Markeshia Ricks Photo
Looney testifying Tuesday.
Hartford—New Haven legislators and advocates joined a crowd at an hours-long legislative hearing to support the idea of making more financial aid available to undocumented students — aid from a fund those students already pay into.
The Higher Education Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly heard from advocates Tuesday on two bills, House Bill 7000: An Act Equalizing Access to Student Generated Financial Aid and Senate Bill 17: An Act Assisting Students Without Legal Immigration Status with the Cost of College. The proposals would allow undocumented students matriculating at state colleges and universities — popularly called “DREAMers” — to have access to funds to help pay for school that they currently can’t access because of their immigration status.
State colleges and universities have sought guidance from legislators in the form of a law that explicitly allows them to offer equal access to the money.
Connecticut state colleges and universities set aside a percentage of the tuition that all students, regardless of immigration status, pay to attend school. That money goes into a fund to provide merit-based academic scholarships as well to help needier students afford college. The money is known as “institutional aid.” State colleges and universities have to set aside at least 15 percent, but some set aside even more, testified Connecticut State Colleges & Universities (CSCU) President Mark E. Ojakian.
But only documented U.S. citizens are currently allowed to access those funds. The two bills up for consideration, one of which is sponsored by New Haven State Sen. Martin Looney, would change that. Looney Tuesday pointed out to his fellow lawmakers that the state already has a track record of passing “compassionate, fair and pragmatic” legislation to ease the burden of college going for undocumented students.
In 2011, the General Assembly eased restrictions that allowed undocumented students who attended all four years of high school in the state to qualify for in-state tuition. In 2015, it expanded the law to allow undocumented students who have attended high school for just two years to qualify for in-state tuition. Looney said passing legislation to allow undocumented students access to institutional aid is a logical next step, and would be good for the state’s economic future.
“Many of these students have lived in our state virtually their entire lives,” Looney said. “They are our neighbors and our children’s friends and classmates and have no memory of life anywhere else besides Connecticut. They also are a significant part of our future. Students who get their degrees from public universities and colleges in Connecticut are more likely to build careers in Connecticut and make a life time commitment to remaining and working in Connecticut.”
“Morally indefensible,” Lemar said of denying access.
New Haven State Rep. Roland Lemar said that it is “morally indefensible” to continue to keep undocumented students from tapping into funds that their tuition dollars help support.
“This is not taxpayer money,” he said. “They contribute their dollars to this pool and they should have access to it. It is morally indefensible to deny them access.”
Julie Kushner, Region 9A director for the UAW, had a different word to describe lawmakers not voting to support legislation in previous years that would allow students access to institutional aid: “cruel.”
She told lawmakers she was shocked when the bill made it out of the Senate only to die before going to a vote in the House of Representatives last year. But she was even more shocked by why lawmakers said they couldn’t support the bill.
“Too many members of the general assembly believed that if DREAMers were eligible for institutional aid it would take money away from ‘our kids,’” she said. “Well, they’re all ‘our kids’ if they’re in this state. But if you flip the argument on it’s head, we’re asking the DREAMers to subsidize our kids.”
College students from around the state, including Yale University, where 1,725 signatures in favor of the bills were submitted, came out universally to testify Tuesday in favor of allowing their fellow students access to institutional aid.
UConn Student President Daniel Byrd called the denial of access “state sanctioned theft.”
UConn Student Body President Daniel Byrd said that students at the university unanimously support the bill and consider it the obvious right thing to do.
“We don’t think that it’s fair,” that there are students who have part of their tuition set aside for institutional aid, but can’t access it, when they likely need it. “That’s theft.”
“We must make the next step forward,” Lemar said. “We must treat these students like every other student. It’s good public policy to expand access. The public benefit only increases when do so.”
Many speakers remained to be heard two hours into the hearing, none yet in opposition to the bill. The committee did not plan to take a vote on the legislation, but it might do so as early as Thursday.
