Undocumented

Senate Bill 11-126
Testimony to the Senate Education Committee
Frank Waterous, Senior Policy Analyst
February 17, 2011

My name is Frank Waterous, and I am a senior policy analyst with The Bell Policy Center. The Bell is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research and policy organization dedicated to expanding opportunity for all Coloradans.

Wade Buchanan appears on KRMA's Colorado State of Mind, along with Cindy Stevinson of Jefferson County public schools, newspaper columnist Chuck Green and Frosty Wooldridge, a columnist and commentator on immigration issues.They discussed tuition equity (SB 170) and cutbacks in K-12 education budgets.

Education is the key to many good things. It creates a better and more diverse work force. It improves the economy and our quality of life. It creates a more content populace, one that can support itself and its families. So, why would we want to deny education to anyone? Exactly. ... Editorial quotes Matt Sundeen

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.

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.

Special session compromise gets specific on public services for undocumented immigrants

Articles: Bell updates Working Poor families indicators, Governor, Legislature hit 25 homers for opportunity, Fewer kids covered by health insurance, U.S. hosts 11 million undocumented immigrants, Poor families pay more for basic goods and services, Incentives increase retirement saving, Bell research cited in national report on TABOR