Thread: Senate panel approves tuition bill

Senate panel approves tuition bill

Senate panel approves tuition bill :The legislation now advances to the full Senate.

A Senate committee today approved a bill that would allow illegal immigrants in Colorado to receive in-state tuition despite arguments it was unfair and would provide false hope.

After nearly five hours of testimony and discussion in a hearing room at the Capitol that was packed at times, the Senate Education Committee approved the measure on a 5-3 party-line vote, with Republicans voting no.

The legislation now advances to the full Senate.

The committee today heard from immigration rights groups, advocates of tougher immigration restrictions, veterans and two high school students.

Senate Bill 228 would allow any student who had attended a Colorado high school for at least three years and graduated to receive the in-state

"I think you build great societies by offering hope," Romer said. "When you offer people hopelessness, they do hopeless things."

Two nervous Denver high school students testified that current law was especially painful. The girls, Cecilia Chavez and Ana Galvez, both 17, made emotional pleas for mercy.

"I know we violated the laws when we came here, but some of us were young and had no choice," said Galvez, who was in tears after testifying. "I am a senior. What do I do?"

Romer added language to his bill, which still has no House sponsor, that would deny College Opportunity Fund scholarships to illegal immigrants. The vouchers provide more than $2,000 a year to a full-time student in Colorado.

The lawmaker also added language that would require the students to sign affidavits saying they would seek "legal residency." The affidavit would be considered an educational document protected by federal privacy laws.

Similar bills have failed before.

But this year the legislation has the support of some high-profile Republicans from outside the statehouse, including Dick Monfort, co-owner of the Colorado Rockies and chairman of the University of Norther Colorado's board of trustees, and Alex Cranberg, chairman of Aspect Energy and a top GOP donor.

Monfort told the committee that the system sends mixed messages to the children of illegal immigrants.

One message, he said, is, "You can better yourself. Work hard. You can go to college. You can become a doctor. You can become a lawyer."

But then the system tells kids they will have to pay two to five times as much to go to college in Colorado as other students with whom they may have grown up.

However, Sen. Keith King, R-Colorado Springs, said it might be more fair to offer all foreign students the in-state tuition rate. He and others said it was unfair for foreign students who have entered the country legally to have to pay the high tuition rates of those who didn't follow the law are given the in-state rate.

King also said the bill was offering false hope to the students, because as illegal immigrants, they would be unable to get jobs in the U.S. after graduating from college.

Ten states, including Kansas, Utah, Texas, Nebraska and New Mexico, allow illegal immigrants to get in-state tuition.

Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, the chairman of the committee, proposed an amendment that would permit recently discharged veterans to get the in-state tuition rate.

However, Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, called it a "disgrace" to tie the issue to legislation for illegal immigrants.

"I think it's quite frankly a sham that you're using the military to get your bill passed," she told Romer, pointing out that there was a Republican bill in the House that would offer in-state tuition to veterans.

The amendment failed.


http://www.denverpost.com/previous2/hom ... id=1896159

Really, where they going to work illegally?

Time to write the Colorado Senate and tell them NO Way!

Dixie

There are 194 comments so far at the source link above.

Guess when such illegal students graduate they'll attempt to find an employer to hire them illegally.

"I know we violated the laws when we came here, but some of us were young and had no choice," said Galvez, who was in tears after testifying. "I am a senior. What do I do?"

Go back to Mexico your skills level is relatively rare there.

i tried calling Romar's office about 4 my time, and got a voice mail that was full, and the message said the office is open till 5... uh huh, right

Originally Posted by Dixie

Really, where they going to work illegally?

Time to write the Colorado Senate and tell them NO Way!

Dixie

This article has the wrong bill number on it, the in-state tuition bill is SB09-170

Looked up 228 in the article has nothing to do with in-state....

updated the state campaign thread already.

How long before it usually goes to the full senate, do you know?

I heard today, that in 15 years, half of all students will be Hispanics and they noted how this will affect policy changes in all areas. It's not hard to do the math and realize how long the Nation has left and how many of these people have chips on their shoulder and are anti-America. We are in deep trouble, if we last that long, which I seriously doubt.

Yes we are on our way to 3rd would country...and Great Britain is on its way to being the middle east Big changes are coming to the world.

Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS

Yes we are on our way to 3rd would country...and Great Britain is on its way to being the middle east Big changes are coming to the world.

IT IS THE TWILIGHT ZONE AND THE DARK SIDE ALL WRAPPED UP IN ONE and we are stuck in the middle!!!! I AM SOOOO SICK OF THIS!!!!

In-state tuition for illegal immigrants gets committee Ok
March 5, 2009 - 7:22 PM
JOHN SCHROYER
THE GAZETTE

DENVER • During an afternoon of emotional testimony over a proposal to give children of illegal immigrants in-state tuition at Colorado universities, a girl risked being deported to testify on behalf of the measure.

Ana Galvez, a 17-year-old senior at Denver's Welby New Technology school who is in the United States illegally, told the Senate Education Committee, "What do I do now? Quit after all the hard work I've done? I don't want to."

Galvez, who was accompanied by a friend who identified herself as a legal resident, served as a sort of poster child for Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver. Romer, who introduced the bill, said it's not fair to punish the children of illegal immigrants who are in the U.S. "through no fault of their own."

"We're in the business of building a great society, and you build a great society by offering hope," Romer said.

The measure, SB170, would benefit only those students who had spent at least three years in the Colorado school system. It would also prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving state-funded financial aid.

It would further require students to sign an affidavit, once they turn 21, promising that they will seek citizenship as soon as possible.

The committee approved Romer's proposal 5-3, sending it to the Senate over the opposition of the three Republicans.

Ten other states, including Texas, Utah, Oklahoma and Kansas, have passed laws granting the children of illegal aliens in-state tuition.

While Democrats and immigrants-rights activists united behind Romer's initiative, the controversial bill pitted Republican business interests against grass-roots conservatives.

Among those who testified in favor of the bill were Dick Monfort, a Greeley businessman who is also a member of the University of Northern Colorado Board of Trustees, and Alex Cranberg, the chair of Aspect Energy and a longtime Republican donor.

Both argued that the bill would bolster the state's work force and contribute significantly to Colorado's economy.

"I sure as hell can't see how this is not a win for the state of Colorado," Monfort told the committee.

But Aurora resident Eddie Lake told the committee indignantly, "I'm tired of this country doing what it's doing, letting illegals in and letting them take over the country. It makes me sick to my stomach."

The bill could change significantly, however, because of a proposed amendment by Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, that would add military veterans to the list of those who would become eligible for in-state tuition.

Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, objected to combining the two proposals, saying she'd rather introduce a bill focused solely on veterans.

Several vets said they might be persuaded to support SB170 if they were given in-state tuition alongside illegal immigrants, but others said the suggestion was an insult.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/state_4 ... ition.html