California lawmaker revives bill to give undocumented students access to financial aid

California Reintroduces Its Own Dream Act
The DREAM Act is back, in California at least. Today Assemblyman Gil Cedillo re-introduced the DREAM Act which would allow undocumented youth who are accepted to college the ability to apply for institutional Financial Aid and state grants from the state’s public universities, state and community colleges. Cedillo’s new strategy is to split the bill in two. The San Jose Mercury News reports that one bill would allow undocumented immigrant Students who are California residents to appl...

New bid launched for college aid to undocumented students
A new push to allow longtime California residents who are undocumented immigrants to receive college financial assistance was launched today by a Los Angeles lawmaker. Assemblyman Gil Cedillo is counting on new Gov. Jerry Brown , a Democrat heavily supported by Latino voters last year, to be more receptive to the issue than former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger , a Republican who vetoed similar measures last year. Cedillo's bills would apply to undocumented immigrants who have attended California ...

Pass the California DREAM Act
California Assemblyman Gil Cedillo reintroduced a bill today that would make undocumented College Students in California eligible for in-state Financial Aid. Prospects for passage of the California DREAM Act are brighter this year since Governor Jerry Brown said he supported a previous version of the bill, while Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed it three times. As a state measure, the law would have no effect on an applicant's Immigration status, which falls under federal authority. Even so, pas...

Virginia State Legislature To Consider Bill To Ban Undocumented Immigrants From College
Virginia's Republican-controlled State Legislature is slated to consider a piece of Legislation this session that would prohibit undocumented immigrants from attending public colleges or universities in the commonwealth. The bill, set to be introduced by GOP Del. Christopher Peace, is just the latest attempt by Virginia Republicans to block undocumented individuals from enrolling in state-funded institutes of higher learning. Earlier versions of the legislation, which also included strict immi...

UC Cuts: What Brown's $500 Million Cut Means For UC Budget
California Watch: This story comes courtesy of California Watch. By Erica Perez Just how big is a $500 million cut to the University of California system? Gov. Jerry Brown this week unveiled a Budget that included drastic reductions for the state's public colleges and universities. The plan calls for [PDF] a $500 million cut to the UC, a $500 million cut to the California State University and a $400 million cut to California Community Colleges -- all part of an effort to close a s...

Can Maryland afford in-state tution for illegal aliens now?
State Sen. Victor Ramirez (D-MD) says he will introduce a bill to provide immigrant Students in-state Tuition rates for Higher Education. He was the lead sponsor of the Legislation when it passed the House of Delegates in 2007. Ramirez’ office made the announcement in a Dec. 27 Press Release. A request sent that same day for details of the bill were ignored. When introduced, the proposal would grant in-state Tuition to Students that have attended and graduated from Maryland High Schools an...

Hilarious! California Healthcare Protesting Students Give California Budget Protesting Union Leaders The Bums Rush!
So Many Budget Cuts! So Many Protests! When Do They All Find Time To Work Or Do Whatever It Is That They Do? This is hilarious.  The union thugs leaders had the stage ripped right out from under their little union feet by the protesting morons Students. From the LA times: If today’s budget protests are any indication, Organized Labor needs to get, well, organized. After Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled his budget, a handful of Labor Leaders gathered on the north steps of the Capitol to talk about ...

Gaston Caperton: Trends in College Pricing
If there's one thing I've learned as the president of the College Board, it's this: every person is born with the fundamental capacity to learn. The only question is whether that capacity is neglected or nurtured. Unfortunately, even at the outset of the 21st century, lower income Students remain underrepresented in Higher Education because of socioeconomic barriers like cost and unequal access to high quality schools. Five decades after the Supreme Court struck down "separate but equal," hig...

Dim prospects for bills approved by Kentucky Senate
Related: Senate president takes aim at opponents of bill that would end Student assignment plan (WHAS11) - Four days after spearheading a cavalcade of votes on the Kentucky Senate floor, Senate President David Williams made the case for his agenda on Wednesday before a noontime gathering at the Louisville Forum. The luncheon discussion also included Kentucky Representative Rick Rand (D-Bedford), the Chairman of the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee. While Rand suggested that the House...

Mark G. Yudof: Brown's Budget Marks a Sad Day for California
In response to Governor Brown's proposed Budget, released today, University of California President Mark Yudof issued the following Open Letter to California: This is a sad day for California. In the budget proposed by Governor Brown, the collective Tuition payments made by University of California Students for the first time in history would exceed what the state contributes to the system's general fund. The crossing of this threshold transcends mere symbolism and should be profoundly disturb...

California universities, colleges face deep cuts
Hundreds of thousands of Students are likely to be turned away from California State University and the community colleges next year, while the University of California won't rule out raising Tuition - again. "This is a sad day for California," UC President Mark Yudof said, summing up the reaction to Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal Monday to cut $500 million each from the Budgets of UC and CSU, and an additional $400 million from the state's community college system. The cuts, meant to help close ...

Higher education leaders anxious about cuts in proposed California budget
Gov. Jerry Brown's proposals to slash state spending on Higher Education has triggered anxiety across California's already Budget-battered public colleges and universities about possible new waves of staff and faculty Layoffs, reductions in class offerings and higher Tuition bills. Administrators said it was too soon to say definitively how they would respond if the Legislature approves the $1.4 billion in proposed state funding cuts for the University of California, California State University...

Kansas Bill Would Stop Mental Health Exception for Late-Term Abortion
Previously in Kansas,  late-term Abortion practitioners like George Tiller have been able to merely cite the law when doing abortions on unborn Children later in Pregnancy rather than providing medical reasons that supposedly justify the abortion. Kansas law currently bans post-viability abortions unless the continuation of the Pregnancy would present a “substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function” of the pregnant woman. Since 2000, that law has been inter...

