Republicans won round one of a special legislative session on immigration Thursday night by hijacking what they considered a weak proposal for cutting services to illegal immigrants with a ballot proposal that would put the issue before voters.
The GOP victory in a Democratic-controlled Senate capped an opening day that was marked as much by election-year political posturing as debate on substantives issues.
Republicans, upset that the Colorado Supreme Court last month threw out a citizens’ initiative to ban most state services, successfully resurrected the proposal with an amendment that substituted the Democrats’ Senate Bill 1.
Democratic Sen. Ron Tupa broke ranks and voted with 17 Republicans because, he said, he wanted to delay SB 1’s passage.
“I’m actually not certain what that bill would have done,” said Tupa, noting that Senate Bill 1 had just been introduced when the special session convened that morning, and he hadn’t had time to thoroughly review it.
He said he does not support the ballot question.
After Tupa’s vote, three other Democrats, considered targeted in November, changed their no votes to yes – Sens. Betty Boyd, Moe Keller and Lois Tochtrop.
The reversals immediately had Republicans calling the trio flip-floppers.
“It’s political calculations and not a real desire to do the right thing,” said Republican Sen. Greg Brophy of Wray.
Democratic Sen. Bob Hagedorn, the sponsor of the hijacked bill, said the vote showed that the special session called by Gov. Bill Owens was about nothing more than partisan posturing for November, when control of both the governor’s mansion and the statehouse are at stake.
“It’s a charade. It’s a mockery, this whole special session,” said a visibly frustrated Hagedorn. “This is not about good public policy; this is about the November election.”
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon also changed his vote in order to move to reconsider the measure.
Boyd said she changed her vote because “it seemed like the right thing to do.”
Asked if she supported a statutory change, like Senate Bill 1 was before it was amended, or a ballot question, she said, “I voted for Senate Bill 1.”
Tochtrop said her vote “was an error.”
Keller said, “If it didn’t matter and it was going to the voters anyway, then let the voters vote on it.”
But it’s not yet certain the measure will land on the ballot, because it must still win final Senate approval – and could be changed again – before it moves to the House.
Lawmakers are fractured into two factions: the do-it-now crowd and the let-the-voters-decide crew. Most Republicans say they want to give citizens a chance to vote on whether to limit state spending on all but federally mandated services, such as emergency medical care and education, for illegal immigrants.
Most Democrats say they would rather pass a bill that would implement a ban on such spending as soon as possible.
“What’s driving them, as I understand it, is the desire to make this an election issue, the consequences be damned,” said House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver.
On Thursday afternoon, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee approved the Democrats’ Senate Bill 1, which in its original form would have required applicants for public assistance to provide proof of legal residence to qualify for aid. The bill exempted illegal immigrants under age 18.
In committee, Democratic Sen. Paula Sandoval of Denver added an amendment that would have allowed services necessary to the life, health or safety of the public.
That prompted an outcry from Owens and other Republicans.
“This amendment does not relate to emergency services, which are already exempted elsewhere in the bill. The bill also includes a myriad of other exemptions, including crisis counseling and soup kitchens,” the governor said.
Republican Sen. Steve Johnson of Fort Collins called it a “do-nothing” bill because it would allow every program a chance to opt out.
Republicans also were upset that Democrats endorsed a bill that would make voter fraud a felony while killing a measure to require voters to provide proof of citizenship.
Dan Hopkins, spokesman for Owens, said policy, not politics, is the driving force for the special session.
“The impetus for this entire special session was the Supreme Court decision that kept people from voting on this issue,” Hopkins said. “It angered the governor and he still thinks the public should have had a right to express their views.”
Still, the governor is willing to sign bills into law if they achieve goals of cutting back on the tide of illegal immigration and the related expenses to the state.
“If there is a successful outcome, that truly substantive reforms are passed,” Hopkins said, “then that’s a real accomplishment.”
Staff writer Chris Frates can be reached at 303-820-1633 or cfrates@denverpost.com.
