I'm sure the traitor Huckabee is just delighted. He's just forced AMERICAN CITIZEN TAXPAYERS to pay even more than they already are to illegal aliens. Get a clue, Huckabee. Mexicans are NOT the American taxpayer's responsibility!
Panel Backs College Aid Proposal
By Wesley Brown
LITTLE ROCK — Lawmakers took the first step Tuesday toward passing legislation that would open the door for the children of illegal immigrants in Arkansas to receive college scholarships.
The committee adoption of House Bill 1525, sponsored by Rep. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, and supported by Gov. Mike Huckabee, occurred during an emotionally charged meeting of the House Committee on Education.
Elliott appealed to lawmakers to take the “big boot of government off our children’s back.”
The Little Rock lawmaker, who is chairwoman of the education panel, said she has not received one letter from constituents in opposition to HB 1525.
She also said she had no conversations with Huckabee before drafting her bill, although the governor said in his state-of-the-state address in January that he supports a law that would allow all immigrants who graduate from an Arkansas high school to be treated the same as other graduates.
“Gov. Huckabee and I have never had a conversation about this issue, not one time,” Elliott told the panel. “But, it is a good thing that the governor is on my side, and what I hope today is that the committee is not on my side, but on the side of children.”
Elliott also testified that while growing up in Arkansas, she realized that many of her career dreams would not be reached because of the state’s discriminatory laws against women and minorities.
“It became pretty evident to me as I grew that my dreams were not going to be realized unless someone did something with the law to get the big boot of government off my back,” she said. “And that is what we are faced with today. We have the big boot of government on the backs of our children.”
Linda Beene, director of the Department of Higher Education, explained that her department supported Elliott’s proposal because it would allow the children of undocumented Arkansas residents to be eligible for state-sponsored scholarship opportunities.
“There are only a few days like this where you have the opportunity to change lives,” Beene said. “This bill will not give anyone a free ride; it will simply give all Arkansas high school students the opportunity to earn a college degree.”
Beene also said the law would not take away any scholarships from students of legal Arkansas citizens and would only affect a “minuscule number” of students.