What:  Senate Bill 207 (in-state tuition for certain illegal aliens) gets a public hearing before the Indiana House Education Committee.

Where: Room 156-C

Indiana State House, 200 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204

When:  8:30 a.m. (Eastern Time) 

Arrive a few minutes early so you can sign up to testify and find a seat.  In this room, you will sit at a table and address the committee.  It helps if you write a short statement that can be read in 2-3 minutes.  Put your name and contact information on it and make at least one copy for the committee.  Tell the committee, respectfully, why you think they should vote against the bill.

Who:  Anyone can testify, even illegal aliens!  Please join IFIRE members as we tell the committee why they should vote against SB207.

Why:   Legislators think you don't care.  Only IFIRE's State Director, Greg Serbon, testified against SB207 before the Senate Education Committee. 

The authors of SB207 said it was a very limited bill that might only affect 200-300 illegals.  If that's the case, it will cost Indiana $4-$6 million in lost tuition fees per year. 

But the following article says a Representative plans to add an amendment, the details of which have not been revealed!  This amendment would expand the bill to include even more illegals!   http://heraldbulletin.com/education/x620883634/Indianas-tuition-law-gets-one-more-look

In addition to all this, we believe federal law 8 USC 1623 would apply to some 30,000 citizen students who are paying higher out-of-state tuition rates.  If they are treated equally under the law and receive the same, lower tuition benefit as illegals, the total revenue loss to Indiana could exceed $484 million annually.   

We need you to testify with us against Senate Bill 207 (in-state tuition for certain illegals) on Thursday! 

If you cannot be there, please be sure to call the Education Committee Members and urge them to vote NO!

Toll Free Numbers for Indiana House:

1-800-382-9841 and 1-800-382-9842 

Call and email them and your own state representative.

Click here to find out who represents you.

House Education Committee:

Republicans

Chairman:  Rep. Robert Behning H91@in.gov

Vice Chair:  Rep. Rhonda Rhoads  H70@in.gov

Rep. Lloyd Arnold H74@in.gov

Rep. Woody Burton H58@in.gov

Rep. Ed Clere H72@in.gov

Rep. Dale Devon H5@in.gov

Rep. Todd Huston  H37@in.gov

Rep. Jim Lucas H69@in.gov

Rep. Jeff Thompson H28@in.gov

Democrats

Rep. Vernon Smith H14@in.gov

Rep. Kreg Battles H45@in.gov

Rep. Sue Errington H34@in.gov

Rep. Shelli VanDenburgh H19@in.gov

Copy and Paste

Mass email list for House Education Committee:

H91@in.gov; H70@in.gov; H74@in.gov; H58@in.gov; H72@in.gov; H5@in.gov; H37@in.gov; H69@in.gov; H28@in.gov; H14@in.gov; H45@in.gov; H34@in.gov; H19@in.gov

• While we can sympathize with the plight of illegal immigrant students, we cannot fix their problem by passing SB 207 unless we want to violate 8 USC, Section 1623 of the federal immigration law which is printed above.

• The federal law says that illegal immigrants must not get an unfair ($20,000/yr.)tuition advantage over citizens. If illegals receive in-state tuition rates, then every citizen should receive the same.

• The Fiscal Impact Statement on SB 207 says that the impact is "unknown but probably minor."  However, the Indianapolis Star estimated there were 300 illegal alien students who would be impacted by an in-state tuition bill.  The Senate Education committee heard testimony that it could be as low as 200 or as high as several thousand. 

• Indiana University charges an annual tuition rate of roughly $10,000 for in-state students and $30,000 for out-of-state students.  That leaves $20,000 which won't be collected if the Indiana General Assembly chooses to help illegal aliens compete against Hoosier graduates. 

• 300 illegals x $20,000 = $6 million per year in lost revenues.

• The language in SB207 seems to say that any illegal immigrant who was enrolled in Kindergarten through 12th grade in Indiana as of July, 2011 can take advantage of in-state tuition rates.  If this is correct, the loss in revenues will amount to approximately $52 million over 13 years, and this is not just an inconsequential bill targeted to help only a few illegal immigrants.

• SB 207 violates existing federal law by giving illegal immigrants the benefit of lower, in-state tuition rates while denying the same benefit to citizen students from outside Indiana.

• IU charges over $30,000 in annual tuition/fees for out-of-state students while only charging in-state students $10,000. If this law passes, the federal law says that out-of-state students must be eligible for the same benefit offered to the illegals. If SB 207 passes every out-of-state student would be within the law to demand their $20,000 back because SB 207 discriminates against law-abiding citizens.

• There are a fixed number of classroom seats so this bill will foreclose the graduation potential of citizens and legal residents who are turned away.

• Taxpayers should not subsidize the education of illegal immigrants just because the Obama Administration gave some a two-year stay from deportation and a work permit. That was done without congressional authorization and is being challenged in court.

• Federal Immigration Law already prohibits in-state tuition rates for illegal aliens.  Read this article from Heritage Foundation or click this link to read the current Federal Law. 

IMPORTANT LINKS: