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| | | Summary of 2007 Legislation on Immigration (Minnesota)
AFFIRM Update: End of State Legislative Session, June 2007
Response to Federal Issues: Pursue a House and Senate resolution in support of Federal Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). Encourage
legislative leaders to deliver a strong message to the Congressional
Delegation in support of CIR (HF 771 Mariani, SF 886 Vickerman).
Outcome: The resolution passed the Senate. In the House the resolution was not heard on the floor for a full House vote, but the Speaker of the House intends to write a letter from the House to the Congressional delegation with a similar message about Federal Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Advocates and lawmakers are planning a meeting to present the resolution and letter to Representative Ellison and others.
State Commission on New Minnesotans: Support the development of a state
commission on new Minnesotans that would be charged with studying the issue of immigration, the possibilities of state action on immigration, the realities of the federal immigration debate, and the costs and contributions of immigrants in order to inform a set of bi-partisan policy proposals that can be offered in the 2008 legislative session. The Commission should include members of the legislature, state officials, academia, law enforcement, business, community members,
immigrants, students and other stakeholders (HF 1315 Hamilton, SF 1081 Rest).
Outcome: The State Commission proposal was included, with funding, in the first version of the State Government bill, which was ultimately vetoed by the Governor. In the veto he singled out the State Commission as one of his objections. In the second attempt at a State Government bill, which ultimately passed, the Commission was included as permissive language with no funding. It is unclear whether this will move forward for 2008 as intended.
Citizenship: Encourage new immigrants to attain citizenship by providing a refundable tax credit that offsets citizenship application fees and other qualified expenses (HF 747 Simon, SF 830 Lynch).
Outcome: The citizenship tax credit was included in the Senate version of the tax omnibus bill, but not in the House version. The tax conference committee opted against including it in the final omnibus tax bill. Ultimately, the tax bill was vetoed by the Governor.
Education: Promote policies which encourage and support immigrants wanting to continue their education to increase their workforce participation, attain self-sufficiency and contribute to the community through the following:
- Increased resources for Adult Basic Ed and English Language Learning; (HF 979 Winkler, SF 923 Torres Ray)
- Passage of the Mn Dream Act (HF 722 Mariani, SF 653 Pappas)
Outcome:
- Adult Basic Ed was increased by 11.4% for a total of $4,259,000 over two years.
- The Dream Act passed the Senate as a stand alone bill and was included in the Senate omnibus higher education bill. In the House it was included in the Senate higher education omnibus bill and survived an effort to remove it by amendment in both the House and the Senate. Ultimately it was not included in the Higher Ed Omnibus out of concern that it would cause the Governor to veto the bill. But included in the final bill was a provision which eliminates in-state tuition for all college students, including undocumented, at 7 state colleges in Minnesota.
Health: Ensure that health programs serving low-income and uninsured individuals are available to all residents of Minnesota, including immigrants. Protect the inclusion of "all Minnesota children" in the Children's Health Security Act, regardless of immigrant status.
Outcome: While the Children's Health Security Act was not funded, several small changes occurred to health policy which will increase access to health care for an estimated 35,000 additional uninsured children. This does not include increased access for undocumented children.
Public Safety: Ensure public safety for immigrants and the entire community through the following:
- Access to driver's training, licensing and insurance for undocumented immigrants;
- Ensuring that federal immigration enforcement duties are not transferred to local law enforcement; and
- Oppose enactment and implementation of Real ID. (HF 1438 Mariani, SF 984 Moua)
Outcome:
- AFFIRM decided against pursuing a driver's license bill this session, no action.
- There were no changes to local law enforcement authority to enact separation ordinances.
- A bill to prohibit implementation of Real ID passed through all of the necessary steps in the process except floor passage. This bill was included in the transportation policy omnibus bill which, in the final hours of the legislative session, never made it to the floor for a full vote. This bill is positioned well for passage in the 2008 session.
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