OUR VIEW: Free tuition for our veterans is right thing to do
By Darrell Ehrlick, editor, on behalf of the Winona Daily News editorial board

Minnesota Attorney General-elect Lori Swanson got it right when she said, “We owe our veterans, our service members a great debt of gratitude.”

So it only makes sense that people to whom we owe a debt shouldn’t have to be saddled with debt after making sacrifices in the armed services. To that end, state lawmakers — many of whom haven’t even taken the oath of office — have pledged to pass a GI bill that would allow for free college tuition and other benefits for returning service members. Our newly elected state senator, Sharon Ropes, is in a key position to help shepherd this legislation through as the vice chairwoman of the Senate’s Agriculture and Veterans Committee.
She joined other lawmakers at the state Capitol last week to support the bill that would allow thousands of returning troops to move on with their lives by utilizing higher education.

Too often we read about veterans who leave behind families who struggle with both an emotional and economic loss. We hear about families who struggle to make ends meet while their loved ones risk lives half a world away. Then we learn about the rising cost of tuition and wonder how anyone who’s struggling financially possibly could get a college education?

This proposed bill seems to take care of the veterans who sacrifice and get them into college without worrying about a mountain of debt.

We hope the measure gets bipartisan support in both houses and a bill is passed quickly.

Moreover, we hope this is just the first in a line of bills aimed at getting a handle on higher education in the state. We know about the Minnesota — and, for that matter, Midwest — brain drain, where the best and the brightest from this region go off to college somewhere else, never to return. This leaves places like Minnesota and Wisconsin poorly positioned for the next generation of business innovation. If we want the best and brightest business leaders of the future, then we must do something to ease the tuition burden and provide incentives for education in the state. The competition in higher education is fierce and it’s global.

GI bills and measures aimed at curbing tuition are admittedly good for places like Winona. Even more important, they’re good for places like Minnesota, where we have a large number of people willing to sacrifice for their country and then forced to turn around to sacrifice for an education.

The Winona Daily News editorial board also includes publisher Rusty Cunningham,online editor Jerome Christenson, and photo editor James A. Bowey. To comment, call 453-3522 or send e-mail to letters@

winonadailynews.com.

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