It seems like the Maryland General Assembly went haywire in the last couple weeks. Thanks to legislators’ failure to pass tax and revenue increases, the state will likely see $512 million in new cuts (which include cuts to state agency expenses, higher education and cost-of-living adjustments for state employees). This decrease in funding has sent the whole university into a tizzy: The Student Government Association voted for Gov. Martin O’Malley to hold a special legislative session, and yesterday, students rallied on McKeldin Mall against these spending cuts.

Meanwhile, O’Malley bravely stated (in front of a legislature with a Democratic majority) that he is dissatisfied with this year’s operating budget. But is the budget for the next fiscal year really that bad?

To figure that out, we need to look at the facts about the legislation before we get brainwashed by talking points from our legislators, grab our protest gear and whine about this inappropriately named “doomsday” budget.

Here is the background story:

Last Monday, the General Assembly adjourned at midnight and only succeeded in passing an operating budget without approving a huge set of tax and revenue increases. Because the tax and revenue bills were not passed, massive spending cuts were put into place. You can thank Senate President Mike Miller (D-Calvert and Prince George’s) for introducing these cuts to scare Democrats into voting for his slot machine bills. Apparently, the senator has unwavering support for Las Vegas-style casinos in the Prince George’s County area, so he can bring revenue into his district. The ethical senator obviously cares more about increasing revenue in his district to boost his reputation than decreasing taxes throughout the state.

Thanks to an uproar by students on the campus this past week, you would think the doomsday budget leads to apocalyptic effects on our state. However, the plan actually increases spending by about $700 million from last year. If our state hadn’t spent tax dollars so carelessly within the last few years, then our university wouldn’t have to experience such devastating cuts.

And how much does a special session cost, anyway? Let’s rewind back to 2007, the last time the General Assembly held a special session to address budgetary issues. Back then, the special session lasted 21 days and cost $441,000 (fully paid by state taxpayers).

Even if some sort of special session did take place, getting rid of the $512 million in cuts would be replaced by, according to some legislators, $1.4 billion in new taxes.

When our state faces such a dismal economic climate, it becomes difficult to choose from the lesser of two evils. As someone who is fiscally responsible, I do not want to see state taxpayers pay any more in income taxes than they already do. But as a college student, I would hate to see my tuition increase by a double-digit percentage.

However, I would rather accept the increase in tuition and pay for it through a job or loans independently than ever force my parents (who are about to retire) to pay an even higher income tax than the 25 percent federal income tax rate they now face.

As college students, we continuously tell ourselves we’re gradually turning into adults. Now it’s time to actually act like adults. We can’t beg the state to fund everything that we need when it clearly does not have the money to do so. In order to be independent college students, we should be able to accept this budget and try to fund the tuition increase ourselves before we carelessly let our parents and working taxpayers foot the bill for us.

Caroline Carlson is a freshman government and politics and marketing major. She can be reached at carlson@umdbk.com.