Colorado lawmakers are returning to Denver next week with an uncertain solution to an unclear problem.
Gov. Bill Owens has ordered lawmakers to deal with illegal immigration in a rare special session beginning July 6.
Specifically, the governor is asking legislators to curb state spending on services that benefit the estimated 250,000 illegal immigrants in the state.
But he can’t say how much his administration is spending on such services. And he blamed the Colorado Supreme Court for blocking such an inquiry.
“It’s one of the issues we’ve been chilled from debating and discussing in Colorado because the court does not allow this issue to go to the ballot,” Owens said.
The governor contends a hot summer of debates might have revealed such information. But he has not previously ordered his state departments to report such information to him.
A recent analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Council says Colorado spends about $200 million on federally mandated services such as emergency medical care and education for illegal immigrants.
But state agencies keep no such tallies.
After repeated calls during the past week, officials at the state departments of human services and public health and environment could not estimate the cost. Similarly, the departments of labor and employment and revenue said they do not track illegal immigrants.
The Colorado Commission on Higher Education said students at state colleges and universities must be legally in the country to qualify for in-state tuition and other resident benefits.
Another problem: No group has tallied how much cities, counties, school districts, libraries and other local agencies spend on illegal immigrants.
Without the data, it’s impossible to assess the scope of the problem. So the argument turns on the principle that money is being diverted from legal residents to illegal immigrants.
That’s how lawmakers framed the debate in Georgia, which earlier this year passed a law that some Colorado leaders are looking to as a model.
Republican Sen. Chip Rogers, who sponsored the Georgia bill, said the legislature never completed a hard look at costs.
“We never talked about the issue in actual dollars,” Rogers said. “We pointed out that every time we give $1 to someone who isn’t qualified to receive it, we take a dollar from someone who is qualified.”
Owens said he doesn’t know the answer: “On the one hand, I hear opponents of (the ballot measure) say it’s only going to be symbolic it won’t really change anything, there’s none of this going on.
“But on the other hand, I hear opponents of this very same initiative saying that it’s going to be the end of civilization as we know it. We need to have that debate.”
House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, said the legislature will seek answers from department heads if Owens doesn’t provide the data. “The governor tells us he wants to be part of the solution, but we’ve gotten some mixed signals.”
At the same time lawmakers are struggling to figure out how much the state is spending on illegal immigrants, enforcement of any new laws could cost millions.
In 2005, Rep. David Schul theis, R-Colorado Springs, sponsored a bill to cut benefits to illegal immigrants. State officials estimated then that it would cost $4.3 million to hire 87 full-time workers to enforce such a law.
Lawmakers next week also will be debating proposals to crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants.
For that, they are looking to a Georgia law that prevents employers from taking tax deductions if they hire illegal immigrants.
The Georgia law also imposes a 6 percent withholding tax on workers who do not have valid tax identification numbers.
That Georgia law was the source of a truce between Defend Colorado Now and Keep Colorado Safe – groups on opposite sides of the illegal-immigration initiative.
Owens has not agreed the Georgia law is the solution. Instead, he is asking lawmakers to consider it among other options.
Owens has suggested employers face stiff fines for submitting false or fraudulent documentation for illegal workers.
Romanoff said the Owens proposal is a “creative approach” and “definitely worth exploring.”
Ultimately, the focus should be on prohibiting employers from hiring illegal immigrants, he said.
“Our job ought to be to target the employers, not to bankrupt the libraries,” Romanoff said. “It’s the jobs they’re after, not the books.”
And Owens, while saying a change in state law might be acceptable, said he would prefer limits that are locked into the state Constitution: “I’m only going to be governor for six more months. And so whatever the Owens administration chooses to do by policy could be changed by the next administration.”
Staff writer Karen E. Crummy contributed to this report.
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-820-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
