With barely two hours left in the 2011 legislative session, the House of Delegates gave final approval to a bill providing in-state tuition to Maryland's undocumented students.
Students cheered from the gallery and hugged and prayed in the lobby after the bill passed Monday night. Helen Melton, an advocacy specialist at CASA de Maryland, an immigrants' rights group, said she and a group of students were asked to leave because their "jubilation" got a little too loud.
"The kids were shouting and jumping with excitement in the lobby," Melton said. "The governor was standing at the top of the stairs (looking down to the lobby) and yelled to the kids that he couldn't wait to sign the bill into law. The kids went crazy."
The vote came after a day of wrangling that nearly killed the bill.
The bill initially passed the Senate in March, but sat on the House of Delegates legislative calendar until last week. On Friday, the House passed the bill 74-65, but added three amendments that needed Senate approval.
Key senators who initially supported the bill balked at the new amendments, especially one added by Delegate Luiz Simmons, D-Montgomery, that waived a tax-paying requirement if the family could prove by clear and convincing evidence that they were unable to work during their child's high school years. Senators thought the amendment, even with its high standard of proof, would become a loophole for people to get in-state tuition without paying taxes.
Facing a potentially lethal impasse when Sen. David Brinkley, R-Frederick, began to filibuster, the House and Senate formed a conference committee, which ultimately rejected Simmons' amendment.
Jonathan Green, an 18-year-old student at Montgomery College, who advocated for both this bill and similar failed federal legislation, said that when the bill went to a conference committee, he and his fellow students' hearts sank.
"I was sitting in the Senate during the filibuster, having a flashback to being in the U.S. Senate gallery to see our federal government fail. Seeing all the students crying broke my heart. I was thinking, 'not another December 2010.' We just didn't want to lose the fight," Green said.
When the bill emerged from committee, it went back to the Senate and House for final approval, and passed 27-19 and 74-65 respectively.
Under the new law, undocumented students are eligible to pay in-state tuition at community colleges and state universities, provided they graduated from a Maryland high school and attended that school for at least three years. They are also required to attend a community college first.
Students receiving the in-state rates also must prove that they or their parents had Maryland income taxes deducted from their paychecks for the three years before high school graduation, and continue to file taxes until college graduation.
Anne Arundel Community College President Martha Smith is pleased at the bill's passage and doesn't believe the college will see an overwhelming influx of new students like some opponents predicted.
"We'll have more students enroll, and I think we'll make money with this bill," Smith said. "I don't see that there will be hundreds of students coming...It certainly won't impact us in terms of added costs. We've already been adding capacity with people coming back to school over the last three years to learn new skills."
Forty-seven percent of the people in this country pay no federal income taxes. O'Malley has one agenda and that is finding a path to the White House, but I'll be darned (no violation) if he's going to do it on the backs of America's hard working taxpaying citizens of the middle class. Maybe now the people in this state will finally get off their butts and vote. There is too much at stake not to.
The "because I said so," is wearing thin. At this point your creditability in the area of research is suspect, because you don't do any. This issue may go to referendum which means it will be placed on the ballot for the voters.
You heard it here, first on Patch!
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/04/27/4210613-racist-roots-of-arizonas-immigration-law Now the state is paying the price because the boycott is working.
He is correct that AZ is paying the price, but not in the way he describes. If we follow his logic regarding FARE and his constant reference to the R word then it has to apply to other issues as well. For example, Mexico is #6 in murders per capita. If we apply Roberts logic to that equation then are we to assume that all the citizens of Mexico are murders? Robert is not very good at debating. Again, using his reference point of logic regarding FARE here are the crime rates involving illegals. http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=104 Does Robert know that in LA County as per a 60 Minuets segment that more police officers a shot by illegals than any other part of the country. According to the report the violence has gotten so bad that a special squad of prosecutors has been established to focus solely on the number of police officers shot by illegal gang members. Once again, if we apply Robert's logic then are we to assume that CBS's 60 Minuets has labeled all illegals as gang members and illegals are attempting to kill police officers. Robert has stated that even though FAIR has testified before Congress, that means nothing because anyone can testify and give credence to certain facts. I don't recall the Mexican drug cartel the Zetas appearing before Congress. Did Robert also tell you illegals do not want to become citizens!!!
All of my credentials are listed. You can Google my name and find out anything you need to know. I tried to Google your name and nothing came back. Is there a creditability issues going on here? Are you hiding something? If you want to be taken seriously then most creditable sources have a reputable background. Wouldn't you agree Robert, that in order to support your statements the source of those statements should practice full disclosure? If you checked my background you would know something of substance instead of the childish statements you always make when challenged. I did not see a response to my last comment. Your are correct about one thing, I know nothing about what you know and neither does anyone else. That makes it tough to accept you as someone who has the knowledge to debate on an intellectual level, and dispense with the childish statements. What experience do you have Robert as a writer? Have you ever seen the up-close and personal issue of illegal immigration? Cops see it every day.
The report from the Pew research Center was frighteningly revealing....and perhaps a precursor of what may be coming to other major U.S. cities with large Hispanic populations. I suspect that Phoenix, AZ is already on the cusp of this reality. Gov. Brewer knows this, yet the Obama administration and the federal government are preventing her from enacting laws to prevent the inevitable. Incredible !!
Mike, what I was stating before being rudely locked into a unedited comment, is that as a nation we are on the precipice of finical collapse. I just commented on the Patch article on rising gas prices. The S&P has downgraded the U.S. debt and placed us on a watch list. The market is down over 200 points and the president went to NY to meet with Al Sharpton and gave a speech decrying we have not done enough in being our brothers keeper. For each penny gas prices rise, the economy loses $1 billion. These revenues are crucial to the governments ability to collect taxes. I learned a long time ago never allow emotions get in the way of facts. In our attempt to save the world we are becoming a third world. The sky is falling is becoming a reality. The days of pandering politicians and PC are rapidly coming to a climax. The liberal agenda can no longer sustain itself. I always go back to the source of the comments. You can click on the name and read their entire agenda. The bottom line is there are too many entitled and not enough entitlements. I think that Robert may not be mature enough to realize that comments like "Beeler Squealer," do nothing to further his point of view. He is relegating his approach to that of a spoiled child.