GOP senator wants to cancel 2022 vote on in-state tuition for Dreamers because GOP senators were in the minority

A Republican lawmaker says voters shouldn’t get to weigh in on a ballot measure next year that would repeal a state law prohibiting undocumented students from accessing in-state tuition at public universities and community colleges because not enough Republicans supported the proposal.

Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita on Tuesday introduced a proposal to reverse the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 1044, which a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers sent to the ballot earlier this year. The passage was celebrated as an achievement of years-long advocacy to repeal a 2006 voter-approved law that prevents the estimated 2,000 undocumented students who graduate Arizona high schools every year from accessing affordable secondary education at state university and community colleges.

Ugenti-Rita told the Arizona Mirror that Senate President Karen Fann was wrong to allow SCR1044 to be voted on because most GOP senators opposed it.

“It’s odd to me that (Fann) would put up a bill that she voted against, with only three Republicans voting for it,” the Scottsdale Republican said. “President Fann put something on the floor that the overwhelming amount of Republicans opposed, and she did it anyway.”

The measure cleared the Senate with 17 votes, including three Republicans: Sen. Paul Boyer, the Glendale Republican who sponsored the legislation, Sens. Tyler Pace and TJ Shope. It won approval in the House on a 33-27 vote, with four Republicans joining the Democrats.

While the measure to repeal the in-state tuition ban for undocumented students in Arizona didn’t have broad support among Republicans in the legislature, past polling has shown that 1 in 3 Republican voters support it. 

SCR1044 will ask Arizona voters to decide whether all students who attend an Arizona high school for two years and who graduate to be eligible for in-state tuition. It will also exempt postsecondary education from the definition of a state or local public benefit, which those without lawful immigration status can’t currently access. The changes can only happen through a ballot measure because the 2006 law was originally approved by voters.

Reyna Montoya, who has led the advocacy for years to repeal the ban on in-state tuition from undocumented state residents, said there’s a lot of support for the measure. She said she’s hopeful Ugenti Rita won’t succeed in reversing the ballot referral.

“It’s really unfortunate that she’s going to be using some of her time to try to repeal this because we got bipartisan support,” Montoya said. “We’re going to let voters decide.”