Gore Promotes Tax Breaks to Ease College Tuition

COLLEGE PARK, Md. —  Vice President Al Gore on Thursday touted a series of proposed tax breaks for Americans paying college tuition, saying higher education “cannot be limited to families of wealth and means.”

“We can’t solve the problem without new resources, and that’s why we have got to make it the top priority,” Gore said, repeating proposals he announced earlier in the campaign. “You know, unlocking the potential of a young mind is something that is really the key to our future. We have got to go on and make it possible for all families to send their kids to college.”

As he has at every campaign stop this week, Gore wove phrases from his Democratic convention speech into his remarks on the stump.

“This election is not an award for past performance,” Gore said, speaking to a crowd of about 1,000 union members, abortion rights advocates and college students. “I’m not asking for your vote on the basis of the economy we have. I’m asking for your support on the basis of the better, fairer, stronger economy that we can create together.”

Gore spoke in an outdoor amphitheater at the University of Maryland, where his campaign manager, Donna Brazile, has been an adjunct professor for three years.

Gore is proposing a tax credit of up to $2,800 per family for those paying for college tuition or other post-secondary education. He also is promoting the creation of 401(j) accounts, in which employers’ and workers’ contributions could be withdrawn tax-free to help pay for education.

Gore’s tax plan comes with some restrictions attached. The tuition tax credit would be reduced for families with annual incomes of more than $100,000 and wouldn’t be available for those with incomes over $120,000. Moreover, families already saving for college with a tax-free educational savings account wouldn’t be eligible.

Taken together, the education credits amount to about $55 billion of the $500 billion Gore said he would give taxpayers over 10 years under his slate of “targeted” tax cuts aimed at the middle class. Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the Republican nominee, is proposing a tax cut that amounts to $1.3 trillion over 10 years, covering all tax brackets.

Bush campaign aides said Gore’s plan wouldn’t deliver for most students.

“The more you look at the specifics of Al Gore’s tax plan, the less tax relief you’ll see,” said Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer.

While Gore is pledging to make education a priority, Bush aides noted the Clinton-Gore administration’s fiscal 2000 proposed budget would have cut the Pell Grant program for college assistance by $400 billion, though it was increased in the budget that was later enacted.

Earlier Thursday, Gore spoke privately at his home with Vicente Fox, the president-elect of Mexico, who was in Washington for a one-day series of meetings with Gore, President Clinton and top members of his Cabinet, opinion makers and representatives of human rights organizations.

Gore praised Fox as a man with “very large ideas.” During their private meeting, however, he also told Fox that his controversial proposal to open the U.S.-Mexico border to more migration is not likely to fly in the United States, Gore’s national security advisor Leon Fuerth said.

Fox is scheduled to meet with Bush in Dallas today.

Also Thursday, Douglas Hattaway, a spokesman for Gore, said the vice president has accepted a debate invitation from Judicial Watch, a conservative group that is one of the Clinton administration’s harshest critics.

Judicial Watch and its chairman, Larry Klayman, have filed a series of lawsuits against the Clinton administration.