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Immigration issues make Nov. ballot

Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 11, 2006 at midnight

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Colorado voters will see two measures dealing with immigration on the ballot in November, but neither is likely to be the failed initiative that led to the past week's special legislative session.

Democratic leaders announced Monday night they reached an agreement with Gov. Bill Owens to let voters weigh in on whether to file a lawsuit demanding the federal government enforce immigration law and on whether to prohibit businesses that hire illegal immigrants from receiving state tax credits.

A measure to keep illegal immigrants from receiving most government benefits - similar to Initiative 55, which was kicked off the ballot by the Supreme Court last month - would not go to voters under the plan announced by Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, and Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Coal Creek Canyon.

The two bills headed to the ballot, House Bill 1020 and House Bill 1022, are intended to placate those who wanted voters to have a voice in the discussion - even if the topic is different from Initiative 55.

House Bill 1020, if approved by voters, would prohibit any employer who cannot verify an employee is a legal U.S. resident from claiming that employee's wages as a deductible business expense. It would apply to employees hired on or after Jan. 1, 2008, and who were paid $600 or more in one year.

House Bill 1022 says the state attorney general will sue or join with other states in suing the federal government to demand that it enforce federal immigration laws.

Both bills have passed the House and Senate.

They do not need the governor's signature to be placed on the ballot.