Readers Write (March 24): Gopher women's hockey, early education and high school sports, gas tax, the speech police

Congratulations to the Golden Gophers women's hockey team for becoming the national champions! It was another amazing season, and they gave it their all every game. These women deserve so much credit. They have several scholar-athletes, the WCHA player of the year, Patty Kazmaier Award finalists, members of the WCHA first and second teams, etc. Their coach, Brad Frost, is so dedicated to the team, and he has proved more than once how committed he is to them and they are to him and the whole coaching staff. Come out and see these women play next season, air the games on TV (more than once) and give them more press time.

Hats off to thee, Minnesota Gophers! Your fans are sure proud of you!

Funding 3- to 5-year-olds' education publicly is a fine idea and will give these developing minds a chance to develop with a love for education.

The funding is not as complicated as it seems. We eliminate 12th grade and the second half of 11th grade, and use those significant savings to adequately fund youth education. The reality is that all 12th-graders as well as most of the 11th-graders are capable of attending college or tech school, or getting a job, or they can sit on a couch in their parents' basements and exercise their thumbs texting and gaming if their parents don't expect any more from them.

We have been funding the wrong end of the educational process. It's time to break out of the 19th-century factory training model and start educating the young kids to want to learn before it is too late for many of them.

Many parents will object due to their nostalgia about high school sports. Leave high school sports as is through the 11th grade. Or better yet: Take sports out of the school system and have it community-based, leaving it up to a parent, not some AD or school board, to determine who is or isn't eligible. Schools can actually eliminate the sports budget and get back to educating for the basics and foundations, rather just test taking and making certain kids get at least Ds so they can be eligible for sports.

Bob Barrett's commentary "The case against mileage-based user fees to pay for roads" (March 20) ignores two inconvenient truths.

Inflationary increases in revenues aren't real money because expenses increase by the same amount. The two cancel each other out. Indeed, the budget "surplus" of $1.9 billion he touts is actually closer to $1 billion when inflation is properly factored in (see "Surplus sounds too good to be true — and it is," March 18).

The second inconvenient truth is funding for mass transit. He proposes freeing up the 40 percent of motor vehicle sales tax revenue currently used for mass transit and using it for roads and bridges. However, he neglects to say how he would fund mass transit. Presumably, he wouldn't. However, the Twin Cities metro area needs transit to reduce congestion and pollution.

Both mass transit and roads and bridges need dedicated sources of funding. Robbing Peter to pay Paul and relying on one-time surpluses that are overstated is not a long-term solution.

Surely, I cannot be the only person seeing the elephant in the room on this one. We keep hearing about this massive surplus, how every man, woman and child would get $375 back. I may be missing something but why give me this money back with one hand only to take it back with the other. The only answer I can come up with is that once that surplus is gone, it's gone. A floating tax as proposed would continue to fleece Minnesotans forever. Unfortunately, the ones it will hurt the most are the poor (who are finally getting a break at the pumps) and the elderly on Social Security. There must be better ways to do this. How about stiffer registration fees for those driving the big gas guzzlers? I do not profess to have the answers, but to slap a massive tax on fuel that will only increase when fuel prices return to normal is not the answer.

As one who believes we should have the government and services we're willing to pay for, the resolution to the difference between outstate and metro (Hennepin and Ramsey) counties' willingness to raise the gas tax seems obvious ("State split over gas tax hike," March 23). Raise the gas tax in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, and then fix the bridges and roads in Hennepin and Ramsey counties. The rest of the state can fix their bridges and roads when they decide it's worth the investment.

It suggests that Senate File 214 is unconstitutional. However, the U.S. Supreme Court in Citizens United stated that this type of disclosure is permissible and in fact is a safeguard against increased money in political campaigns.

In short, this bill does not infringe free speech or silence anyone. It merely asks "Who's speaking?" and then only for a short period before elections and only for major contributors.

Who is supporting a candidate with large contributions is an important factor in casting a vote. And it is a matter of interest to shareholders and customers of corporations. Secret money in campaigns contributes to voter cynicism and apathy. Identifying contributors is also crucial in knowing whether an elected official is favoring a contributor.

This bill is a modest effort to close a loophole in Minnesota campaign finance law and has been amended after hearing objectors' testimony to ensure that it does not "overreach." Similar legislation already exists in 18 other states. The bill is supported by the bipartisan Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board and deserves bipartisan support this legislative session.