No April Fooling With Protest At The Capitol

The April 1^st  theme at the Capitol was "no fooling with our future."  2,000 rallied to protest state budget cuts.  While maintaining there's no budgetary reason for the cuts. Speakers with disabilities, nurses, small business owners and conservation groups were featured. MSU-billings student body president Kayla Miller  says it makes little sense to chop nearly $30 million from higher education funding.

Miller says the economic ramifications of state budget cuts means lost jobs, as well as cancellation of resources for some of the state's most vulnerable. Higher education institutions are expected to raise prices to cope with state funding losses, at a time when miller notes that enrollment is at record levels.

The partnership for Montana’s future is organizing today's rally, the 3rd in a series focused on legislative budget decisions. Legislative leaders, who are at odds with the Governor over estimated state revenue, have said the budget cuts are needed to balance the bottom line.