TN: In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students Fails in House Committee
In-state tuition for undocumented students fails in House committee
Adam Tamburin
April 11, 2017
Despite endorsements from Gov. Bill Haslam and college leaders statewide, an effort to give undocumented students in-state tuition at public colleges was struck down by a panel of state lawmakers Tuesday.
The bill, which has notched victories in other committees this year, was killed in the House Education Administration & Planning Committee with a vote of six for and seven against. Among the no votes was Rep. Eddie Smith, R-Knoxville, who had co-sponsored similar legislation in the past.
Tuesday's vote was another brutal defeat for Tennessee students and advocates who have been pushing the legislation for five years. A similar measure failed by one vote on the House floor in 2015.
Stephanie Teatro, co-executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, blasted Tuesday's vote in a statement.
"These hard-working Tennessee high school students are just asking for an opportunity to go to college," Teatro said. "Who benefits when legislators close the door and limit their potential? Denying these students a chance to go to college is short-sighted, mean-spirited and a betrayal of our values."
Students who entered the country illegally must currently pay out-of-state tuition to attend a public college. Advocates say the out-of-state rates — which can be two or three times higher than in-state tuition — create a barrier for students who grew up in Tennessee. Those students are not eligible for federal or state financial aid.
About twenty other states offer undocumented students in-state tuition. (ALIPAC CORRECTION OF ARTICLE: ONLY 16 STATES OFFER IN-STATE TUITION FOR ILLEGALS AND MOST OF THOSE STATES GOT THE LAW BY SURPRISE WITHOUT PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE. MORE THAN 30 STATES HAVE REJECTED SIMILIAR LEGISLATION)
To be eligible for the Tennessee measure, students would have been required to graduate from a state high school. Supporters say blocking undocumented students from attending college with unaffordable tuition squanders the investment the state makes during their K-12 schooling.
During emotional remarks before the vote, House sponsor Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis, said he had gotten phone calls and emails calling him a "California liberal" for supporting the bill. But he said clearing hurdles for students to be able to pay for college was rooted in conservative principles.
"I think this is the best thing to do for the future of Tennessee," he said. "We're just saying if you can work hard and come up with the money to pay the in-state tuition, we're going to give you an opportunity to do so."
After the measure failed by one vote, White pledged to sponsor the bill again next year.
"I'll bring it up as long as it takes to help these children," he said.
Rep. Dawn White, R-Murfreesboro, said she and her colleagues had "really studied this," but she decided to vote no because she thought the bill would encourage immigrants to come to Tennessee illegally.
"We will become a magnet in the Southeast if we pass this piece of legislation," she said.
In a statement on Tuesday, Smith explained his no vote as a reaction, at least in part, to President Donald Trump's election. He said he had supported the 2015 bill because it applied only to students who qualified for legal status under rules set out by the Obama administration.
"After two years of discussion, an election in which I knocked on roughly 31,000 doors in my district, and the election of President Donald Trump I decided to vote against HB0863," Smith said. "Immigration policy was a major platform of both parties in 2016 and I think we should give the new administration and Congress (time) to fix our broken immigration system before we act as a state on issues related to immigration."
Tuesday, when he suggested some of his colleagues were making their decisions based on a political calculation.
"I'm 67. If I live as long as my parents lived, I won't be here in 20 years. So what have we done while we're here? Are we doing anything of substance or am I just worried about getting reelected? I can't live like that," he said. "If I didn't believe this was the right thing to do I would not put this committee through this, because it's hard. We have national politics that makes this very, very hard."
Conservative lawmakers took steps this week to ratchet up opposition to the bill. During a news conference hosted by the Conservative Majority Caucus Monday, Rep. Judd Matheny, R-Tullahoma, said he and his colleagues "were elected to come up here and say no to benefits for illegal immigrants."
The Tennessee Board of Regents college system voted overwhelmingly to support the measure. And in March Haslam posed for photos with undocumented students on the steps of the Capitol and linked their work to his high-profile efforts to boost college enrollment.
Students came from across the state to observe Tuesday's vote, crowding the hearing room and holding signs with their career goals written in marker. Their impact was palpable — multiple lawmakers appeared to be on the verge of tears throughout an emotional debate.
Karla Meza Cruz, an undocumented student who came to Knoxville as a toddler, told the committee her earliest memories were of driving down Cumberland Avenue and watching students walk to class at the University of Tennessee. Her dream was to go to UT's flagship campus to pursue a law degree, a dream she said was out of reach because of the high price of out-of-state tuition there.
"We are here today to fight for our futures, to better our state, to better our families," she said.
After the vote, undocumented students wept in the hallways of Legislative Plaza.
"It was crushing for all of us, seeing that many of us might not be able to pursue our careers," said Paulina Morelos Perez, a 19-year-old student who came to Tennessee from Mexico 11 years ago. "It's devastating to see how they don't want to do anything about it."
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