Colorado ASSET Bill Moves Through Senate

The Colorado ASSET bill (SB 126) would allow undocumented students who have completed three years of a Colorado high school, graduated in good standing and have applied for citizenship, to pay in-state tuition to attend Colorado colleges and universities.
There are three critical things to know about the ASSET bill:

• No taxpayer money will go to subsidize undocumented students.

• These students will pay more than their Colorado-born classmates to attend the same institutions, as undocumented students will not receive the $1,800 College Opportunity Fund voucher that all Colorado residents receive each year for college.

• This change will generate as much as $4 million in additional revenue for higher education institutions and these new graduates will contribute an estimated $4 million a year in increased income and sales tax revenues for the state.

Our neighboring states of Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Utah and Texas have passed similar legislation and a total of 11 states have similar laws.
As we face another $36 million cut to higher education, this bill is an opportunity to add revenue to our institutions of higher education without raising taxes.
But this bill is much more than a revenue generator for higher education.  It is an issue that speaks to our humanity and concern for all children.  Young people who are brought to this country by their parents do not know the intricacies of immigration policy and did not have a say in whether their parents arrived in this country legally or illegally.  They are just kids working hard to get an education at an affordable price.

Join us in support of Senate Bill 126. Contact your state senator and state representative and tell him/her to vote YES to give all Colorado children a chance for a better life.
If you know who your legislators are, click here for their phone and email addresses: http://www.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2011A/csl.nsf/Directory?openFrameset

If you don’t know who your legislators are, click on this link to locate your State House and State Senate district numbers and then go to the above site and search by district number: https://www.sos.state.co.us/Voter/secuVoterSearch.do;jsessionid=00002LT1-ONA1DLRbd17xCTICqx:11p1kuu1

Thank you for your support!

Mike
Micah Advocacy Committee