Sen. Curt Bramble’s omnibus immigration reform bill was released publicly Friday and will have its committee hearing next week.
The bill, SB288, is a compilation of guest worker, enforcement, employer sanctions and in-state tuition bills that have largely passed the House of Representatives. It can be found here: http://le.utah.gov/~2011/bills/sbillint/sb0288.htm.
But two House lawmakers, Reps. Stephen Sandstrom and Chris Herrod, did not want their respective bills rolled into an omnibus bill and extracted themselves from the process when Bramble began meetings with legislators weeks ago in the attempt to bring comprehensive immigration reform.
Key provisions of the bill include granting in-state tuition for qualified guest workers in Utah, not requiring local police to check legal status on people who committee class B or C misdemeanors and allowing the Utah Driving Privilege Card to be an acceptable form of identification during a stop.
It also will require a federal waiver and wouldn’t take effect until 2013.
The Senate Republican caucus has been coalescing around Bramble’s bill, which uses much of Rep. Bill Wright’s guest-worker bill as its template.
