Thread: WA. State House will debate Dream Act on opening day

Published: Monday, January 13, 2014, 9:08 a.m.

State House will debate Dream Act on opening day


By Jerry Cornfield

Washington's Legislature begins its 2014 session today and the House of Representatives intends to add a dash of politics to the pomp and ceremony.

Leaders of the majority Democrats intend to vote on a bill to make college-bound illegal immigrants eligible for state financial aid. The legislation known as the Dream Act passed the House on a 77-20 vote last year but did not get acted on in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Also today, a House committee will hold a public hearing on a controversial abortion rights bill known as the Reproductive Parity Act. This legislation barely passed the House in 2013 and, like the Dream Act, did not get voted on in the Senate.

Meanwhile, about 100 public school teachers are rounding up support from lawmakers for a bill to provide teachers with their first cost-of-living wage adjustment in five years. Members of the Washington Education Association and American Federation of Teachers are hoping to get at least 51 House members to be sponsors of the legislation.

The 2014 session is scheduled to last 60 days.

http://heraldnet.com/article/2014011...on-opening-day

House to push for Dream Act vote today

POSTED ON JANUARY 13, 2014
Phone: 509-577-7675 By Mike Faulk / Yakima Herald-Republic
mfaulk@yakimaherald.com

OLYMPIA, Wash. — House Democrats say they will try to bring the state Dream Act to the floor for a vote today, the first day of the 2014 legislative session.

House Bill 1817, which would make undocumented students eligible for state financial aid, passed the House last year with a bipartisan vote of 77 to 20, but it languished in the Senate, where a slim Republican majority led by two conservative Democrats could not muster the support to bring the bill to the floor for a vote.

The bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Zack Hudgins, D-Tukwila, said the House could pull the bill to the floor for a vote this afternoon. The House and Senate are scheduled to spend the first part of the day in caucus meetings.

“Nobody can remember a bill leaving the chamber on the first day of the session, so this is a big deal for us,” Hudgins said.

The bill is co-sponsored by two Yakima area lawmakers, Reps. Bruce Chandler, R-Granger, and Charles Ross, R-Naches. Chandler and Ross did not immediately return calls Monday morning.

Reps. Norm Johnson, R-Yakima, and Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, also crossed party lines to support the bill in the 2013 House vote.

Reps. Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg, and David Taylor, R-Moxee, opposed the bill last session.

• This article will be updated.

http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/lat...act-vote-today

January 13, 2014 at 1:28 PM

Dream Act passes House in rare first-day vote; Senate action unlikely

Posted by Brian M. Rosenthal

OLYMPIA — The state House overwhelmingly passed the so-called Washington Dream Act on Monday, kickstarting the 60-day legislative session with a rare opening-day floor vote.

But state Senate leaders signaled the bill is unlikely to move in that chamber.

The proposal, House Bill 1817, would allow access to financial aid for aspiring state college students who were illegally brought to the United States as children.

It passed 71-23, with some Republicans joining with majority Democrats, who have made the bill a top priority.

“This bill is not about ‘those children,’” said state Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, D-Seattle, in a supporting speech. “This bill is about our children.”

But some Republicans argued the bill did not make sense because more than 30,000 students applied for financial aid last year and didn’t get it.

“The statistics unfortunately trump the dream at this point,” said Rep. Larry Haler, of Richland.

The bill could pass on the first day of the session because it went through committee and floor action last year (also with huge support).

Melinda McGrady, a spokeswoman for the House Democratic Caucus, said “nobody here can remember” the last floor vote on the opening day of the session.

Majority Leader Pat Sullivan called the bill “unfinished business” and noted the early passage would give the Senate time to consider it.

But in an interview, the Senate majority leader indicated that may not happen.

Asked about the Dream Act and the Reproductive Parity Act, another Democrat-priority bill, Rodney Tom said his caucus intends to stick to jobs, education and the budget.

Tom is one of two Democrats caucusing with Republicans to form a majority group in the Senate.

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/politi...tion-unlikely/

By MIKE BAKER and RACHEL LA CORTE

The Associated PressJanuary 13, 2014 Updated 23 minutes ago

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Just minutes after convening a 60-day legislative session Monday, lawmakers in Washington's state House approved a measure that would expand state financial aid to students who are living in the country illegally.

The rare opening day action set an early tone for the session, as House Speaker Frank Chopp called on his colleagues to take action. He dedicated much of his opening message to the financial aid proposal, saying the state constitution calls on lawmakers to provide an education to all students who reside in the state.

"It is fundamental to our state and nation," Chopp said.

The financial aid measure also passed the House last year but stalled in the Senate, where a Republican-dominated majority is in control. Similarly, the Senate approved measures last year — such as changes to the state workers' compensation system — that didn't get a hearing in the House, which is controlled by Democrats.

For the first time in several years, lawmakers gathered in Olympia without needing to deal with a budget shortfall, and it's unclear whether they will approve any revisions to the existing state budget.

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2014/0...y-session.html