Encouraged by a favorable committee vote last summer, Rep. Glenn Donnelson, R-North Ogden, is hoping to reverse three years of futility and get this year's Legislature to at least vote on a proposed repeal of a law that allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition.
Donnelson's bill, HB7, would repeal a law passed in 2002 that allows students who have lived in Utah for three years and graduated from high school, or the equivalent, to pay the same tuition rate as resident students. It also requires undocumented students to sign an affidavit that they'll apply to adjust their status when eligible.
It's one of two bills sponsored by Donnelson that would get rid of "freebies" the state gives undocumented immigrants, he said.
One question lawmakers will have to decide on his tuition bill is whether the Utah law is in violation of a federal statute that prohibits giving higher education benefits to undocumented immigrants that aren't available to U.S. citizens, regardless of residency.
"The byproduct of the bill is, it may save the state a lawsuit," Donnelson said.
Rep. Dave Ure, R-Kamas, pitched the bill he sponsored in 2002 as simply granting equal access to higher education for all the state's students.
"All we are trying to do is protect Utah and do what is right for Utah," Ure said. "It's the cheapest, the most economic. It's the morally right thing to do to let them go on and get their educations."
A handful of students at the University of Utah are considering asking for reimbursement of out-of-state tuition they've paid since the law took effect, or taking the state to court.
A federal judge in Kansas threw out a lawsuit over a similar state law there, saying the plaintiffs had no standing to sue the state. That decision is under appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which also handles federal cases from Utah. A state lawsuit has also been filed over California's tuition law.
Assistant attorney general Bill Evans evaluated the tuition law before it took effect in the 2003-04 academic year, and says it's not in violation of the federal law that limits tuition on the basis of residency. The Utah law, he said, is based on where a student went to high school, not their state of residence.
However, Mike Sizer, chairman of Utahns for Immigration Reform and Enforcement, said that the tuition law is in violation of both federal law and the U.S. Constitution.
"Utah has already broken the law, along with a lot of other states," Sizer said. "Each year we wait in repealing, we are more liable."
In the law's first year, 117 students took advantage of it for a total tuition reduction of $299,905, according to state System of Higher Education figures. Some 10,424 nonresident students paid some $34 million more in tuition and fees than they would have paid in in-state tuition that year.
Marco Diaz, chairman of the Utah Republican Hispanic Assembly, said the threats of lawsuits equate to "fear tactics" that he hopes lawmakers won't buy.
The assembly is part of Utahns for the American Dream Coalition, a growing group of individuals, organizations and educational institutions that support continuing to allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition.
Some of the other members so far include the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake, the Utah System of Higher Education, and the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce.
This is the third year that Donnelson is sponsoring the tuition repeal, which has never made it to the House floor. It was referred to interim study last session.
This past summer, the Education Interim Committee voted to recommend approving Donnelson's repeal. That means the bill could potentially go straight to the House and Senate floors.
However, Chris Bleak, House chief of staff, said it's likely that the Rules Committee will send the bill to a standing committee for a public hearing. Ure, who sits on Rules, said he'd also like to see the bill sent back to committee.
"It needs to be voted, up or down," Donnelson said. "That's all I'm hoping for is an up or down vote.
Donnelson also hopes to garner enough support to pass HB64, which would repeal the driving privilege card.
"One of the reasons we have an influx of illegal aliens is because of the freebies we give them," Donnelson said.
The cards, which can't be used as government identification, received overwhelming support in both the House and Senate last session as a way to allow undocumented immigrants to drive legally but not access rights of citizenship.
E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com