Immigration

Sent to newspapers and to Bell's mailing list: The Bell Policy Center has joined the growing chorus of opposition against Denver’s Initiative 100, the August 12 ballot measure that would require police to impound cars when drivers cannot immediately provide valid licenses. The supposed intent of Initiative 100 is to curb illegal immigration, but it is a clumsy and costly tool to administer and a mean-spirited effort that will only harm many lowincome residents.

This special issue of The Opportunity News is the Bell’s annual summary of wins and losses in the legislative session for bills related to opporunity. For more details, visit the Legislative Status Report for the 2008 regular session at www.thebell.org.

New report examines Colorado's fiscal prospects after Referendum C; Two recent studies examine fiscal, economic effects of immigration; Message from summit: It's everyone's business to cut state's dropout rate; Individual health mandates could work; Experts find holes in Federal Reserve report on payday lending; Guaranteed retirement accounts offer rescue plan for failing system; Two Bell staffers move on to new opportunities

Colorado fifth in the nation in drop of local funding for K-12 schools; Colorado Public Radio wants listeners to share their experiences with education; Colorado children of undocumented immigrants can pay in-state tuition for college; College access worse for the working poor than for unemployed poor; Bell Policy Center debuts in the blogosphere with Health Blog; Poverty rising to the top of state political agendas; Is the American Dream dead, or did it move to France?

The Bell Policy Center applauds Attorney General John Suthers for ruling today that U.S. citizen children of undocumented immigrants can pay instate tuition at Colorado colleges if they meet other state residency requirements. ???The attorney general absolutely made the right decision. It???s the right thing to do for these aspiring students and it???s the smart thing to do from the state???s perspective,??? said Rich Jones, director of policy and research for the Bell Policy Center.

The Bell Policy Center endorses this week???s move by David Skaggs to seek a legal ruling on granting in-state tuition to U.S. citizen students whose parents lack legal documentation. Skaggs, the state???s higher education chief, has called on Colorado Attorney General John Suthers to issue a legal opinion on the policy, which has not been consistently applied by Colorado colleges and universities.

This special issue of The Opportunity News is the Bell???s annual summary of wins and losses in the legislative session for bills related to opportunity.

Using reasonable estimates of the number of undocumented immigrants and budget data published by the state, we estimate the total costs of providing federally mandated government services to undocumented immigrants in Colorado is nearly $225 million per year.

A message from Wade Buchanan, Bell Policy Center President, outlining the Bell's agenda for the coming year: to close the student achievement gap, make college affordable, expand health care coverage, help working families, counter misguided immigration reform and influence the policy debate in the 2006 election.

Articles: Legislative Council releases Ref C spending report, The cost of enforcing Colorado???s new immigration laws, Sharpen your pencils, it???s state budgeting time again