Bill allowing students legally in US to pay in-state tuition in Tennessee dead this s

Bill allowing students legally in US to pay in-state tuition in Tennessee dead this session

By LUCAS L. JOHNSON II Associated Press First Posted: April 22, 2015 - 4:37 pm Last Updated: April 22, 2015 - 4:47 pm

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NASHVILLE, Tennessee — A proposal that would allow students lawfully in the United States to be eligible for in-state tuition is dead this session after falling short by one vote in the Tennessee House on Wednesday.
The proposal sponsored by Republican Rep. Mark White of Memphis failed 49-47 when it didn't get the 50 votes needed for passage. The Senate approved the measure 21-12 last week.
White said he had more than enough votes for the proposal when he began discussing it on the House floor but lost votes during a contentious, nearly two-hour debate. In a show of bipartisan support, a number of Republicans and Democrats stood beside White as he presented the legislation.
"If everything had stayed the way we went into it, we would have had about 55 votes," White told The Associated Press after the vote.
One favorable vote would have come from Rep. Bo Mitchell, who had a work-related issue and couldn't get back in time to vote on the legislation. The Nashville Democrat said he regrets not being able to vote.
"I'm sorry I missed a few votes, but as a citizen legislator you have to," Mitchell said.
Under the proposal, students considered "lawfully present" in the U.S. through a program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals would qualify for in-state tuition. Such students now pay nearly three times as much for higher education — the out-of-state rate — even if they've lived in Tennessee for most of their lives.
The legislation, which failed last year, gained momentum in the legislative process this year once it was amended to apply to students only in the DACA program. Despite the change, opponents — mostly Republicans — were still concerned such a proposal would be a slippery slope that might encourage illegal immigration.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what you start today could be bad things, not good things," Rep. David Alexander, R-Winchester, said before Wednesday's vote.
Three amendments proposed in an attempt to derail the legislation narrowly failed Wednesday, including one that would make individuals with student visas eligible for in-state tuition.
"This is an equalizing amendment," said Republican Rep. Andy Holt of Dresden, who also proposed the other two amendments. "If we're going to make the allowance of in-state tuition for lawfully present students, then why would we not allow for these lawfully present students to also receive in-state tuition?"
Supporters of the legislation considered it an opportunity for those students to not just further their education, but contribute to Tennessee's economy.
"They're going to stay here, more than likely, after they go to school," Rep. Rick Womick, R-Rockvale, said before the vote. "They're going to contribute to this society, to our state."
According to United We Dream, a national network that advocates for immigrant youth, only five states — Alabama, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ohio and Virginia — have passed legislation similar to the proposal that failed in Tennessee.
Eben Cathey, spokesman for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, which has worked on the Tennessee proposal for several years, said advocates of the legislation are not giving up.
"We knew it was going to be an uphill battle to make it happen this year," he said. "I think right now we're trying to see where we're going to be at next year. One thing that you can be certain of is that our students are not going to quit working on this legislation. It's going to continue."


http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/sto...tion-Equality/

Thankfully it failed, but what despicable examples of representation in Tennessee from some of these lawmakers. People who can only hold their jobs in state legislatures have turned their backs on the very people that can give them their jobs. They turn their backs on American citizens, Tennesseans, and begin to represent citizens of foreign nations.

The warning from the TIRRC should be taken seriously. They will be prodding the legislature to pass in state tuition and many other damaging actions against the American people in favor of illegal aliens.

"Eben Cathey, spokesman for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, which has worked on the Tennessee proposal for several years, said advocates of the legislation are not giving up.

"We knew it was going to be an uphill battle to make it happen this year," he said. "I think right now we're trying to see where we're going to be at next year. One thing that you can be certain of is that our students are not going to quit working on this legislation. It's going to continue."

Senator Todd Gardenhire of Chattanooga, TN has shamefully decided that illegal aliens should be catered to, though unable to vote. The presence of 18,000 hispanics in his district has apparently caused him to forget the citizen voters, to ignore the damage from illegal aliens in Chattanooga and in the state of Tennessee, to continue the waste of 500 million dollars from illegal immigration to the state, to add to the increasing potential for cities and towns to flip toward hispanic majorities, to make welcoming environments for more gangs and drugs and other crimes associated with illegal aliens and those who follow them.

Senator Gardenhire's efforts to reward illegal aliens will result in more stories such as the following...in his district of Bradley County, TN. MS 13 though not specifically mentioned is a well known gang in the area. Then there is Dalton, GA, next to Chattanooga, TN with at least 48 percent plus of the population hispanic, largely illegally present.

Gangs, drugs biggest threats

April 20, 2015 Christy Armstrong

Tennessee 10th District Attorney General Stephen Crump lists drug use and gang activity among the “coming challenges” those in the local district could face in the future.

“We’ve got a serious meth problem in the district,” Crump said during a recent meeting of the Bradley Sunrise Rotary Club.

Tennessee has in the past been ranked No. 1 in the country as being the state with the biggest methamphetamine problem, he noted. However, he said the state has been working to lessen that number through law enforcement and other efforts.

However, the meth that is more frequently on the streets now — nicknamed “ice” — is stronger due to crackdowns on things like pseudoephedrine sales.

While Crump said law enforcement agencies have been working to “break the cycle,” he noted they are also having to guard against meth being trafficked across state lines and international borders, like Mexico.

He also said heroin use is “coming back very strongly.” Crump said the drug is dangerous because it is “more potent than marijuana” and is harder to track, because it does not include an ingredient that can be tracked with a database as is the case with meth.

However, he also noted prescription drug abuse remains a problem in Tennessee. Crump explained the state ranks among the highest for the number of prescriptions written, and many may be fraudulent.

There was also a 232 percent increase in the number of drug overdoses in Tennessee in the years 2005-2011, he said.

The 10th Judicial District happens to lie along “drug corridors” frequently used by drug traffickers, Crump added. Many use Interstate 75 and other major thoroughfares to transport drugs imported from countries like Mexico and Colombia after they arrive in regional hubs like Atlanta and Dalton, Ga.

At the same time the district is increasingly finding itself a location where drugs are smuggled and sold, Crump said incidents involving violent crime have increased, which can be in part credited to gang activity.

Of the areas contained in the 10th Judicial District, he said Athens and all of Bradley County have seen some of the biggest problems with gangs.

Bradley County alone currently has 394 “verified gang members,” Crump said.

“We have a gang problem,” he said. “It’s coming from Chattanooga and other parts of the country. We do have a gang problem, and we have to be ready for that.” 

Tennessee also has an increasingly high rate of violent crime per capita, Crump said.
While he said he did not want to scare people with those numbers, he said he did want people to know the district attorney general’s office and other entities are working to remedy such problems.

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http://clevelandbanner.com/stories/g...stthreats,7244

In-state tuition for undocumented students fails in House


April 20, 2015


Dave Boucher


The Tennessee House of Representatives killed a bill to allow in-state tuition for undocumented students.

After more than an hour of debate, the House voted 49-47 on the bill. It takes 50 votes to pass a bill. The vote sends the bill back to the House Calendar and Rules Committee.

"I think our students are upset because we got so close. We were missing one vote," said Eben Cathey, an advocate for the bill who works with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.

"It's tough to get that close and not get 50 votes, but again it's been a long, uphill battle and we've made it this far. We passed the Senate, we just about got it through the House. This is a huge victory for us, even if we're a little upset that we didn't get it."

The only three members not to vote on the bill represent parts of Nashville: Republican Speaker Beth Harwell and Democratic Reps. Darren Jernigan and Bo Mitchell.

Harwell said she would have voted against the bill. She said she thought it presented a "slippery slope" for changes to law for immigrant students.

"It is a slippery slope that begins, and there are a lot of people who were naturally born here that are struggling to pay college tuitions. If we're going to do this for them, I do believe let's do away with out-of-state tuition altogether," Harwell said.

Harwell was in the chambers in the moments directly before and after the discussion and vote on the bill. She said she was out of the chambers at the moment of the vote to speak with a reporter from The Tennessean about a different story, but she had expected the bill to pass.

Mitchell told reporters he had planned to vote for the bill but had to attend a meeting for his day job as director of sales for a health care company.
"I had to attend that meeting. As citizen legislators unfortunately that happens," Mitchell told reporters.
Mitchell was in the House when it convened Wednesday afternoon. He said he had hoped the House would have delayed action on the bill.

Jernigan was registered as having an excused absence with the House clerk. He said he's had a meeting scheduled in Washington, D.C., for more than a month. Like Mitchell, he said he would have voted for the bill, but the Tennessee General Assembly is a "citizen legislature" and "we have jobs."

Right now a student that isn't a U.S. citizen must pay out-of-state tuition at a college or university in Tennessee, even if that student has lived in Tennessee for years. Advocates say that presents and unfair and undue burden to students trying to better themselves.

"This is about education. This isn't about any kind of immigration reform," said bill sponsor chairman Mark White, R-Memphis.

Opponents say the bill gives a costly benefit to people who aren't citizens.

"These individuals that we're talking about have no lawful status...it is not a pathway to citizenship until you begin that process," said Rep. David Alexander, R-Winchester.
He also argued the bill opens the door to allowing these students to be eligible for state financial aid. The bill says students would still not be eligible for state financial aid, like the HOPE or Tennessee Promise scholarships, or any federal financial aid.

Rep. Andy Holt, R-Dresden, fought the bill, trying to add three separate amendments.
All three would have expanded eligibility for in-state tuition in ways that would likely kill the bill. The amendments failed, but the votes were very close: two amendments failed by only a handful of votes.

Rep. Rick Womick, R-Rockvale, was a critic of the bill in the past. But Wednesday he said he thinks the bill creates a way for students to go through a stringent process to become documented in the state and receive an education.

"They're here from no fault of their own," Womick said.

"We have two choices: do we allow them to get an education, or do we say, 'No, you're off on your own.'"

