http://www.rockymountainnews.com

Rules hammered out on immigrant services
Heat on to decide by Aug. 1 how state programs affected

By Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News
July 21, 2006

Government agencies won't have to use licensed notaries to watch those signing affidavits to get a public services.

Individuals seeking public contracts, grants, loans or licenses will need to prove they're U.S. citizens or legal residents.

And people can still apply for public benefits online or by mail.

Those are among the first-round guidelines drafted by government lawyers in response to House Bill 1023, the landmark immigration law passed during the special legislative session earlier this month. The law takes effect Aug. 1, assuming the governor signs it.

Until now, the public and some state and local agencies have been largely in the dark about how the law would play out. The guidelines issued this week provide the first glimpse of how far-reaching HB 1023 will be and how much scrutiny people will have to endure before learning whether they qualify for public services such as welfare, Medicaid and public housing.

"We are scrambling to try to come up with some answers by Aug. 1," said John "Chip" Taylor, legislative director of Colorado Counties Inc., which represents county commissioners statewide. "It's going to be a matter of making the best decisions we can in the next two weeks."

The new law seeks to prohibit illegal immigrants from obtaining many nonemergency taxpayer-funded benefits by imposing a tougher screening process for applicants.

House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, a key architect of HB 1023, said the new guidelines are consistent with the intent of the law, which he has been touted as one of the toughest in the country.

HB 1023 was created at breakneck speed over five days, so few are surprised that the law is generating some criticism and confusion.

Some lawmakers think the measure lacks teeth because, among other things, it does not contain penalties for agencies that ignore it. Others predict hardship for the elderly and the homeless who qualify for services but may not have any of the required forms of identification.

To address that issue, the state Department of Revenue is expected within the next week to create a waiver process that temporarily eases the ID requirement for certain people, Romanoff said.

Still unknown is exactly which programs are affected and to what extent the law will impact the recipients of grants and contracts.

For example, the state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing works with clinics and transportation firms, among others, who serve poor and uninsured people, said Lisa Esgar, director of operations and finance.

The new law apparently will require the agency to check the immigration status of individuals who get contracts or grants from it, she said. That would include doctors.

Esgar's agency is among those that have a clear picture of the impact of HB 1023. She said it will affect 99 percent of the agency's services, including a program that gives medical coverage to certain low-income seniors, health care for those over 18 and pregnant women,and reimbursements for hospitals and clinics that serve the poor and those on Medicaid.

The new law "is a big deal not so much in policy but in procedure," she said. "There could be people who have worked the system, who were able to get through by signing something, who now might not get through."

But advocates for the poor, elderly and immigrants say HB 1023 is likely to result in unintended consequences and cause fewer people who qualify for public programs to apply.

"We already have barriers and now we've added another layer on top of this," said Lorez Meinhold, executive director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.

The new guidelines may come as a surprise to those who thought that HB 1023 would cut off just about every public benefit to illegal immigrants. For example, the guidelines say that parents who apply for benefits for their children, such as health care, don't have to prove their or their children's immigration status.

And the law does not apply retroactively. People who currently receive benefits don't have to prove legal status until they reapply.

In addition, the law applies only to people over 18 and does not touch services such as emergency medical and prenatal care and temporary disaster relief.

More details on the law will be hammered out in the next week and a half.

The attorney general's office said it will determine, within the next few days, what kind of services or benefits qualify as a professional or commercial license, which would be affected.

What's next

•Gov. Bill Owens is expected to sign HB 1023; attorney general's office will issue more guidelines.

Highlights of law

The attorney general's office and the Office of Legislative Legal Services have issued guidelines for HB 1023, the key immigration law passed during the special legislative session.

Here are the highlights:

• The state law must comply with those federal regulations and laws that address immigration status for government services.

• Government agencies will not have to have licensed notaries on hand when applicants for services sign an affidavit - a new requirement - attesting to their immigration status.

• The law does not apply retroactively. People who currently receive benefits don't have to prove legal status until they reapply.

• Individuals who apply for government contracts will have to prove legal immigration status. Under another law, companies seeking contracts must verify the immigration status of their workers.

• Parents applying for benefits for their minor children don't have to prove their or their children's legal status.

• An applicant for benefits must produce the required identification (Colorado driver's license or state-issued ID, an American Indian tribal document or U.S. Coast Guard merchant marine card) unless a waiver process is created by the Department of Revenue.

• An applicant could still apply online or by mail as long as he/she proves, potentially through a notarized document, that his/her identification is valid.

• Emergency medical care and public assistance for immunizations, testing and treatment of communicable diseases are not affected by the law.

• Students receiving K-12 public education don't have to prove legal immigration status.



kimm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2361