The Grand Rapids Press ran a story on the GR representative who introduced the bill to abolish the tuition waiver. I spent a great deal of time talking to the reporter about my point of view on the benefit of the waiver, and recommended she talk to tribal leaders about, but to my disappointment and regret she wrote nothing whatsoever about the benefits of the waiver to Indian people.

Oh well.

What I did say, and I’m sure even a modicum of empirical research would bear out, is that the Michigan Indian Tuition Waiver has been an outstanding engine of economic growth in the entire State. There would be Indian gaming, but I suspect it would have come much later to Michigan Indians without the college-educated Indian professionals to guide the way. And not all the beneficiaries of the tuition waiver went into gaming-related jobs. Many, many more have helped to fill jobs inside and outside of Indian Country.

And to say that Indian casinos make millions is disingenuous. Some do, some definitely don’t. Many tribal members living outside of their communities see little of that benefit. The tuition waiver for many Indians in Michigan is the difference between poverty and hope.

All this is — is free promotion for a junior rep from Grand Rapids with no political power.