When is a progressive not a progressive? When she pulls crap like Morgan Carroll did yesterday at the Colorado Senate by killing SB170, also known as the tuition equity bill.

I attended her early-morning town hall yesterday, when she told the assembled crowd that she was voting no because she was “certain” that federal immigration law would override any law that Colorado passes to confer “benefits” to undocumented residents. So that was reason one.

Senator Jennifer Viega argued over and over on the Senate floor yesterday that Senator Carroll’s reason for her no vote was completely unfounded. Ten of the eleven federal court challenges to state laws offering similar “benefits” to undocumented youth have been thrown out of court, and the eleventh is pending in California. And yet, even though her weak reason for the no vote was thrown out handily by Sen. Viega, she still voted no.

Fast forward to today, on her blog. Today’s reason for voting no is now because she feels it would be unfair in the current economic climate with the current budget shortfall.  Here again, she is lying.  She is making it sound as if the legislation would have given money to undocumented students for school, when she knows  that this is not true.

I have to give her blog team props for actually posting my comment, which was:

Let’s be clear, folks. This bill was a net ZERO financial commitment for the state. It would have cost the taxpayers NOTHING.

Second, Sen. Carroll’s reason for not supporting the bill yesterday was that there was federal law that would override the state law. However, Jennifer Viega stated over and over that this was a false premise; that in every case except one, the federal action was overturned in court. The one that hasn’t is still pending.

Sen. Carroll’s reason for not supporting this, therefore, is false. She knows it. The reason she states on this page is not the reason she stated in her town hall yesterday. Which one is it, Senator?

A progressive that cannot understand basic justice and votes with xenophobic right-wingers is no progressive. If you cannot understand how this situation is just like women who cannot vote through no fault of their own, or people of color who are blocked from voting through no fault of their own, then you really are a bigot at heart.

You have a chance to make this up in your heavily Hispanic district, Senator. It will be back next year. Your ambitions for Attorney General will be fruitless if you cannot see basic justice.

As of right now, Hispanics are mobilizing, and Chris Romer has vowed to fight another day.  We will definitely see similar legislation back in next year’s session.  Anyone who is truly a progressive needs to keep a long memory of this bigoted action and vote accordingly.  The Hispanics of this state vow to help you remember.  As my home boy Rodolfo Martinez says, “despair is not an option.”

It’s on!

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Posted: April 7th, 2009 under Tuition Equity, civil rights, immigration.
Comments: none

Honestly, I think that if any Coloradan still has opposition to the Tuition Equity bill after reading Chris Romer’s note dispelling myths about it (below), then they should resign themselves to the fact that they’re a racist.

No.  Seriously. The only reasons to oppose this now are centered around the national origin of the people that this bill would benefit.  Ergo, racism.

Here’s what he says:

The Facts About Tuition Equity - In-State Tuition for Colorado Students

Dear Friend,

I wanted to give you on update on my tuition equity bill because there is a lot of misinformation about what SB09-170 does for our state. First and foremost, SB09-170 will not cost the state a cent. All state funding has been removed from the bill and undocumented students would not qualify for state need based financial aid or the Colorado Opportunity Fund and will pay approximately $2,500 more than legal citizens. This means the bill will actually bring in additional dollars for our higher education system.

SB09-170 clears up in-state tuition laws for all students. Children who:

• Attend a Colorado high school for at least 3 years.
• Graduate or acquire a GED from a Colorado high school.
• Enroll in a higher education institution within 12 months of graduation.
• Remain in good academic standing.
• Are competent in the English language upon graduation from high school.

would qualify for in-state tuition.

Additionally, legal residents of the United States can domicile themselves in Colorado for at least 1 year to qualify for in-state tuition. Undocumented students will not have this option.

It is estimated that about 200 to 400 undocumented students a year would qualify for SB09-170. University of Northern Colorado, Colorado Mountain College, and Mesa State College have all endorsed tuition equity because each of those schools has a very high percentage of in-state students.

Finally, these students will be required to sign an affidavit stating they will pursue citizenship upon graduation.

I have also heard many people argue the futility of educating illegal immigrants because legally, they cannot be hired by Colorado businesses. First of all, educating our residents is always beneficial to our society, regardless of employment status, and secondly, on the federal level, legislation will be introduced shortly that would remedy this concern. The DREAM Act, expected to be introduced in two weeks in Congress would grant conditional legal residency to these students, as long as they graduate from high school, are accepted by a college or the military, and stay out of trouble.

