Representative Carl Wimmer was the chief sponsor of H.B. 191 (House Bill 191), called the Nonresident Tuition Waiver Amendments. The bill aimed to repeal H.B. 144, passed in 2002, which grants undocumented students the opportunity to pay resident-tuition at state universities under three conditions. The requirements to qualify for resident-tuition are: to attend high school in the state of Utah for three or more years, graduate from a Utah high school, and to plan on filing an application to resolve his/her immigration status as soon as he/she is eligible to do so. Wimmer’s intention was to repeal H.B. 144. He mentioned on several occasions that it was unjust that undocumented immigrants could qualify to pay resident-tuition in Utah universities. However, the current law hurts no one, and actually encourages undocumented students to make efforts to pursue a higher education.
Representative Bill Wright proposed H.B. 191 S01, which was the first substitute of H.B. 191. This substitute included a new requirement. Under this provision the student was required to prove that the student, or the student’s parent or guardian, paid Utah income taxes for one year to qualify for an exemption of the nonresident portion of total tuition. This was later amended by Rep. Kiser (R-Sandy), to require proof of state income tax for three years, not just one. Opponents of the substitute and amendment, however, point out that many people lost their jobs during the last few years as a result of the recession and may not have filed a tax return.
Language similar to the substitute HB191 was included in Sen. Bramble's omnibus immigration bill, SB288. According to Bramble's bill a student would have to meet the same requirements as outlined in HB191S!, but also required that only students enrolled in the Guest Worker Program would qualify for an exemption from the nonresident portion of total tuition. The Guest Worker Program is a non-existent program that would authorize undocumented individuals to work temporarily in the state of Utah if the state is granted a waiver for the guest-worker program from the federal government. However, their is a considerable amount of doubt that federal government will issue such a permit to the state of Utah since immigration is a federal matter. When most of the provisions of SB288 were folded into Rep. Wright's guest worker bill, HB116, however, the in-state tuition part was left out, leaving HB191 the only possible threat to the current law regarding in-state tuition for undocumented students.
During the 2011 session, Representative Wimmer devoted his time to threaten the dreams of many children who have grown in our communities, excelled in our schools, and who have overcome tremendous barriers (language obstacles, stereotypes, poverty, etc). Thursday March 10, 2011 was the last day of the 2011 legislative session. That night, the Capitol was full of community leaders, students, teachers, activists, etc. It was very emotional to see people uniting against proposals that only aim to obstruct and dissolve the progress of the state of Utah. On the last night of the session H.B. 191 was circled on the 2nd reading calendar in the Senate. As the final night progressed, HB191 was not uncircled, therefore, voting never occurred and in-state tuition for undocumented students was preserved for at least another year. It was exceptionally wonderful news to know that undocumented children won’t be punished by the Utah political system. I am very glad that the harmful intentions to marginalize undocumented students didn’t prevail, and that these admirable students still have the opportunity to achieve their goals.
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