Illinois governor to "reflect" before death penalty decision
SPRINGFIELD, Illinois | Wed Jan 12, 2011 2:11pm EST SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Reuters) - Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said on Wednesday he would "reflect" on the death penalty ban passed by the State Legislature before deciding whether to sign it. "Anyone in Illinois who has an opinion, I'm happy to listen and reflect and I'll follow my conscience," Quinn told reporters. If he agrees to the ban, Illinois will be the first state since 2009 to abolish executions. The Illinois Senate voted for the ban T...

Redistricting battle is coming later this year
The battle over redrawing New Mexico’s political districts is coming later this year, and the Santa Fe Reporter is out with a comprehensive article examining the issue. “Despite Republican gains in the state House of Representatives during the November 2010 Elections, the New Mexico Legislature is still dominated by Democrats. But Republican Gov. Susana Martinez will have the power to Veto any redistricting plan that doesn’t give equal consideration to GOP interests. “Vet...

Va. to consider banning illegals from public universities
Virginia legislators will consider whether to bar Illegal Immigrants from enrolling in state's public colleges and universities. Del. Christopher Peace's bill would amend state law to explicitly prohibit people who are in the United States illegally from being admitted to Virginia's public two-year or four-year institutions. Several previous attempts to pass similar Legislation in Virginia haven't succeeded. Federal law prohibits such people from paying in-state Tuition at colleges and universit...

Arizona Rhetoric In 2010 Driven By Immigration Bill
In the wake of the tragic shooting last weekend in Tucson that targeted Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik's said that Arizona has become the "mecca for prejudice and Bigotry" and "sort of the capital" of hatred. The remarks sparked instant impassioned responses from both the left and right and attention from the media, immediately thrusting a debate over the validity of his comments into the political realm. It's become clear that overheated political vitriol...

With Brownback as governor, Kansas lawmakers move to limit abortion
Topeka — Emboldened Conservatives in the Kansas Legislature didn’t wait long to push plans to restrict Abortion. They’re also pitching a bill to Repeal a law allowing in-state College Tuition for the Children of Illegal Immigrants. And the session is only in its third day. Republican lawmakers expect this to be a banner year for Legislation on abortion, Immigration, Gun Rights and other top conservative causes. The GOP holds a commanding majority in the Legislature and a close...

Virginia lawmaker sponsors bill banning illegal aliens from public colleges
Del. Christopher Peace (R-Mechanicsville) is sponsoring a bill which would prohibit Illegal Aliens from attending any of Virginia's public two-year or four-year colleges and universities. While federal law states that Illegal Aliens are not eligible for in-state Tuition rates, there is no law banning them from attending publicly-subsidized schools. Under current Virginia law, public universities may decide whether or not to admit Illegal Aliens as long as they are charged out-of-state tuition. I...

Former state lawmaker who pushed gunslinger bill dies at 68
FRANKFORT - Former state Rep. Raymond D. Overstreet of Liberty, known for his legislative wit and support for a Concealed Weapons law, died Sunday at Casey County Hospital. He was 68. Overstreet, a Republican who was elected to the state House in 1971 shortly before he was graduated from the University of Kentucky Law School, served until 1992. He often debated and created laws while applying them in Private Practice as a criminal defense attorney. Overstreet often used humor in the state ...

Reason.tv: Delta Smelt and Undocumented Farm Workers: How Federal Policy Is Failing California's Central Valley
California's Central Valley is a 450 mile long stretch of flat and fertile land that produces much of the food that we enjoy every day. But the people in small towns like Mendota (the cantaloupe capital of the world) are suffering these days, in part due to two federal policies. In order to protect a threatened fish species called the Delta Smelt, much of the water that used to be pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to farms on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley is now allowed to ...

Report: Big solar thermal powers days are numbered
Are prospects dimming for solar thermal?Photo: WikipediaAre those big solar thermal Power Plants now under construction in California destined to become technological white elephants? That's the tentative conclusion of a new report from GTM Research, which predicts declining costs for photovoltaic panels may crush the competitiveness of solar thermal, also known as concentrating solar power, or CSP. Photovoltaic panels, like those found on residential rooftops, produce electricity by converting ...

Governor Brown appointment January 12 2011
Governor Jerry Brown today announced the following appointment. Karen Ross, 59, of Alexandria, VA, has been appointed Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. She has been Chief of Staff with the United States Department of Agriculture since 2010. Previously, Ross served as President of the California Association of Winegrape Growers from 1996 to 2009. She was the Vice President of Government Relations for the Agricultural Council of California from 1989 to 1996. Ross serv...

Brown names Karen Ross as food and agriculture secretary
Gov. Jerry Brown today announced the appointment of Karen Ross as secretary of the State Department of Food and Agriculture. Ross, who most recently worked as Chief of Staff to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is the former president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers . She has also worked for the Agricultural Council of California and served on the California State Board of Food and Agriculture. The 59-year-old Democrat's experience in state agriculture i...

US court halts death penalty constitutionality case
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals suspended hearings on December 7 on the case, and announced Wednesday that by a 6-2 vote it would not let the case proceed. Judge Fine raised the issue in the case of John Green, 25. The prosecutor in the case has vowed to seek the death penalty for Green's involvement in a 2008 Robbery. However, Green's case has not been tried yet, so the appeals court ruled that the case was inadmissible. "Mr. Green asserts that he is innocent, but apparently assumes that...