Letters to the Chronicle

Reorganize states, not higher education

While reading Gov. Romney's proposals for reorganizing higher education in Massachusetts, I realized that the New England states (total population about 15 million; land area 63,000 square miles) might save considerably by having one governor and legislature instead of six. After all, other states, such as Texas (population 21 million; land area 262,000 square miles) and California (population 35 million; land area 156,000 square miles), are much larger and have only one governor.

Another possibility is to duplicate the Dakotas and Carolinas with North New England (3.3 million people in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire; 49,000 square miles) and South New England (11 million in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut; 14,000 square miles).

Of course, seats (and clout) would be lost in the U.S. Senate and other disadvantages are likely. But if tax cuts and budget reductions are the highest priority, then merging small states seems a possible solution for savings rather than cutting essential services in education, health care, human services, infrastructure, and other areas. My preference is to pay my share of taxes for these services.

IRENE STARR
Amherst

Irene Starr is the retired director of the Foreign Language Resource Center.