Immigrant tuition bill stuck

LINCOLN — An Omaha senator hopes to force a floor debate Friday on the controversial issue of allowing in-state college tuition rates for illegal immigrants.

But expect a lot of legislative gymnastics that could head off such a divisive discussion.

Bottom line: Things might get whacky on the floor of the Legislature.

State Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh has filed an amendment that would effectively kill the contents of an unrelated bill involving the Nebraska School Activities Association, which is up for debate Friday.

A second Lautenbaugh amendment to the same bill would force debate on the immigration-related tuition law, which he wants to repeal.

State Sen. Bill Avery of Lincoln, sponsor of the NSAA bill, called Lautenbaugh's maneuvering “malicious and inflammatory.”

Avery said Lautenbaugh's true motive was not to debate the immigration proposal but to attract more votes to the amendment to kill Avery's proposal.

“If it gets to the point we have to take the gloves off and do some bare-knuckled sparring, then I'll do it,” Avery said.

Lautenbaugh said he has two motives.

One is to kill Avery's bill, which he said is insignificant and not worth the Legislature's time. The Avery bill would force the NSAA to abide by the state's public meetings and records laws.

The other is to force a debate on the immigration-related issue.

Here's how that would happen.

The first of the two amendments would have the affect of killing the NSAA bill.

Avery said some senators who are up for re-election this year don't want to debate a controversial measure like in-state tuition. So they might be persuaded to vote for that motion — because in killing the bill, the in-state tuition amendment also would be killed.

If the kill attempt fails, then lawmakers would debate Lautenbaugh's in-state tuition amendment.

“I'm all over that,” Lautenbaugh said.

But that might not happen either.

Avery said he would move to disqualify the in-state tuition amendment, arguing it isn't germane to his NSAA bill.

The tuition break has drawn controversy since its passage in 2006 over Gov. Dave Heineman's veto.

State Sen. Charlie Janssen of Fremont introduced Legislative Bill 1001 this year to repeal the tuition break. But his bill lacks the votes to be advanced out of the Legislature's Education Committee, and no senator has made it a priority bill.

Both Janssen and Lautenbaugh said the bill deserves to be debated.

If Lautenbaugh fails to force a debate on the issue Friday, he said, he'll seek another way to do that.

The tuition law allows graduates of Nebraska high schools who aren't citizens but who are moving toward citizenship to pay in-state tuition rates.

Proponents argue that the tuition break makes college affordable for such students and improves their earning capacity, which benefits the state.

Opponents maintain it is wrong to provide illegal immigrants with the same benefits as legal residents.

Contact the writer:

402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com

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