CO: Senate Dems kill voter ID, immigration crackdown proposa
Senate Dems kill voter ID, immigration crackdown proposals
In-state tuition for undocumented students bill heads to the House
Eli Stokols
Political Reporter
4:28 p.m. MDT, April 18, 2011
DENVER -- Senate Democrats have killed two more bills from the GOP-controlled House, both of which dealt with the issue of illegal immigration.
A controversial proposal to reduce alleged voter fraud, House 1252 would have allowed the Secretary of State's office to cross-check the state's voter rolls with immigration databases and to send letters demanding further proof of citizenship to any registered voters whose status appeared to be in doubt.
Secretary of State Scott Gessler, a Republican voted into office last November, was pushing for the bill and worried that thousands of people may have been voting illegally in Colorado's elections.
H.B. 1252, sponsored by Rep. Chris Holbert, passed the House, but ran into trouble in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
After testimony from several progressive groups who argued that there's no evidence of voter fraud, the Senate State Affairs Committee voted the bill down Monday afternoon on a 2-3 party-line vote.
That vote followed the same committee's 2-3 vote that killed House Bill 1140, which would have prevented local Colorado communities from opting out of the federal Secure Communities program, aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration.
"Senate Democrats continually say illegal immigration is a federal problem that cannot be addressed on the state level," said Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch. "Yet just this morning they voted to grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrants."
Harvey's right that Monday afternoon's committee votes came just hours after the full Senate approved Senate Bill 126, which would provide unsubsidized in-state college tuition to about 700 undocumented students who qualify.
That vote came down on party lines, with all 20 Senate Democrats voting in favor of the bill, while all 15 Republicans voted against it.
That bill is now set to be introduced in the GOP-controlled House, where it's expected the Republican majority will return the favor to Senate Democrats and kill the bill.
A make-or-break committee hearing could come this week.
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