The 2017 Agenda
| Bill # | Status | Summary | Sponsors |
|---|---|---|---|
| SB11/ HB5539 | Committee Denied | Would legalize, tax recreational use of marijuana. | Candelaria Dillon Lemar Walker Porter et al |
| SB 17 | Committee Approved | Would make certain undocumented immigrant students (DREAMers) eligible for state college financial aid. | Looney |
| HB 5434 | Committee Approved | Would have CT join with other states to elect the President based on popular, rather than Electoral College, vote. | Winfield, Porter Albis Elliott D’Agostino et al. |
| HB 5458, HB 6058 | Committee Approved | Would establish electronic tolls on state highways. | Genga |
| HB 5575/HB 7126 | Passed Senate | Would regulate companies such as Uber and Lyft. | Scanlon |
| HB 5589 | Passed House | Would expand disclosure requirements for contributions to campaign funds. | Dillon Lemar D’Agostino Elliott et al. |
| HB 5591 | Passed House | Would require equal pay for employees doing comparable work. | Dillon Walker Lemar Albis D’Agostino Elliott et al. |
| HB 5703 | Committee Denied | Would have CT enter into an agreement with other states to limit “poaching” of each other’s businesses. | Lemar |
| HJ 13/HJr 95 | Passed House | Would amend the state constitution to permit early voting. | Lemar |
| HJ 16 | In Commitee | Would amend the state constitution to permit absentee voting for all voters. | Lemar |
| SB 1/HB 6212 | Committee Approved | Would require employers to provide paid family and medical leave for their employees. | Looney |
| SB 2 | Committee Approved | Would make the education funding formula more equitable. | Duff |
| SB 8 | Committee Denied | Would allow municipalities to adopt a 0.5% sales tax. | Looney |
| SB 10/HB 5743 | Passed Senate | Would strengthen hate crime laws. | Winfield |
| SB 13/HB 6208/HB 6456 | Committee Approved | Would increase the minimum wage. | Looney Winfield et al. Albis Candelaria D’Agostino Elliott Lemar Paolillo Porter Walker |
| SB 137 | Committee Denied | Would expand birth-to-three and provide universal pre-school, among other things. | Gerratana |
| SJ 5/HJ 1 | Passed House | Would amend the state constitution to create a “lock-box” for transportation funding. | Duff |
| HB 5588 | Committee Denied | Would limit certain bond allocations. | Dillon Lemar Albis Walker Elliott et al. |
| HB 5912HB 6127 | Committee Denied | Would establish a 1‑cent/ounce tax on sugared beverages. | Lemar Elliott et al. |
| HB 6554 | Committee Denied | Would tax carried interest as ordinary income. | Porter Albis Lemar Elliott Winfield Candelaria Dillon D’Agostino et al. |
| HB 5831 | Committee Denied | Would provide bonding for transitional housing for NH female ex- offenders. | Porter Candelaria Lemar Winfield Looney Paolillo |
| SB 631 | Committee Denied | Would provide bonding to make structural improvements to the Shubert Theatre. | Winfield Looney Walker Porter Lemar Candelaria Paolillo |
| HB 6863 | Committee Denied | Would authorize bonds for renovating the Barbell Club as a youth/ community center. | Canelaria Porter Paolillo Lemar Winfield |
| SB 649 | Committee Approved | Would allow local building officials to impose fines for building w/o a permit. | Looney Winfield Walker Candelaria Lemar Porter Paolillo Et al. |
| SB 590/591 | Committee Denied | Would limit police ccoperation w/Immigration and Customs Enforcement (590); establish an immigrant’s bill of rights | Winfield |
| SB 20 | Committee Denied | Would require affordability to be considered in reviewing proposed health insurance rate hikes. | Looney |
| HB 6352 | Committee Approved | Would establish a deposit system for car tires. | Ritter Gresko McCrory |
| HB 6901 | Committee Denied | Would impose a surtax on large employers that pay an average wage less than $15/hour. | Elliott |
| HB 7278 | Passed Senate | Would convey various parcels to New Haven, among other things. | Gov’t Administration and Elections |