By Juan Castillo for the AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Julieta graduated with honors from Anderson High School, overcoming limited English skills .... On Thursday at a hearing before state lawmakers, the 26-year-old Austin woman joined a parade of speakers testifying on proposals to repeal a Texas law allowing certain illegal immigrants to receive cheaper in-state tuition rates at state universities.... She said she pays about $4,000 a semester in tuition for three classes, the same amount she would have to pay for just one class under the out-of-state rates.
"And even that's a lot for me," said Julieta, who asked that only her first name be used because she's not a legal resident....
"It's probably one of the most heralded things that our state has done in the area of higher ed" said Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, who authored the 2001 tuition measure.
... Riddle's House Bill 104 would stipulate that only legal residents be eligible for in-state tuition. It was among a handful of similar proposals considered late Thursday by the House State Affairs Committee.
Before the hearing, Noriega disagreed with Riddle's contention that in-state tuition burdens taxpayers. He said Texas invests $100,000 per student to provide a primary and secondary education. "When you have students that we know have a higher degree of education, they're able to contribute back to the economy," Noriega said. "It just makes sense for us to protect our economic investment."
3 comments:
Abortion lovin' Rick Noriega is in deep trouble according to yesterday's New York Times:
Why Pro-Choice Is a Bad Choice for Democrats By MELINDA HENNEBERGER
"Over 18 months, I traveled to 20 states listening to women of all ages, races, tax brackets and points of view speak at length on the issues they care about heading into ’08. … What first-time defectors mentioned most often was abortion…. Opponents of abortion rights saw 2004 as the chance of a lifetime to overturn Roe, with a movement favorite already in the Oval Office and several spots on the Supreme Court likely to open up. A handful of Catholic bishops spoke out more plainly than in any previous election season and moved the Catholic swing vote that Al Gore had won in 2000 to Mr. Bush…. Many of them, Catholic women in particular, are liberal, deep-in-their-heart Democrats who support social spending, who opposed the war from the start and who cross their arms over their chests reflexively when they say the word “Republican.” Some could fairly be described as desperate to find a way home…. What would it take to win them back? Respect, for starters — and not only on the night of the candidate forum on faith. As it turns out, you cannot call people extremists and expect them to vote for you. But real respect would require an understanding that what supporters of abortion rights genuinely see as a hard-earned freedom, opponents genuinely see as a self-inflicted wound and — though I can feel some of you tensing as you read this — a human rights issue comparable to slavery.
Again and again, these voters said Democrats are too unwilling to tolerate dissent on abortion. It is a point of orthodoxy no more open to debate within the party than the ordination of women is in Rome.
Today, in a similarly oblivious way, the leading Democratic presidential contenders are condemning the Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold a ban on the procedure known as partial-birth abortion. An overwhelming majority of Americans, polls show, support a ban.… in a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, 41 percent of respondents favored stricter limits on abortion, with an additional 23 percent saying it should not be permitted at all.
The pro-life statistics are even stronger in Texas. Only 37% of Texans are entirely pro-abortion, while 19% are totally pro-life and 40% say abortion should only be allowed for rape, incest, and for the mother’s life.
Expect six more years of Senator John Cornyn!
You are mistaken about Rick.
I have done a full rebuttal which I have posted in the main page.
Good for people to know.
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