Posted on 07/31/2006 5:15:56 PM PDT by Reagan Man
(AP)- Gov. Bill Owens signed a tough package of immigration laws on Monday that could force 1 million people receiving state and federal benefits to prove they are U.S. citizens.
To handle an expected avalanche of people seeking waivers so they can keep getting government benefits while they line up the ID documents they need, Owens designated 32 driver’s license bureaus and opened an office at the Capitol to process their requests. A waiver will extend the deadline for producing the required ID until March 1.
The key legislation, House Bill 1023, requires government agencies to verify process that adults over 18 are entitled to the benefits.
Applicants will now have to provide secure photo identification,sign an affidavit that they are U.S. citizens and get their application approved through the federal System Alien Verification for Entitlements, also known as the SAVE program.
The only acceptable documents include a Colorado driver’s license, an official state ID, U.S. military or Coast Guard Merchant Mariner or Native American tribal documents.
U.S. passports are excluded because state officials said they were not secure.
Wow!
I have a disabled son that is Medicaid eligible through a safety net program covering things not covered by my insurance. We got a letter that we would have to prove our citizenship on his next renewal application. The letter stated that the requirement was covered under the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act.
Outstanding!
ping
""U.S. passports are excluded because state officials said they were not secure.""
Wow for sure. I want to hear more about that. State department handing them out like candy?
LOL
"Gov. Bill Owens signed a tough package of immigration laws on Monday that could force 1 million people receiving state and federal benefits to prove they are U.S. citizens."
Excellent.
B U M P
"State department handing them out like candy?"
If they look anything like mine they would be very easy to counterfeit.
Zowie, THAT is how it should be.
I don't get the driver's license acceptance thing. How does that prove you are a U.S. citizen? Isn't it still true that some states are rather lax on the issuance of license's to illegals? And if you have a license from one of those states, you can go to Colorado, surrender your other state license and drive in Colorado. I dunno. Maybe I missed something.
Bill Owens was sworn in as Colorado's 40th Governor in January 1999. He was re-elected in 2002 with the greatest majority in Colorado history, earning a broad mandate for his innovative leadership. Under the state's term-limits law, Owens will serve until his successor takes the oath of office in January 2007.
During his tenure, Gov. Owens pushed through the largest tax relief package in state history, amounting to $1 billion in cuts in rates of sales, personal-income, and capital-gains taxes, and an elimination of the marriage penalty. As a result, he has won high marks for his fiscal leadership, earning the highest grade among the nation's governors from the Cato Institute.
Touted as one of the major emerging leaders in American politics by The Economist magazine, Owens also was identified as one of the country's Top Ten rising political stars by syndicated columnist Robert Novak. In 2002, National Review magazine called Bill Owens "the best governor in America."
Bill Owens is the immediate past-Chairman of the Western Governors' Association and is a past-Chairman of the Republican Governors' Association and the Natural Resources Committee of the National Governors' Association. Owens is a member of the Board of Governors of Young America's Foundation, which owns and runs the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara, California.
Keeping his promise to institute sweeping school reform in Colorado, Gov. Owens created an education accountability system - including detailed, online school report cards - that U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige has called "the envy of the nation." His accountability system has been praised as among the best in the nation by Education Week magazine and the Heritage Foundation. He combined this model education accountability plan with six consecutive years of full state funding for K-12 public education. Under Owens' leadership, Colorado became the first state in the nation to send students to college with vouchers in 2004. The College Opportunity Fund replaced block subsidies to colleges or universities with individual stipends for students to use at the school of their choice.
Gov. Owens kept his commitment to transform Colorado's transportation system, which had been neglected for nearly a quarter century. Through TRANS (Transportation Revenue Anticipation Notes), an innovative financing program, he accelerated $1.7 billion in transportation projects statewide that would have taken up to half a century to complete - projects that will now be done in a decade without an increase in taxes.
Known as one of Colorado's most effective policy makers, Bill Owens served in the State House of Representatives for six years and the State Senate for six years. He also served four years as Colorado Treasurer. He authored landmark legislation creating charter schools, toughening prison sentences, modernizing child abuse statutes and reforming the tort system. He is a leading advocate of the Colorado Taxpayers' Bill of Rights (TABOR), which caps government spending and requires that excess funds be returned to state taxpayers.
Gov. Owens, who holds a master's degree in public administration from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, worked for 20 years in the private sector. The Governor is an expert on Soviet affairs and writes and lectures often on Russia.
Bttt!
From what I've seen so far, all things considered, Bill Owens just might make a good choice as GOP candidate for Prez. Owens has solid conservative credentials, is a good administrator and a proven political leader. And he's likable.
And he gets it about immigration.
Could force??? Why "could force"? Why not "force"? Is there teeth in this bill or not?
Wow! Now we await the defeating action from activist courts. Pox on their traitorous skins.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.