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Dem foils party’s bill
Boulder senator wants to slow debate over immigration


July 7, 2006
By Joe Hanel | Herald Denver Bureau

DENVER - A Boulder Democrat joined with Senate Republicans to derail his own party's top-priority immigration bill.

"You just never know what you're going to see around here," said a jubilant Sen. Andy McElhany, the Republican leader in the Senate.

Legislators came back to Denver on Thursday for the first day of a special session on immigration reform, called by Gov. Bill Owens after the state Supreme Court threw out a ballot initiative on the topic.

The leaders of Defend Colorado Now, which supported that initiative, now support a compromise plan, Senate Bill 1. That bill would deny government services to illegal immigrants, effective immediately, without a vote of the people. Democrats have embraced Senate Bill 1 as their major bill for the session.

But Republicans are eager to have the issue on this fall's ballot. Late Thursday night, after hours of debate, all 17 Senate Republicans voted to strip all the words out of Senate Bill 1 and replace it entirely with the Defend Colorado Now initiative.

They would have lost by one vote if not for Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder. But Tupa says he's not on the GOP's side.

"This is my attempt to slow down the process. I hope it works," Tupa said.

The process has moved way too fast, Tupa said. Owens called the special session last week, and legislators got their first look at bills this morning.

"I'm afraid that (Senate Bill 1) puts us on the hook for tens of millions of dollars," Tupa said.

He doesn't support the initiative, either, and he's "supremely confident" that it won't make it through the Legislature.

Tupa's move casts uncertainty over the rest of the session. Legislators plan to continue meeting through the weekend, and they likely will have to stay into next week. The special session costs $15,000 a day.

Several other bills saw action on the first day, as well.Thirty-one bills had been introduced by Thursday afternoon, although legislators had plans for about 50. Some didn't even survive the first hours of the session.

On a party-line vote, Democrats in a Senate committee killed a bill that would have required proof of citizenship to vote. The bill would have carried a $3.8 million price tag for the state's 64 county governments, according to the Legislature's nonpartisan staff.

On Wednesday, Democrats unveiled their nine high-priority bills, and the Senate Republicans put eight bills on their agenda.

The Democrats had a perfect record on their nine bills until Tupa's surprise move. Two bills on the GOP agenda died on party-line votes, and senators hadn't formally introduced the other six.

A House committee is scheduled today to consider several of the most controversial GOP proposals. One would allow illegal immigrants to be charged with trespassing, which would be a felony for people caught three times.

Another would require Colorado employers to participate in a federal program to verify that their employees are legal residents.

And, representatives still have to deal with another version of the GOP plan to put the Defend Colorado Now initiative back on the ballot.

Much of the Capitol is closed for construction, so legislators went in and out of small committee rooms as they plowed through a stack of bills.

Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, spent the day trying to follow testimony in four simultaneous committee hearings, plus keeping up on e-mail from voters. He isn't carrying any bills himself.

"It's pretty complex. You need time to digest a lot of testimony. I'm feeling pressured and rushed," Isgar said.

jhanel@durangoherald.com