Illinois Dream act Passed the House Quinn Expected to sign it

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/5...mmigrants.html

State House passes Illinois version of DREAM Act for children of immigrants

BY DAVE MCKINNEY AND STEPHEN DI BENEDETTO Sun-Times staff reporters May 30, 2011 05:28PM



SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois House passed a state version of the DREAM Act Thursday in a vote hailed by immigration-rights advocates as historic.

By a 61-53 vote, the House approved and sent to Gov. Pat Quinn legislation that would set up a state fund that would route privately funded college scholarships to as many as 95,000 children of undocumented immigrants.

Quinn has expressed support for the legislation, whose chief House sponsor was Rep. Edward Acevedo (D-Chicago).

The measure, also pushed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cardinal Francis George, would allow undocumented immigrants ages 18 to 29 with taxpayer-identification cards to invest in the state’s Bright Start and College Illinois programs.

“I’m super excited this bill got passed. Illinois is going on a different path,” said Rep. Antonia Berrios (D-Chicago), co-chair of the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus.

Similar legislation on a federal level failed in Congress last year. Passage in Illinois is another example of the growing influence of Illinois’ Latinos, a bloc that grew by nearly 500,000 people since the 2000 Census.

“Today’s bipartisan vote in the Illinois House is truly historic,” said Lawrence Benito, deputy director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, which spearheaded passage of the bill. “This vote is a victory for our state and an important step forward in recognizing the contributions of immigrants.”

If Quinn signs the legislation, Benito said Illinois would become the first state to create a private scholarship fund for the children of undocumented Latinos.

Only one lawmaker stood during floor debate to oppose the legislation, asking essentially why the state should sanction undocumented residents.

“A lot of people feel they shouldn’t be spending their tax dollars for people who aren’t citizens or people who are trying to become citizens,” said Rep. Robert Pritchard (R-Hinckley), who voted against the measure.

But Acevedo insisted that wasn’t the case.

“There’s not one tax dollar that goes into this program,” he said.

Congrats to all IL Dreamers!!!

So how does the driver's license work for this Act?

EDIT: Nevermind, saw a post from a different date answering this same question. Apparently, the driver's permit clause was taken out to ensure its passage...Lame.

Sorry, I left out the details. So you guys know, we already pay instate tuition in the State of Illinois ever since I can remember, 2004 I think.

It just adds an additional requirement for counselors to be trained on how to deal with undocumented students and for them to know what resources are available and creates a monetary pool which a dreamer could apply provided they meet certain requirements such as having graduated from an IL HS, their parents being in IL, their presence in IL for a period of at least 3 years before graduating HS, etc., and the monetary pool has to be privately funded, additionally changes several definitions and allows people to apply for more scholarships on the same level as other students graduating high schools.

I like this. Good luck IL Dreamers.. I've had bad experiences with counselors when they look at you like a weird object from another world..

would you prefer it not passed at all?

regardless, congrats to thos dreamers in illinos, slowly and slowly more states will pass their version.

California is Next in line to pass its own state Dream act!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this one..

What exactly does this do? And, no driving certificates???