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BOSTON (State House News Service) - Over the protests of a few House Republicans, a policy change to allow undocumented immigrants to qualify for lower in-state tuition rates made it into the annual budget on Gov. Maura Healey's desk without ever having been debated in the House this year.
Rep. Paul Frost (R-Auburn) appealed Monday to his House colleagues to suspend legislative rules to consider an amendment dealing with the policy change, a Senate proposal that three House budget negotiators opted to accept during private budget negotiations.
"I have concerns over this measure, as do others, that this is another incentive to encourage more illegal immigration to our commonwealth, that the taxpayers and the residents of Massachusetts will have to subsidize," Frost said.
Democrats rejected Frost's motion 132-25, along party lines, so representatives didn't get to vote on the tuition policy. Most Republicans then joined the Democrats and voted in favor of advancing the $56.2 billion budget, with GOP Reps. Nick Boldyga of Southwick and Marc Lombardo of Billerica dissenting.
In a joint statement, Boldyga and Lombardo said there were policies in the final budget "unrelated to the budget itself," which they could not support.
"Policies that were added behind closed doors with no opportunity for public input. The lack of transparency is alarming and a growing trend that can not be ignored. This isn't what a representative democracy looks like," the statement said.
The tuition measure appears a lock to become law now since Healey has signaled support for it.
Offering in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants is "absolutely essential and a no-brainer," Healey said in May.
In-state students will pay $17,357 in tuition to attend the University of Massachusetts' flagship campus in Amherst this year, while their classmates who aren't from Massachusetts will pay $39,293. The shift in status to "in-state students" could also mean more in aid for undocumented immigrants. As government aid has struggled to keep pace with demand and tuition increases, UMass-generated financial aid has grown to represent 69 percent of free aid available for students -- $395 million in fiscal year 2023. Of the university-generated aid, 81 percent goes to in-state students.
Senate Democrats in May made the immigrant tuition proposal a centerpiece of their budget. Under the policy, students without legal immigration status will qualify for in-state tuition rates and state financial aid at public colleges or universities in Massachusetts if they have attended a high school in the state for at least three years or obtained their GED here. Currently, these students have to pay out-of-state tuition rates that are significantly higher.
House Democrats did not include the measure in their budget bill and it was not debated as an amendment in April before the House and Senate budgets were referred to closed-door negotiations between three representatives and three senators. When the conference committee bill emerged from talks on Sunday night, it included the undocumented immigrant tuition policy and conference committee reports are subject only to up-or-down acceptance votes.
After the House accepted the conference report, House Minority Leader Brad Jones moved to suspend House rule 40 to allow a late-stage amendment.
"There is a measure that is in this budget, some language that I have some concern with -- language I do not agree with, and I think other members in this chamber may not agree with either -- that did not get debated during the House version of the budget, when we did our budget debate," Frost said on Monday.
He later added, "I do recognize and understand that the federal government needs to do something about immigration, specifically illegal immigration, into our country. And they need to get off their collective butts and do something ... We offer this opportunity to suspend the rules to take this up because we didn't debate it in the House. They did in the Senate, and they had a vote. We didn't get that opportunity to be recorded."
During Senate budget debate, Democrats in that branch swatted aside a Senate Republican amendment to strike the tuition policy change from the budget.
Second Assistant Majority Leader Sarah Peake opposed suspending the rule on Monday. She noted that all six members of the negotiating committee -- four Democrats and one Republican from each chamber -- signed off on the budget.
"We took some Senate language and the Senate took some House language. We agreed to accept certain Senate initiatives and the Senate conferees agreed to accept certain House initiatives -- some of which, by the way, were earmarks for my district and earmarks for all of your districts that you put into the budget," Peake said.
The Provincetown Democrat added that if the House voted to suspend the rule, it would open the budget up to any amendment, not just one dealing with undocumented immigrants' tuition rates. Amendments would then be subject to debate and votes, which would further delay the budget getting to Healey's desk, Peake said. As of Monday, the spending bill was already 31 days late.
"I would remind the body that if we vote today to suspend Rule 40 that opens up this conference report for any member to pull out any amendment and debate it. It's not limited just to this one thing. So let's get on with the business at hand ... Let's defeat this motion to suspend the rule and get on about our business and send what I think is a beautiful and wonderful budget to Her Excellency," Peake said.
House Speaker Ron Mariano voted against the immigrant tuition reform 17 years ago, but joined Democrats Monday is blocking the topic from being debated.
He was joined in voting against rules suspension by others who opposed the policy change in 2006, including Reps. Bruce Ayers of Quincy, Antonio Cabral of New Bedford, Paul Donato of Medford, William Galvin of Canton, Colleen Garry of Dracut, Patricia Haddad of Somerset, David Linsky of Natick, James Murphy of Weymouth, Alice Peisch of Wellesley, Tom Stanley of Waltham and William Straus of Mattapoisett.
Sitting representatives who voted in favor of the tuition access reform in 2006 are Reps. Ruth Balser of Newton, Kevin Honan of Allston, Kay Khan of Newton, Mike Moran of Brighton, Smitty Pignatelli of Lenox and John Rogers of Norwood.
"This is an issue that many of you have worked on for many years, going as far back as 20 years ago. I think I could remember [from] when I was just an aide," House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz, who worked for former House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, said Monday during his presentation of the budget. DiMasi in 2006 voted for the immigrant tuition reform in 2006.
Representatives applauded -- an unusual step during floor deliberations -- when Michlewitz mentioned that the reform was included in the budget.
Written By Sam Drysdale/SHNS
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