http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/131614.php




Published: 05.31.2006

Legislature sends immigration bill to governor
By JACQUES BILLEAUD
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOENIX - The Arizona Legislature sent a wide-ranging immigration bill to Gov. Janet Napolitano, leaving her until next Tuesday to veto the bill or let it become law.

While not saying whether she would sign the bill, Napolitano said hours before it was sent to her office Wednesday that the Legislature had failed to produce a comprehensive immigration proposal.

The bill would criminalize the presence of illegal immigrants in Arizona and provide $160 million to help authorities lessen the state's immigration woes.

It also would set fines for businesses that continue to employ illegal immigrants after receiving warnings, require local police agencies to train officers in enforcing immigration law and deny education benefits to immigrants.

Some Republican legislators have suggested they would try to put a similar measure on the ballot in November for voters to decide if the Democratic governor vetoed the bill.

"Their thought that you sign our bill or we'll take it to the ballot, I think, illustrates that for them this is a political exercise, not a problem-solving initiative," Napolitano said.

The bill's chief sponsor, Republican Rep. Russell Pearce of Mesa, said the governor should sign the bill because there's no guarantee that Congress will pass a massive immigration overhaul this year.

"This game that the governor is playing _ these drive-by tough statements while refusing to enforce the laws and secure the border _ is getting a little old," Pearce said. "It's not a veiled threat. The public has a right to vote on this."

While the governor last year signed a law creating the state crime of immigrant smuggling, Napolitano has vetoed several immigration proposals this and last year.

Among this year's vetoed bills was a proposal to criminalize the presence of illegal immigrants in Arizona through an expansion of the state's trespassing law.

Proponents said the bill has been made more palatable. Napolitano said late last month that she would veto legislation that reprised the earlier trespassing proposal.