSULB’s Associated Students, Inc. senators abstained from voting in support of Prop. 30 in a recent meeting.
All senators serve as the students’ voice. In that case, almost half of the people in that room decided to lose that voice.
During the next meeting, however, all senators voted one way or another. The nine must have done their homework or took a quick glance at the numbers and realized this school could not stand to take a $13 million cut. It is basic math.
Either way, supporting the passage of Prop. 30 is keeping students in mind. This should always shape the way our ASI votes.
Yet, how scary is it that people in charge of making decisions for us may not be well-versed in some of the most important issues. It is understandable for someone to not be on top of everything in the political arena; they are students with busy lives. However, when $13 million is being thrown around the room, it is safe to say that people should be listening. CSULB ASI was already one of the last student governments in the CSUs to come to a resolution on Prop. 30, its about time students know about these issues, and now our student leaders can help spread the message.
