Lower Tuition for Illegal Aliens Bill Fails in Colorado House

A bill to lower tuition costs in Colorado for illegal aliens died in the House Finance Committee last night. Over the past month, NumbersUSA Colorado activists have been phoning, faxing and emailing state legislatures urging them to not support the bill.The bill would have created a new category of tuition for illegal aliens higher than in-state tuition but lower than out-of-state tuition. It applied to students who attended a Colorado high school for at least three years and graduated.Under the bill, an illegal alien would pay $11,012 for 30 credit hours at the University of Colorado-Boulder, more than the in-state rate of $9,152 for the same number of hours. An out-of-state student, however, still would pay $30,330 in tuition.Illegal aliens now must pay out-of-state tuition rates.   A tuition break Senate bill had already passed the Senate earlier this session but needed to make it through the House, where a similar bill died last year.The first hurdle was to pass the House Education Committee, which spiked the issue last year. On Monday, Rep. Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs, switched his vote from last year and supported the bill. It then went to the House Finance Committee this evening, where it died on a 6-7 party-line vote.It was the sixth time a bill of this kind had failed in the Colorado legislature.Rep. Kathleen Conti, R-Littleton, an opponent of the bill, agrees with other opponents who say the bill rewarded law-breaking. “If we lose the respect for the rule of law in this country, where are we going?” Conti asked.For more information, read The Denver Post.