Our parents taught us at an early age that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Unfortunately, it looks like the parents of the bill sponsors of SB126, a bill to provide “unsubsidized” in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, never taught them the same lesson.
Minority Leader Mike Kopp pointed out the two most glaring issues with this bill in an Op-Ed in the Pueblo Chieftain on Sunday: the sham of “unsubsidized” in-state tuition and the fact that it would effectively end out-of-state tuition.
The most intellectually dishonest part of the bill is where it stipulates “unsubsidized” in-state tuition. That's logically impossible. In-state tuition is lower because the cost difference with the out-of-state tuition is covered by taxpayers. Free lunch does not exist. Someone has to pay for it.
After tax “fairness” and now “unsubsidized” in-state tuition, we think it's time the Democrats fire their pollster. They're fooling no one with such poorly thought out messaging.
Beyond intellectual dishonesty, if the bill were to become law it would violate federal law and force all public Colorado universities to offer in-state tuition.
“SB126 clearly violates existing federal law, which stipulates that if you grant in-state tuition to an illegal alien, you must also grant that same tuition to all U.S. citizens, thereby effectively abolishing out-of-state tuition.”
You think we have a budget deficit now. This would make our financial woes worse than MC Hammer.
Beyond the policy implications of such a terrible bill, the optics look terrible to the people of Colorado. At a time when millions are being cut from the higher ed budget, voters will not be pleased with a bill that spends more to cover illegal immigrants.
So let us get this straight — Democrats want kids from Wyoming whose parents pay taxes to pay out-of-state tuition, but illegal immigrants paying no income taxes should get a subsidized education? Democrats would probably call that tuition “fairness.”
Plain and simple — this is a bad bill, poorly sold and even more poorly thought through.
How is it fair that MY kids are going to get shorted just so that these kids (who are here, hello, ILLEGALLY) can get cheap tuition?!
Can you honestly say you wouldn’t want the same opportunities for your kids were you in their situation? Freedom is a universal value. Your children are no better than theirs.
They’re still here illegally. We can’t endorse illegal behavior!
The USA gives more in foreign aid than the rest of the world combined, in addition to over $100 billion a year in private donations. So we do more than our fair share in helping the less fortunate.
The US has helped give freedom to more people than any nation on earth, but heavily subsidized education is not a right and not affordable regardless.
Is there a cost estimate for this bill? In Congress the CBO has to estimate the cost of bills like this. Is there anything in CO that would prove how silly it is to call for unsubsidized in-state tuition?
Rhino: What does foreign aid have to do with this? This has to do with people trying to live out the American dream. We shouldn’t be shunning the people who want to make a better life for themselves. We should be making it easier for them to come here legally. Foreign aid is just giving a man a fish, but if they come here, they have an opportunity to provide their own fish, and make our country better in the process. You’re right though, obviously there’s no such thing as “unsubsidized” in-state tuition. Which is why I clearly stated this bill would bankrupt our state.
Maddy: As I stated before, I don’t think this bill should pass. We can’t condone illegal behavior. We also shouldn’t be picking winners and losers, though.
I have no issue with these kids–seems to me like if there are any immigrants we want here in the US, these are them: the ones working to better themselves and their families, the ones pursuing the American dream. Unfortunately, we can’t violate federal law like this. It would bankrupt our state even worse than we already are. Until this gets sorted out at the federal level, we’ve got to enforce it here.