Rep. Paul Harris, (R-17) appears to be one.
Of the 3 main districts in Clark County... of the Republicans in the House, Paul Harris was the only one in the House to sell us out and vote for this idiocy.
While I know it's dead in the Senate, that's all beside the point.
Why is Harris so bent on giving millions of our dollars away to people whose very presence is illegal?
What's the point of that garbage?
Why did so many others in the GOP caucus join with him in selling us out?
Why are these clowns positioning themselves as enemies of the people to help make Washington State THE destination resort of the illegals infesting us?
Shouldn't we be doing something to get them to LEAVE? How is it we can jack the taxpayer for those who SHOULDN'T EVEN BE HERE when we don't have enough money for those of us who should?
Harris's vote disqualifies him from consideration for any political office. In this case, it's not the only thing that does, but it's the straw that broke the camel's back.
ESHB 1817 Higher ed financial aid for illegal aliens House vote on Final Passage 3/13/2013
Yeas: 77 Nays: 20 Absent: 0 Excused: 1
Voting Yea: Representatives Alexander, Appleton, Bergquist, Blake, Carlyle, Chandler, Clibborn, Cody, Condotta, DeBolt, Dunshee, Fagan, Farrell, Fey, Fitzgibbon, Freeman, Goodman, Green, Habib, Haigh, Hansen, Harris, Hawkins, Hayes, Hope, Hudgins, Hunt, Hunter, Hurst, Jinkins, Johnson, Kagi, Kirby, Kochmar, Kretz, Liias, Lytton, Maxwell, McCoy, Moeller, Morrell, Morris, Moscoso, Nealey, O'Ban, Ormsby, Orwall, Pedersen, Pettigrew, Pollet, Reykdal, Riccelli, Roberts, Ross, Ryu, Santos, Sawyer, Schmick, Seaquist, Sells, Short, Smith, Springer, Stanford, Stonier, Sullivan, Takko, Tarleton, Tharinger, Upthegrove, Van De Wege, Walsh, Warnick, Wilcox, Wylie, Zeiger, and Mr. Speaker
Voting Nay: Representatives Angel, Buys, Dahlquist, Haler, Hargrove, Holy, Klippert, Kristiansen, MacEwen, Magendanz, Manweller, Orcutt, Overstreet, Parker, Pike, Rodne, Scott, Shea, Taylor, and Vick
Absent:
Excused: Representative Crouse
The Seattle Times political team explores national, state and local politics.
March 13, 2013 at 6:41 PMState House passes ‘Washington Dream Act’
OLYMPIA — The Washington State Dream Act was approved by the state House on Wednesday, bringing undocumented students one step closer to being eligible for the State Need Grant.
The measure was approved 77-20, with unanimous Democrat support and a split vote on the Republican side. It was the last piece of House legislation to make it through before the session’s cutoff.
House Bill 1817 would qualify all students who graduated from a Washington high school or earned a diploma-equivalent in the state for the State Need Grant — the state’s largest financial-aid program — as long as they meet other grant requirements. The students must also remain in the state after earning their diploma, until they attend college.
Bill sponsor Rep. Zack Hudgins urged fellow legislators to pass HB 1817 for the good of Washington. He said regardless of where students are born, they are capable of having a big impact on the state’s economy.
“[Undocumented students] are the ones who will sell our apples and pears and airplanes,” said Hudgins, D-Tukwila. “These kids have no choice in where they are born, but they do have a choice in how hard they work.”
The issue now goes to the Senate for consideration. Senate Minority Leader Ed Murray, D-Seattle, introduced a similar bill the Senate, but it died without receiving a hearing. And on Wednesday, a maneuver by supporters to pass the Dream Act by tacking it onto other legislation failed.
Several House Republicans spoke in favor of the bill Wednesday, arguing it would benefit their constituents and strengthen their communities. Rep. Bruce Chandler, R-Granger, said receiving an education will allow undocumented students a chance to participate fully in their communities.
But fellow Republican Rep. Larry Haler, of Richland, spoke against passage – not because he disagreed with the intent of the bill, but because of the budget.More:
“Currently we can’t fund 32,000 young men and women who meet the eligibility of the State Need Grant,” said Haler, R-Richland. “Sometime in the future, a few years from now, we might be able to afford it.”
I challenged Rep. Harris on this at the town hall meeting. His justification is that since the bill requires these illegal aliens to first obtain a green card before they are eligible to get State Need Grant funds, they are technically not 'illegal' and therefore this bill has nothing in common with Obama's "Dream Act".
ReplyDeleteOf course, the reality is that regardless of the semantics of the language, the bottom line is that this bill sets up the potential situation in which a non-citizen college student could get tax payer funds over that of a citizen student. It's wrong, no matter how you slice it or spin it.