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Lawmakers approve financial aid to illegal immigrants

5:17 p.m. August 29, 2006

SACRAMENTO – Students who came to the country illegally could apply for state financial aid when they attend California colleges and universities under legislation approved Tuesday by the Assembly in a party-line vote.

Supporters said immigrant children who have graduated and completed at least three years of high school in California should not be penalized for their parents' decision to bring them to the U.S. illegally.

“It is one small measure to help these kids that are working their butts off to live the American dream,” said Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate.

The bill would build upon existing state law that allows the same group of students to qualify for in-state tuition at California public schools and community colleges based on high school attendance, rather than U.S. citizenship or state residency.

Critics said offering financial aid to illegal immigrants would short-change needy American students already competing for a small pot of money.

“We're talking about limited resources here,” said Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine. “There's only so much that can go around. It's a slap in the face to people who have followed the rules.”

Lawmakers approved SB160 by a 43-27 vote, with no Republicans supporting it, and sent it to the Senate for final approval. Aides to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he had taken no position on the bill.

Lawmakers also took the following action:

SEX OFFENDERS – By a 65-0 vote, the Assembly passed legislation requiring registered sex offenders to notify their employers of their prior conviction if the job requires interaction with children. Bill author Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, said it was unacceptable that sex offenders have been employed as Santas at shopping malls, clowns at children's parties and staff members at day camps. No lawmaker spoke against the measure, but some critics have said registrants could be banished from service and retail jobs where minors work if the bill were enacted. The bill, AB2263, goes to the governor.

WIRELESS INTERNET – The Assembly also sent the governor a bill that would require manufacturers to warn computer users about how to protect their personal information and prevent others from tapping into their wireless Internet networks. Supporters said the bill would give consumers the know-how to prevent so-called “piggybacking” by supplying new computer owners with the needed software. Lawmakers approved the measure, AB2415, 55-0.

GAY RIGHTS – By a 22-15 vote, the Senate sent the governor a bill by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, that would prohibit schools from using textbooks or providing instruction that criticizes people because of their sexual orientation.

At one point the bill, SB1437, also would have required social science textbooks to discuss the historic contributions of gays. Kuehl dropped that provision in the Assembly in hopes of getting Schwarzenegger to sign the measure, but his aides have made statements indicating that he still might veto the bill.

INITIATIVES – The Senate also approved, 22-13, a bill by Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Redondo Beach, that would require initiative petitions to reveal the measure's five largest financial contributors and whether circulators were being paid to gather signatures.

The vote approved Assembly amendments and sent the measure to the governor, who vetoed a similar measure last year.

Bowen said the legislation, SB1598, would empower voters, letting them know who was bankrolling a proposed initiative before they signed a petition to put it on the ballot.

PLASTIC BAGS – Supermarkets and other large stores with at least 40,000 square feet of space would have to set up programs to recycle plastic bags under another bill approved by the Senate.

Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Sherman Oaks, said his bill would help stem a flood of plastic bags headed for landfills.

“With Californians throwing away over 600 bags a second, they are creating enough waste to circle the planet over 250 times per year,” he said.

A 29-9 vote returned the bill, AB2449, to the Assembly for a vote on Senate amendments.