DENVER Last-minute tangling on next years budget cost Colorado Democrats some Republican support Friday, when a Democratic budget writer questioned whether $3 million for scholarships could benefit students in the country illegally.
The Colorado House passed the budget without the money for merit-based scholarships, angering Republicans who said the issue was being politicized.
I set about to do something good, something we could all get behind. I dont understand for the life of me how this has become a political issue, said Colorado Springs Republican Rep. Mark Waller, the GOPs leader in the House.
The scholarship money, a proposed amendment to the budget, had bipartisan support but fell apart over the question of whether every student could be eligible regardless of immigration status.
I dont think its an issue of politics, said Denver Democratic Rep. Crisanta Duran, one of six budget writers on the Joint Budget Committee. Its an issue of the future of these undocumented students, and if these undocumented students are the top of their class, they should be eligible to receive these funds, as well.
Duran said the budget agreement wouldnt guarantee that and that separate legislation would be needed. Immigrants in the country illegally cant receive state scholarships.
This is about undocumented students being able to gain access to an affordable college degree, Duran said.
But Republicans accused Duran of politicizing the issue, at the expense of financial aid for all students.
Political games cost those kids their help, said Republican Rep. Frank McNulty.
The gridlock about the money came as the House was set to take a final vote on the budget to agree on amendments that include money for wildfire victims and paying down pension debt to police and firefighters.
Each chamber had already approved the $20.5 billion budget, which includes federal funds. But final votes were needed to concur on amendments. The Senate also passed the budget Friday, and it now awaits the governors signature.
Waller, who worked on the scholarship amendment last week with Democrats, said it was never his intent to exclude any group from the scholarships.
The amendment was initially rejected by the Joint Budget Committee last week, and moments later approved when Duran voted for it, saying it was with the caveat that lawmakers would make clear all students would be eligible for the scholarships.
On Friday, the budget committee reconsidered the amendment and voted it down 4-2 after Duran raised concerns.
No one person said anything about documented versus undocumented until you wanted to make it a political issue, Waller told Duran at one point.
The Senate will now consider and approve the spending plan before it goes to the governor.
No Republicans support the budget in the Senate, which like the House is controlled by Democrats.
In the House, Democrats were able to get support from nine Republicans on the budget, including Waller and McNulty, when it first passed last week.
Friday, after the fight about the scholarships, Waller and McNulty still voted yes, but two others changed their votes to no.
I was just a little disconcerted with what happened today, said Republican Rep. Kevin Priola, who was among the few in his party this year to support a bill granting in-state tuition to students in the U.S. illegally.
Duran noted that Waller is carrying a bill that will be introduced soon that would grant merit-based scholarships, and that its still possible to fund it.
Democrats said they hoped they could resolve the issue.
Its one of those issues that we have to resolve, and Im in favor of resolving it, said Democratic Rep. John Buckner.
