Tuition backers vow to press on
By Lynn Bartels

Posted: 04/08/2009 12:30:00 AM MDT


Estevan Flores, former head of the Latino Research and Policy Center, speaks Tuesday about the defeat of Senate Bill 170. "We will eventually overcome," he said. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)The fight over whether to allow in-state tuition for high school students whose parents came to the United States illegally isn't over; it's just beginning.

That's the vow of a dozen or so advocates, most of them Latinos — some well-known and some up and coming — who gathered Tuesday at the state Capitol to lament the death of Senate Bill 170 and praise those who supported it.

"We will eventually overcome," said Estevan Flores, a sociologist and former executive director of the Latino Research and Policy Center.

"There are a good number of us here today who have long and rich histories of struggling for those who have less access to society's goods and resources, for those who have needed civil rights. . . . "

Various speakers expressed sadness and anger.

Joelle Martinez, granddaughter of former Denver City Council President Ramona Martinez and a member of the Colorado Latino Forum, said the next generation is ready to do battle. "The fight has just begun," she said.

Opponents of the bill welcome the challenge.

"I think it's important for us to fight, too, for the taxpayers to ensure they don't have to pay for one more benefit for people who are in this country illegally," said Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch.

"We already force all taxpayers to pay for emergency medical care and K-12 education for them."

Senate Bill 170 died Monday on a 16-18 vote, with five Democrats siding with Republicans to kill the measure sponsored by Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver.
Meanwhile, a Facebook flap over the tuition bill is underway.

Former state Sen. Polly Baca of Denver said she regrets firing off a nastygram to illegal- immigration foe Gregory Williams of Broomfield, who had commented about the bill.

Williams said that when he posted on Baca's Web page, he was under the impression that she was still in the state Senate.

"I, as a Coloradan, am glad your bill got shot down. Colorado has continued to shout 'no amnesty, no special concessions for illegal aliens' and you continue to ignore our voices . . . ," Williams wrote to Baca.

"Looking forward to the day you are run out of office and me pushing the pitchfork."

Baca wrote back that her family had been in Colorado long before Williams'.

"We founded Colorado and helped write our state constitution," she wrote.

"Go back to Europe or wherever you came from. We don't need ignorant people who don't know our history here in this state. Your hate-filled and misguided ramblings don't deserve any further response."

Baca said Tuesday she should have ignored him, but "I was still smarting" over the bill's fate when she read the post.

Williams, in turned, sent her message to others with his own: "Guess she is a little upset her pet project got canceled! Everybody, let her know how you feel!"

Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327 or lbartels@denverpost.com
http://www.denverpost.com/statehouse08/ci_12093994