Lawmakers: Immigration week’s hot issue
By Joey Berlin
Originally published 02:33 p.m., March 31, 2008
Updated 02:33 p.m., March 31, 2008
Immigration was the big topic last week in the Legislature and spurred a Senate floor debate that lasted more than seven hours, Sen. Jim Barnett said, marking the longest Senate debate of this session. The Senate finally passed its immigration reform legislation by a unanimous 40-0 vote, and the House gave it first-round approval.
Here’s The Gazette’s weekly look at what Emporia’s legislators have been working on at the Statehouse:
Sen. Jim Barnett
As the unanimous vote indicates, Barnett did vote for the immigration legislation, although he wasn’t a big fan of the final product. He said out of three major ways he believed illegal immigration can be addressed, the state Legislature can only have a direct impact on one: It can go after businesses that ignore federal law by hiring illegal immigrants.
“And the bill that was passed does very little in that regard,” he said. “It is a feel-good-sounding piece of legislation that will receive some press releases from legislators, but in the end, did very little.”
The Senate’s version of the immigration bill criminalizes using a false ID to coerce workers, engage in human trafficking or to obtain a job. It previously contained language that required employers to use the government’s E-Verify system, changed markedly before being passed; Barnett said the strong E-Verify language was “gutted” from the bill.
So why did Barnett vote for it?
“It does a little bit,” he said, “and a little is better than nothing. But what I’m concerned about is, if it becomes clear that Kansas is a nation-state for illegal immigrants to come for work, that we may become a true sanctuary state. Only time will tell.”
This week, Barnett said, conference committees will be working on unifying legislation passed by each house, including each chamber’s version of health care reform. Barnett isn’t pleased that the Senate’s health care reform bill removed funding for premium assistance insurance, dental care for pregnant women on Medicaid, and funding for enrolling children who already qualify for existing programs like Medicaid and SCHIP.
“The House has adopted a much stronger position on health care reform than the Senate, and I hope to see the Senate step up to the plate on health care reform and include more of the packages that we initially started with from the health policy authority,” he said.
Rep. Don Hill
Unlike the Senate version of the immigration bill, the House bill requires employers to use the E-Verify system by 2011. Hill said the two concerns he’s heard most from his constituents are that they don’t want Kansas to become a sanctuary state for illegal aliens, and they don’t want there to be a taxpayer burden to support their presence.
“The passage of this bill will address both of those concerns, I think, to a meaningful extent,” Hill said.
Hill said the Legislature’s health care reform continues to be on track after both the House and Senate passed their versions of the bill. The House bill, he said, addresses 15 of the health policy authority’s 21 recommendations. Health care reform will be worked on in conference committee.
Hill’s bill to provide disaster relief to Emporia Unified School District 253 following the Tyson Fresh Meats layoffs “has taken some twists and turns.” Hill amended the bill into another House bill having to do with virtual schooling, which then passed the House. The bill is now in conference committee, and Hill said he spoke to the conferees.
“Very hopeful that we’ll get that wrapped up here before the end of this week,” he said.
Rep. Peggy Mast
Mast couldn’t be reached Monday morning. In her weekly newsletter released near the end of last week, she said she was opposed to many of the health policy authority’s proposals “because they move Kansas closer to socialized medicine and actually raise the cost of health care for most individuals.”
“I agree with Sen. Barnett that premium assistance is a better way to go to help those who need help with health care costs,” Mast said.
Mast also said the House immigration bill appears reasonable to her and that the E-Verify system “looks very likely to be mandatory in the future.” She said she talked to business leaders who agreed that the illegal immigration problem needed to be addressed.
“Over 80 percent of the people in Kansas want to see tougher sanctions,” Mast said.
She expressed support also for a bill passed by the Legislature that would reinforce limitations on funeral picketing in order to stop the Rev. Fred Phelps and his followers from protesting at military funerals.
“This action by a group of activists in Topeka has created heartache for everyone in this state that reveres the service of our military and the sacrifices made by them and their families,” she said.