Published Saturday Oct. 28, 2006 in East Valley Opinions of the Arizona Republic as “Voters have change to override governor’s wishes” although that title makes little sense since I’m recommending voters NOT override the governor’s wishes with a “no” on propositions 300 and 301.
Initiatives 300 through 302 have been referred to the ballot by public bodies. Propositions 300 and 301 are statutes that Governor Janet Napolitano would not sign into law, so legislators are trying to appeal to voters instead. Proposition 302 comes from an independent commission that makes recommendations on legislative salaries. Go here for my full set of recommendations.
No on 300 (Public Program Eligibility) This initiative restricts those illegally here from state-funded programs, but two on the list are problematic and the others unnecessary. The law already saws you have to be a citizen to receive child care subsidies, so that part is unnecessary. Likewise, state financial aid typically is coupled with federal financial aid, and for the latter illegal immigrants don’t qualify, so that too is a red herring.
We’re left with two problematic provisions. If we want parents who can help their school-age children (who often are U.S. citizens), then shouldn’t we want them to be able to attend classes to learn English regardless of their legal status? On the one hand, legislators want to declare English the Official Language (Prop. 103), yet here they want to deny parents English classes.
Finally, we have the issue of out-of-state tuition for Arizona children who are illegal immigrants. On Monday I walked with students from the ASU campus to the state capitol (technically I walked part way and then bicycled to my office and later rejoined them at the state capitol). As we walked I asked one student what year she was. She replied, “a freshman.” It turned out a freshman in high school, who was walking with her parents’ permission. She very well might be walking for her ability in four years to attend community college or Arizona State University. Read the rest of this entry »