That was the patriots’ battle cry in 1776, but Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds doesn’t respect that part of American history in 2019.

This spring Reynolds signed a budget that again underfunds ISU. State funding for the Regents was more than $20 million under two years ago even as costs rise.

Republican indifference to affordable higher education means that your ISU “student tax”—also known as tuition—is going up 3.9% or more.

Now along comes a special election this summer to fill a vacancy in Iowa House District 46. HD 46 includes the ISU central campus, most undergraduate dorms, Greek row, and a lot of off-campus apartments. 

Shouldn’t the thousands of students living in HD 46 get to vote on who will represent them before the tuition tax is raised again?

Not as far as Reynolds is concerned. She set the special election date for Aug 6, three weeks before students start fall classes. Reynolds could have set a mid-September date to give you a chance to vote after you got back to school. But, that would have required Reynolds to respect students’ rights!

Reynolds played the same dirty trick on UNI students last March, scheduling a special election for the Cedar Falls State Senate seat in the week when UNI students were on spring break. That time it backfired—strong student absentee voting sent Democrat Eric Giddens to Des Moines with a whopping 57% of the vote.

ISU students can do the same. Check out the Story County Auditor’s site for special election information and to get an absentee ballot request form. Then send Democrat Ross Wilburn to the Iowa House to fight for you!

Student voices deserve to be heard. Cyclones, get your absentee ballots and vote—before the Republicans raise your tuition tax again!