State Senate approves tuition break for illegal immigrants

Senate Democrats shot past the vehement objections of their Republican colleagues Friday to approve a controversial measure to give discounted college tuition to children of illegal immigrants.

The bill, called “Asset” by its two Senate sponsors, Michael Johnston of Denver and Angela Giron of Pueblo, will now head to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

The measure would create a new category of tuition for college students called a “standard” rate, as opposed to in-state and out-of-state. It would be available to illegal students who have attended high school in Colorado for at least three years, and would require them to sign an affidavit promising to seek citizenship as soon as possible.

Senate Republicans decried the Asset bill as “dishonest and deceptive” because, though it would encourage students here illegally to attend college, they would still have to lie about their status after graduating.

“If we want these students to be successful, let’s not lead them down the road of criminal behavior,” said Sen. Steve King, R-Grand Junction.

Democrats pointed out the bill’s requirement that students seek citizenship, and said Republicans were missing the bigger picture.

Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, said many other conservative states have passed similar laws with even looser restrictions, and have been reaping economic benefits from the discounted tuition. Heath sits on the Education Committee, which approved the bill before it moved to the full Senate. He recalled a student who testified that a Kansas university was trying to recruit her and offered the standard rate.

“The very liberal state of Kansas!” Heath said sarcastically. “Why on earth would we let Kansas take our kids, our best and brightest kids?”

Republicans also charged that Democrats were being disingenuous in contending that the bill is revenue-neutral, despite the legislative fiscal analysis that found the state would simultaneously spend and collect $4.2 million.

“Don’t make some fuzzy argument that this is going to make the state money,” Sen. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, said to Johnston. “If you add a thousand students to the system, you’re going to have to pay for it.”

Democrats also painted the bill as an investment that will pay the state back by helping students who will help found companies, create jobs and expand Colorado’s economy.

“Asset will not cost taxpayers a dime,” said Giron. “These are Americans-in-waiting.”

She also pointed out that the University of Colorado’s Board of Regents passed a resolution to support the bill. (It was, however, only passed by a one-vote majority of 5-4.)

The measure will have a much more difficult time in the House, although the Republican chair of the House Education Committee has said he supports the bill. And since the House Republicans only hold a 33-32 majority, the bill would pass if it makes it to the floor.

So if the Republican leadership wants to kill the measure, Speaker Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch will have to assign it to a less directly-related committee.