Many if not most of the eligible students would be in or have gone through the Metro Nashville Public School system. Director of Schools Jesse Register blasted the House's decision to kill the bill.

"It is a shame that our students, sitting in the gallery as this vote took place, had to witness such a lack of leadership in our state lawmakers," Register said in a statement.

"Nashville is by far the city with the largest number of new American students in Tennessee, and this decision will have a tangible impact on our city as a whole. By essentially blocking their way into college, we are hampering their advancement in our community."

The Senate passed the bill by a 21-12 vote last week. The bill allows students who've received "deferred action" to be eligible for in-state tuition. Deferred action is typically provided to children of immigrant parents after the children have gone through an application process.

There are about 25,000 students who could be eligible for the in-state tuition with the deferred action change, according to information recently provided by the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.

About 7,700 are eligible now, 8,000 could be eligible once they are old enough to apply for deferred action and an additional 7,000 need to complete the application process once they meet educational requirements, according to TIRRC.

Gov. Bill Haslam hasn't said how he feels about this specific bill. But he has said he thinks the idea has "merit."

There is already talk of trying to revive the bill this year. The House Calendar and Rules Committee could vote to send the bill back to the full House for another vote.

But White said House clerk Joe McCord said it will take two-thirds of the members to approve voting on the bill again due to a rule about resurrecting bills within seven days of the end of session.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/insession/2015/04/22/house-passes-in-state-tuition-bill/26180055/

Statement from Director of Schools Dr. Jesse Register on the Failure of Tuition Equality

Wednesday, April 22, 2015



Today the Tennessee Legislature denied deserving young people across Tennessee the ability to improve their futures. Without the sameopportunities given to their peers, young new Americans will continue tostruggle in trying to attend college.


It is a shame that our students, sitting in the gallery as this vote took place,had to witness such a lack of leadership in our state lawmakers. They havebeen deeply engaged in this process from the beginning, a testament to theirdesire for access to higher education and their dedication to civicengagement.


Nashville is by far the city with the largest number of new American students in Tennessee, and this decision will have a tangible impact on our city as awhole. By essentially blocking their way into college, we are hampering theiradvancement in our community.


We are thankful for the 49 members of the House who voted in favor of thisand especially grateful to the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition for leading this effort. We look forward to another vote on thismatter next year and hope our state leaders will do the right thing for thesestudents and their futures.

https://mgtvwkrn.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/statement-from-director-of-schools-dr-jesse-register-on-the-failure-of.pdf

The failure of this bill is good news, GeorgiaPeach! It sends a strong message and saves Tennessee seats in college for American Kids and those who followed the law, and rightly so.

We are putting out an announcement about this to our networks now via...

Americans defeat illegals in TN by 1 vote: Battles raging in other states
http://www.alipac.us/f8/americans-de...states-319028/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ALIPAC

We are putting out an announcement about this to our networks now via...

Americans defeat illegals in TN by 1 vote: Battles raging in other states
http://www.alipac.us/f8/americans-de...states-319028/

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Yes, great idea! We need to give as much exposure to these successes to defeat these stupid bills as we can so these states know that all eyes are on them.

Way to go GeorgiaPeach, what worries me is that we dont have someone like you collecting this info and bringing it here in many of the other states.

I hope there are not bills we are missing due to American apathy.

W

Thank you to Alipac and to everyone who made efforts to stop this in Tennessee. Posting all of the important information, from the language of the bills, the sponsors, the committees, the dates, the contact information of lawmakers, the names of supporters, non supporters, those wavering, the flip floppers is so beneficial to help halt these actions from moving forward in our states. Alipac making it a priority brought it to the attention of so many.

One vote is all that stood between victory and defeat for in state tuition in Tennessee. To me personally, something of a miracle. We need to take that single thread of victory and weave a blanket of unwavering support.

It is good that Alipac rallied to inform and to take action. Other groups against illegal immigration should have done the same.

Senator Todd Gardenhire of Chattanooga, TN has vowed to bring this up next session and vowed to work on lawmakers to get in state tuition passed. He already has his army of illegal aliens to help him out.

I hope voters and the American people will keep speaking out.

Great job GeorgiaPeach and ALIPAC!

And since they're already "armed" for next year, we need to move swiftly on a federal law that makes it illegal for public institutions that are either 501 C 3 tax exempt entities or a public entity that uses federal funds of any type to accept any money, payment, barter or donations from illegal aliens, except emergency medical care.

Thank you Judy. The efforts of Alipac and those who made calls, sent emails and faxes is so important to stop these actions in the legislatures.

Senator Todd Gardenhire is promising to work on his fellow lawmakers to get in state tuition passed in Tennessee. If lawmakers keep hearing from the citizen voters his efforts will fail again. One vote is all that stopped in state tuition this time. Illegal aliens will be dressing up again, donning their caps and gowns, making personal visits to TN senators and representatives, speaking on the floor of the legislature again, all to garner support.

Each state that stops in state tuition gives support for the next state to stand strong.