|
 Passage of the measure, which supporters have labeled the Dream
Act after failed U.S. legislation of 2010, marks a victory for
immigrant-rights advocates and a shift within the state Republican
party, whose members have blocked similar measures in recent years.
The bill, which passed the House by 75 to 22 votes on Tuesday, goes
next to Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, who has promised to sign
it. States that have enacted similar measures include California,
Illinois, and Texas.
"This bill ensures that the young men and women we've invested in at
our high schools and who aspire to become productive American
citizens will now have fair access to the financial support they
need," Inslee said in a statement.
Last June, the U.S. Senate passed a comprehensive bill that would
provide a path to citizenship for the approximately 11 million
immigrants living in the United States illegally, while tightening
border security.
The bill stalled in the U.S. House, and some conservative
Republicans in both chambers remain opposed to offering legal status
for adults who live in the United States unlawfully.
The Washington state bill's passage signals a shift among
Republicans in a state with a growing Latino population,
particularly in many of its conservative-leaning rural districts.
As recently as last month, Republicans in the state Senate — a
chamber the party controls with the backing of two dissident
Democrats — dismissed the measure's prospects as dim, saying it was
low on their list of priorities. But several of these lawmakers
late last month introduced a version of the bill they labeled the
Real Hope Act. That measure passed the chamber by a 35-10 vote, with
unanimous Democratic support, Republicans split 10-10, and four
Republicans abstaining.
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In recent years, immigrant-rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers
in Washington state have pushed similar measures, which were blocked
by Republicans on the grounds they put undocumented immigrants on a
level playing field with citizens.
The measure includes $5 million in additional State Need Grant
funding, which some estimates suggest is enough to cover the roughly
1,000 undocumented immigrants the bill would make eligible for the
aid.
Those immigrants will not be guaranteed help, however, as the new
money will go into the existing statewide pot available to all
eligible students.
In the 2012-2013 school year, roughly 32,000 otherwise qualified
applicants were denied the aid because of a lack of funds, while
74,000 students received assistance, according to a non-partisan
legislative staff report.
(Reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky in Olympia, Wash.;
editing by Eric
M. Johnson in Seattle and Ruth Pitchford)
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