No In-State Tuition for Maryland Illegal Immigrants

The Maryland General Assembly adjourned last night with the Senate having failed to move a bill that would have allowed illegal immigrants in Maryland to pay in-state tuition rates and Maryland colleges.

Hail to the Senate Republicans who threatened a filibuster on the bill for finally showing a little backbone on this issue. But the bill carries with it some other political consequences. With a veto proof majority in both chambers of the legisalture, Senate Democrats could have choked off a filibuster through procedural votes, but failed to take that path.

Del. Victor R. Ramirez, a Prince George's County Democrat who is the bill's sponsor, said that until the session's final hours, he was optimistic about passage.

"It's unfortunate," he said. "We took our shot, and the House showed much leadership in making Maryland an inclusive state."

Ramirez said he thought the bill's failure would hurt Democrats.

"This raises questions about how inclusive the Maryland Democratic Party wants to be toward immigrants," he said. "If we don't do something soon, I think we are going to see immigrant voters turn on the Democratic Party."

I don't know about the long term effect on the Democratic party will be that severe, but the failure to move the bill is a victory for the GOP and they now have a year to work on shoring up opposition to the bill prior to next year's session.