Thread: Coloraqdo: Session fallout mixed

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Session fallout mixed
But lawmakers from both sides generally happy with outcome


By April M. Washington And Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News
July 12, 2006
Some civil rights activists are incensed.
A public policy analyst said life is destined to be difficult in Colorado for both legal and illegal immigrants.

Businesses worried that their labor pool could leave for more favorable work climates.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo said state lawmakers didn't go far enough.

And Republicans were still fuming about the hard-fought deal with Democrats that resulted in passage of two key immigration measures just before midnight Monday - but that won't require voters to make a trip to the polls on the hot-button issue.

The fallout was wide-ranging Tuesday after Colorado passed what are being touted as the toughest illegal immigration laws in the nation following a five-day special session of the legislature.

Two cornerstone measures were approved late Monday:

• House Bill 1023, which denies most nonemergency services to illegal immigrants. Those seeking benefits must present valid Colorado, military or tribal identification. Illegal immigrants would continue to receive benefits mandated by the federal government or the U.S. Supreme Court, including K-12 education.

• House Bill 1017, which requires employers to keep copies of identification of all new hires and authorizes auditors to conduct random inspections.

Civil rights activist Butch Montoya said the new laws penalize hard-working people.

"This special session came perilously close to becoming a racist and bigoted debate about a group of people who provide more to our state's economy and to our family-oriented values," he said.

The legislature's actions will have a far-reaching impact in Colorado and across the country, said Suzette Tucker-Welch, senior policy analysts for the Colorado Center on Law and Policy.

"As far as I understand, it's the toughest package of laws in the nation," she said. "I think it's going to make it difficult not only for undocumented workers but for legal residents to obtain services that should legally be available to them."

Donna Lipinski, an immigration attorney, said the restrictions outlined in HB 1023 could give rise to unscrupulous people preying on welfare recipients and could encourage underground dealings in licenses of all types.

"There's going to be motivation to deny or terminate benefits," said Lipinski. "People will be afraid they'll lose benefits and people may be afraid to apply for them. There's going to be a heightened sense of apprehension about going anywhere where you may have to show ID or apply for anything."

Business owners spent Tuesday trying to gauge the potential impact of the bills, particularly HB 1017, which authorizes fines of $5,000 or more if the state can prove an employer accepted fake work documents with "reckless disregard."

"The employers are afraid that this pool of workers, if they're threatened hard enough, they'll move to other states," said Richard Forsberg, of Englewood, who bonds and insures subcontractors. "That will happen quickly and quietly. The ramifications on a company here will be devastating."

But Tancredo, one of the nation's leading critics of illegal immigration, called the business measure "simply a joke."

To make a real difference, Tancredo said, the law should have required businesses to see either a Colorado driver's license or state identification - among the toughest documents to falsify - for every employee, and to verify that information through a system run by the Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security.

"If a state wants to distinguish itself as being toughest on the issue, that's it," he said.

Former Democratic Gov. Dick Lamm, who fought to put an anti-illegal immigration initiative on the ballot and who said he was generally pleased with Monday's deal, agreed with Tancredo, calling the business-related measure "the flaw" in the package.

Meanwhile, Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald and House Speaker Andrew Romanoff reveled in the spotlight Tuesday.

The Democrats praised Republican Gov. Bill Owens and other lawmakers for striking a deal that brought a successful end to the often bitter and contentious session at 11:17 p.m. Monday.

Owens has 30 days to sign the dozen measures on the way to his desk.

"My hope is if Congress is listening that they take a message from what we are doing," said Romanoff, of Denver.

Fitz-Gerald, of Coal Creek Canyon, noted that more than 150 newspapers nationwide carried stories about Colorado's newly adopted immigration measures. News organizations from as far away as London contacted lawmakers about the implications of the new laws, she said.

Owens predicted that other states would follow Colorado's lead. Within hours of the legislations' final approval, he said, officials from Maryland had contacted his office for copies of the bills.

"My guess is, many other states are going to do what we've done here," Owens said.

Lamm, who fought with the group Defend Colorado Now to put an initiative on the ballot that would have denied state services to illegal immigrants, praised Owens and Romanoff, calling their work "masterful."

Owens took heat from his own party to do what was best for Coloradans, Lamm said, while Romanoff managed to work with the governor and keep Democrats together and focused.

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, said that despite Republicans' disappointment over having to swallow a compromise that means Coloradans won't vote on the issue they were successful in forcing Democrats to take up illegal immigration reform.

"It's clear we were able to hold their feet to the fire and drag them across the finish line," May said.

The compromise ended a political standoff that began last month after the Colorado Supreme Court disqualified from the November ballot Initiative 55, which would have denied government services to illegal immigrants. The decision angered Owens and other Republicans and spurred Owens to call the special session.

In the end, perhaps the best sign that lawmakers had hit upon a true compromise was that both major groups in the debate over Initiative 55 - Defend Colorado Now and Keep Colorado Safe - said they could live with the result.

"I clearly see this is as a very positive and constructive work product of the legislature," said former Denver Mayor Federico Peña, chairman of Keep Colorado Safe, which opposed Initiative 55. "Is it perfect? No."

Fred Elbel, co-chair of Defend Colorado Now, said the legislature passed "a very good compromise solution."

"We think we got the best results that could be achieved at this hard-hitting five-day session," he said.

Bill scorecard

Of the 41 bills that state lawmakers introduced during the five-day special legislative session on illegal immigration, 11 passed, 28 were killed and two were referred to the November ballot. Here's how the main ones fared: STATUS KEY

• Passed: These bills passed both chambers and will be sent to the governor, who has 30 days to review them and determine if he will sign them (except for HB 1023, which goes into effect Aug. 1). They become law at different times.

• On the ballot: Voters will see these measures on the November ballot.

• Killed: Measures that died in committee or were killed.

BILL AND SPONSORS

WHAT IS IT?

House Bill 1001 Carroll, Hagedorn

Employers must prove they don't have any illegal-immigrant workers to qualify for state economic-development grants, loans and incentives.

HB 1002 Cloer, Keller

State health officials will treat all persons, regardless of immigration status, in the event of an epidemic or communicable-disease outbreak.

HB 1009 Crane, Johnson

Says state shall deny business permits to illegal immigrants.

HB 1014 Buescher, Tapia

Requires the state attorney general to seek reimbursement from the federal government for all illegal-immigration costs incurred by the state.

HB 1015 Kerr, Keller

Requires a person who pays someone for services and reports that payment on IRS form 1099-MISC to withhold state income taxes at the rate of 4.63 percent if the worker fails to provide a correct taxpayer ID number or provides an IRS-issued taxpayer ID number issued for nonresident immigrants.

HB 1017 Solano, Bacon

Requires employers to verify that employees are legally in the country.

HB 1023 Romanoff, Fitz-Gerald

Denies most non-emergency services to illegal immigrants 18 years old and older.

Senate Bill 4 Shaffer, McFadyen

Makes it a felony to extort services from illegal immigrants through threats based on their immigration status.

SB 5 Williams, Hodge

Makes it a felony to coerce involuntary servitude by withholding or destroying immigration documents or making threats based on person's immigration status.

SB 6 Boyd, Green

Restricts common-law marriage to people 18 years old and older.

SB 7 Gordon, Buescher

Makes it a felony for people to vote in an election in which they are not entitled to.

HB 1020 Benefield-Windels

Should employers who cannot verify an employee is a legal U.S. resident be prohibited from claiming that employee's wages as a deductible business expense? It would apply to employees hired on or after Jan. 1, 2008, and who were paid $600 or more in one year.

HB 1022 Pommer, Tochtrop

Should the state attorney general sue or join with other states in suing the federal government to demand the enforcement of federal immigration laws?

SB 8 Traylor, Knoedler

Requires people to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote and requires voters to present state identification at the polling place.

HB 1003 Coleman, Evans

State Supreme Court shall take action on appeals of ballot-initiative rulings within a specified number of days.

HB 1004 Gardner

State must verify each driver's license applicant's employment eligibility within the United States and place a device on the applicant's driver's license or ID card if the applicant is eligible.

HB 1005 Borodkin, Shaffer

Prohibits use of threats to coerce an individual to perform involuntary labor. Prohibits extortion based on threats relating to a person's status.

HB 1006 King

Abrogates common-law marriage on and after the effective date of the act.

HB 1007 Schultheis, Lamborn

Requires employers to apply to participate in the extended federal basic employment verification pilot program and to participate when accepted.

HB 1008 Cadman

Makes it a crime for a person who is a citizen of another country to be in the state while in violation of federal immigration law.

washingtonam@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5086

Kudos to Colorado

This is what the federal govt. should be doing and more!

I wonder what is holding up the Federal Govt. from acting? I'm pretty sure the Illegals don't have a lobbyist to take them golfing.