We are already funding undocumented students’ K-12 education (as federal law mandates), and we will be wasting this initial investment if we do not provide an opportunity for these students to pursue higher education and ultimately give back to the state. Undocumented students are currently ten times less likely to attend college and realizing this futility, often drop out during high school. Tuition equity is by no means a free pass to college. Instead, all SB 170 does is permit this portion of Colorado’s population to pay in-state tuition. These students will still have to apply and be accepted, so only qualified students will benefit from the bill’s passage.

SB 170 is a beneficial bill to the state of Colorado and all of its residents. That’s why Republican businessmen such as Alex Cranberg and Dick Monfort support this legislation. Education officials, bussiness people, Republicans, and Democrats have all come together in favor of SB09-170 because it makes economic sense for Colorado.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope this helps you understand why I support tuition equity.

Respectfully,

Chris Romer

¡Órale!  If I were Mexican, I would call Chris Romer an “honorary Mexican,” but I’m not (I’m Guatemalan-American).  So I’ll just call him an honorary Latino.

Take the time to give his office a call to thank him for his eloquence: 303-866-4852 or chris.romer.senate@state.co.us.

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Posted: March 23rd, 2009 under Tuition Equity.
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Well, as of this writing, Colorado’s Senate Bill 170:  Nondiscrimination in Higher Education Funding, is floundering in the Appropriations Committee.  Depending on how you look at this, it’s either a good thing or a bad thing.  Personally, I think this is a good development, because it’s going to be seen just how little this bill is going to cost the State of Colorado: $0.

What does the State have to gain?  Well, if you multiply the number of people who will suddenly be able to afford tuition by even just the cost of a year’s tuition at a community college, well, you can see the benefit immediately.  These are dollars that would not normally be funnelled into the educational system, and I think that this influx of cash, however small, is something we can’t afford to turn down in this time of state budget cuts.

Why is tuition equity important?  Because it’s the just thing to do.  Children that are brought across the border are just as much at the mercy of their parents’ decisions as children born into families that reject modern Western medicine.  We cannot ignore the reasons why their parents are here:  a lot of low-paying, menial jobs that Americans simply won’t do are too plentiful.  I fault unscrupulous business owners, a too-low minimum wage and lack of benefits for even the lowest-tier American worker, our ravenous consumption as a society and an immigration system that is just flat-out broken.  It’s our societal greed that has created this situation in which the most plentiful jobs are the least lucrative for Americans.

It’s amazing, however, how completely illogical some of the opinions against Tuition Equity can sound.  Listening to a caller talking to David Sirota as he guest-hosted for the recovering Jay Marvin on AM760 the other day, I was astounded to hear a conservative call in and posit that personal responsibility was required for young people graduating from high school; that once a person turns 18 they “have some decisions to make.”  The insinuation was that young people need to be responsible for their legal status.  I was stunned to hear this comment from an otherwise lucid person.  Doesn’t he know that you can’t even begin the legalization process until you’re 21 years old?

To expect a high-school graduate to all of a sudden begin their legalization process is ludicrous, not in the least because of the age requirement to even begin to apply.  The current system requires a person oftentimes to apply for residency from the other side of the border.  Imagine what that means.  A young immigrant likely doesn’t even speak or write or read Spanish properly (it’s true!), and worse, they likely have never even met their relatives on the other side of the border.  They’ve spent their entire young lives trying to be as American as possible…they can’t even drink the water over there!  Is it humane to expect this young person to pick up and move to a place they don’t even know just to satisfy some conservative draconian attitudes?

You know what happens to young people that are idle?  They get into trouble.  Do we really want idle young hands to go back over the border and possibly get mixed up with the narcoterrorism that’s going on across the border?  How different is this from the disenfranchisement young American citizens in urban areas face, with diminished school resources and at-risk lives?  Seems that if you’re Hispanic, either born here or not, you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.  You can’t be educated no matter what you do.

Of course, my comments here are generated from my deep frustration at the lack of compassion my countrymen and women are showing toward those who are no different than me.  But Progressive America, you have to understand that we Hispanics feel these issues deeply, and when you don’t belly up to the table and fight alongside  us, we get the message loud and clear that we’re only as good as a vote.  But let your abdication of your place in this debate keep on guiding you.  When it’s time for gay rights, or reproductive rights, or any other part of the progressive agenda, you won’t have Hispanics to push the agenda along.

Had it not been for Hispanics turning out in twice as many numbers to vote for the Democratic ticket as for the Kerry election, Colorado would not be the vibrant azure hue it is today.  You want your progressive agenda?  You want your Democratic Party candidates elected?  Get on board with us and help us.  It’s  not so much the conservatives that are the issue.  It’s you, our fellow Democrats.

Get on board!

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Posted: March 19th, 2009 under Tuition Equity.
Comments: none