Capping college debt

They turned their backs on bureaucracy, closed their eyes to failure and took a free fall into the political abyss.College debt had officially driven one group of young people over the edge. But letting go may have been just what they needed to get themselves out of it."When we took the plunge, there were 400 people there to catch our fall," said field director for the League of Young Voters Alec Maybarduk, 24.It enabled a statewide grass-roots campaign that taught them that like civic minds can make a difference.They called it Opportunity Maine.It is a ballot initiative different from others. Developed by young people and lawmakers alike, Opportunity Maine allows any student who earns an associate or bachelor's degree at a Maine college to claim a tax credit equal to his or her student loan payments (capped at the level of tuition and fees for the UMaine System or the Maine Community College System), if they remain a resident of Maine. If a student moves out of state they are no longer eligible. With the intent to generate higher-paying jobs, create a larger, more-educated work force and give the economy a big old boost, the program would also enable an employer to assume a student's loan payments and then claim the tax credit themselves."Leading up to the campaign, college was becoming more expensive. Tuition was going up, and the income levels in Maine weren't," said Andy Bossie, University of Southern Maine student body president, who was also part of the that original core group that helped launch the Opportunity Maine initiative. "I know a lot of people who have dropped out of college because they couldn't afford it anymore."So last fall, Bossie, 23, helped present findings by the Public Interest Research Groups to the University of Maine System student body. He told them the average student debt increased from about $9,000 to $19,000 between 1993 and 2004 nationally.Conversations about increased college tuition costs began to spread to other colleges across the state, then to the business community and finally into the public domain.There was one common denominator among all ages and backgrounds: Everyone was concerned about the impact increased college costs were having on Maine's economy.The students realized they weren't alone in their financial morass.The word spread to lawmakers. Organizers drafted a ballot initiative and began to circulate a petition.They had five months from the date of issuance of the initiative to collect an estimated 60,000 signatures to support the 2007 Opportunity Maine ballot referendum.Finally, last Thursday Bossie and his comrades filled a van from floor to ceiling with boxes of signature sheets, drove up to Augusta, and officially filed them with the state.And just like that, Opportunity Maine is out of their hands.Now they wait to see if their final signature count hit the mark; the official results will come out in about a month."We needed exactly 55,182," Bossie said with a smile. "We're cautiously optimistic."And so they wait. They rest. And for the first time ever, they looked at their campaign trail in retrospect.Last week, from the student government offices at the University of Southern Maine Bossie, Maybarduk and the campaign's volunteer public relations manager Tony Giampetruzzi attributed their renewed faith in the political process to those volunteers who rose up to push for an alternative to college debt.Admittedly a bit haggard, they explained their strategy for a very nontraditional referendum campaign to educate very nontraditional supporters."We had an 80-year-old collecting signatures. We had a single mom in her 30s take her two kids (ages 2 and 4) to help sort petitions. We had a Harvard-educated student helping one day, then someone who got their GED the next," said Bossie. "A lot of people who worked on the campaign won't derive a direct benefit from it."That includes the college students vying for the initiative, as the proposal stipulates the tax credit only applies to those who enter college after Opportunity Maine passes.Still, the volunteers collectively traveled to nearly every town hall in Maine, carrying with them one box filled with petitions, another with voter registration cards. About 400 volunteers spread across the most remote towns, and brought the campaign to the Web on sites like Facebook and MySpace. The League of Young Voters membership and young voter registration numbers increased substantially.With a newfound respect for the geography of the state and its people, they went from camping out on the floors of fellow volunteers around the state to pulling all-nighters on the floor and couches at The League office on Pleasant Street in Portland where they began to count signatures."It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. But we became a growing family," Bossie said. "Mainly, I realized people care about the betterment of the state. They selflessly dedicated their time and resources."Of course, getting the signatures submitted was only one step in the long referendum journey. "We go right back to work the day we find out the results," said Giampetruzzi. "This is just the beginning."Staff Writer Anna Fiorentino can be contacted at 791-6330 or at:afiorentino@pressherald.com