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Thursday, March 04, 2010

MundiMuster! Join the Courage Campaign in Supporting an Oil Severance Tax to Fund Higher Education in California


Courage Campaign
Stand up for students: Pledge to support AB 656

Students across California are protesting against the 30% fee hikes and cuts to classes they have experienced at our public colleges and universities. These cuts and fee increases are making it more difficult for students to afford a quality education. Without good public colleges and universities, California will struggle to create and keep the creative and high-tech jobs that will power our economic recovery.

That's why the Courage Campaign is joining Assemblymember Alberto Torrico, the California Faculty Association and the University of California Students Association to launch a campaign to pass AB 656, the Oil and Gas Severance Tax to fund higher education. It would help roll back the fee increases by restoring over $2 billion in funding to public colleges and universities. AB 656 makes large oil companies pay their fair share in taxes, just as they do in Texas and Alaska.

Please join the Courage Campaign, CFA and UCSA and pledge to support AB 656.

Students shouldn't have to worry about being able to afford staying in school just so oil companies can get a huge tax break:
We, the undersigned, are united in our resolve to resist the destruction of California's public colleges and universities. Skyrocketing fees and tuition and cuts to instruction are driving qualified students away from school and jeopardizing our state's future economic growth.

Meanwhile, oil companies are making record profits on the oil they already extract from the ground in California. It is time we joined Texas and Alaska in charging oil companies for their existing oil drilling and use that money to reverse the fee increases and budget cuts at our public colleges and universities.

We pledge to support AB 656 -- the Oil and Gas Severance Tax Act -- and restore affordability to public higher education in California.

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