Resolution in Regards to the Passage of the Debt Free Future Act
WHEREAS, student debt and public college inaccessibility disproportionately affects minority groups, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst represents 36.6% ALANA students (African-American, Latino, Asian, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and Native American); and
WHEREAS, the University of Massachusetts Amherst is known for it’s history of civic engagement on campus; and
WHEREAS, the average public college debt in Massachusetts is over $30,000, only around $4,000 less than the average private college debt; and
WHEREAS, education is a necessary path towards economic mobility, and offering this path through free college to the largest amount of students will address inequity in the state; and
WHEREAS, the need for public education should not end at high school, but offer educational opportunity through a Bachelor’s Degree; and
WHEREAS, the Fair Share Amendment has been passed through the legislature, ensuring new funding for public education and transportation; and
WHEREAS, the Debt Free Future Act eliminates tuition and fees in all Massachusetts public colleges, making a college education accessible to a greater percentage of the population;
THEREFORE, Be it Resolved that the Amherst Town Council strongly urges that the Massachusetts legislature promptly vote The Debt Free Future Act (H.1265/S.823) favorably out of committee and pass it into law; and
THEREFORE, Be it Further Resolved that the Clerk of the Town Council sends a copy of this resolution to the chairs and members of the Joint Committee on Higher Education, the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, the Senate President, the Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Senator Jo Comerford, Representative Mindy Domb, and the Governor Maura Healey.