The Wake

My name is Amanda Hutchings and I am asking for your support for my run for the Minnesota State House. I am a fourth year student here at the University of Minnesota, studying political science, history, and French. Throughout my years here at the university and as a citizen of district 59B, I have consistently been active with politics and its processes at the local, state, and federal levels. I hope this column gives the voters my positions and serves as a reference when voting this November.

Higher education: State funding for public institutions of higher education must be protected. It is the state’s partial responsibility to make certain that its own educational institutions are both quality and affordable for its citizens. The universities, in turn, must keep their spending at a level that reflects the changing economic times. Both the state government and the universities have a responsibility to students to keep state-funded education affordable.

Financial Aid: It is disturbing to note that as of late, a sizeable population of students who qualify for need-based financial aid either have not looked or do not know where to look for it! This must change. If the money is not used up, the government will assume it does not need to be used and will cut it. Information about securing need-based aid should be readily and easily available to every student searching. Students should also be prompted early and often to apply for need-based aid.

Smoking Ban: This is a clear-cut example of government extending itself into areas of citizens’ lives in which it has no business meddling. The groundbreaking Clean Air Act has already severely limited public smoking, and rightly so. Regarding bars and restaurants, which were exempt from the Act, I feel that it is an individual establishment’s decision and not the governments. However, I would not go to any great measures to overturn the Minneapolis smoking ban recently put in place.

Social Issues: In a nutshell, I am pro-life and do not support gay marriage. Amending the Constitution is not the way to go, and I am not in favor of doing so at this time.

Transportation: I support the expansion of the Light Rail Transit system as a means of transporting the suburban workforce to the city centers while simultaneously building privately funded optional toll lanes on some of our more congested freeways. I am opposed to the gas tax, as it unfairly burdens lower income households and does not generate nearly the revenue it needs.

I would like to stress to all of you that I bring a new, fresh, and certainly different voice to this district. As a young person, it is easy to complain that our voices aren’t heard, aren’t addressed, and aren’t understood. That is exactly what I am trying to change. To avoid legislative logjams, new people are needed, with new ideas, and new ways to go about achieving the goals of their district.

Amanda Hutchings is the Republican candidate for state representative of district 59B and welcomes comments at hutc0097@umn.edu.