PHOENIX — A Scottsdale Republican lawmaker is trying to stop the public from voting on a proposal that would allow “dreamers” who meet certain conditions to pay the same in-state tuition at public universities as other Arizona residents.
And if she can’t do that, the lawmaker, Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, figures that a new airing of the divisive issue will build public opposition to the measure ahead of the November 2022 vote.
But Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, told Capitol Media Services that all a new debate will do is unnecessarily stir things up. She said Ugenti-Rita would be better served if she would focus instead on her bid to be the Republican nominee for Arizona secretary of state in the 2022 election.
“I don’t understand what her problem is here in the sense of why isn’t she concentrating on her race instead of trying to throw mud on her fellow colleagues,” Fann said.
Ugenti-Rita is unapologetic. “As a conservative Republican, dealing with and combating illegal immigration is a top issue for Arizonans,” she said. “And I’m addressing it.”
A bitter debate earlier this year led to the issue being placed on the ballot.
A previous ballot measure, Proposition 300 in 2006, denies various public benefits to people not in the country legally. Those include any form of subsidized tuition at universities and community colleges. Voters approved it by a margin of 71-29%.
In the interim, however, the Obama administration began the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. It allows people who came to this country illegally as children — who are known as dreamers — to remain and seek work if they meet certain conditions.
Based on that, the Maricopa community college system and later the Arizona Board of Regents agreed to let DACA recipients pay in-state tuition. But the Arizona Supreme Court ruled in 2018 Proposition 300 precludes that.
The only way around that is to take the issue back to the ballot, as the Arizona Constitution forbids lawmakers from repealing anything first enacted by voters.
Ugenti-Rita told Capitol Media Services that the 2021 vote to refer it to the 2022 ballot never should have happened in the Legislature, where Republicans hold narrow majorities in both chambers.
Her proposal for the upcoming legislative session, Senate Concurrent Resolution 1004, asks the Legislature to declare that, after further consideration, it has determined the issue should not have been referred to the ballot. That would require the secretary of state, who prepares the ballot, to return the measure to the Senate.
Ugenti-Rita’s chances of quashing the scheduled public vote are slim.
Sen. Paul Boyer, R-Glendale, who proposed the repeal language, managed to line up 17 votes in the 30-member Senate, including himself and two other Republicans. And four Republicans lined up with Democrats in the 60-member House, providing 33 votes in support.
Ugenti-Rita is undeterred, saying there needs to be a new debate. “I am doing my job by taking seriously policy that I don’t believe is in the best interest of the state of Arizona,” she said. Bringing the matter back for another vote will provide “an opportunity to reassess our choice,” she said.
She said none of this would be necessary had Fann exercised her powers as Senate president and kept the measure from reaching the chamber’s floor for a vote.
Fann, who personally voted against sending the measure to the ballot, said it wasn’t that simple.
She said she needed Boyer's vote for the $12.8 billion GOP state budget plan. And with there being only 16 Republicans in the chamber, Fann needed every Republican to be on board with the budget.
Boyer, for his part, said he never tied the two issues together.
Fann said she thought that would be the end of it, with House Speaker Russell Bowers, R-Mesa, denying it a vote in that chamber. But Rep. Michelle Udall, R-Mesa, used a procedural maneuver to force a vote in the House.
Boyer told Capitol Media Services on Friday that he’s not sorry for forcing the issue to provide an opportunity for these youths who are Arizona residents to attend college without having to pay a premium. “Their stories are compelling,” he said.
More to the point, Boyer said, they weren’t adults making a knowing decision to cross the border illegally. “They were brought here through no fault of their own,” he said. “Just give them an opportunity to make a life for themselves.”
