Session ends with Owens, Dems deal

Some Republicans upset that plan won't go to voters

Lynn Bartels And April M. Washington, Rocky Mountain News

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Democrats reached a deal Monday with GOP Gov. Bill Owens on a package of illegal immigration bills, but several Republicans exploded at what they saw as a sellout.

"Bill Owens is the Bill Clinton of Colorado politics," said Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield.

"He took over eight years ago, when the Republicans were in the majority in the legislature, and he's lost that. Now he continues to triangulate and make clever deals and treasure his personal approval rating."

But Democrats and Owens touted the bills - including a measure to ban government services to illegal immigrants - as the toughest immigration measures in the nation.

"There's a lot of politics that have been played on both sides," Owens said. "I'm understanding of the fact that not everybody got what they wanted."

The compromise came near the end of a bitter five-day special session and was reached after hours of closed-door, intense negotations that left most lawmakers idle for hours.

The Senate finished first, and the the House followed, adjourning at 11:17 p.m.

Republicans remained frustrated that they were unable to get on the ballot a proposed constitutional amendment that would let voters have a say in banning services to immigrants.

And they were upset when the governor pulled his support for a proposal that would have required all Colorado workers, including seasonal ski employees and the military, to obtain a state ID.

The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Al White, R-Winter Park, ripped the governor at a House GOP caucus.

To the horror of some Republicans, he named prominent Colorado homebuilders and GOP donors who had lobbied the governor Sunday about the bill, saying it would drive up home costs by impacting their labor pool.

"That tells me business in Colorado is not really serious about doing away with illegal immigration in this state, and this whole special session has been b---s---," White angrily said.

It's the second year in a row a core group of Republicans has felt betrayed by the governor.

Last year they were upset that he supported the tax measure Referendum C.

House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, cautioned Republicans not to vote against the immigration bills that were "good public policy" just because they were angry and to direct their energy toward winning back the majority in November.

"Unfortunately, as you may have noticed, we're in the minority," May said.

Owens, during a news conference in his office, shared his frustration about business leaders trying to thwart immigration bills.

"There's clear evidence employers don't want tough laws to prevent them from hiring illegal immigrants," he said.

"It doesn't take much to connect the dots."

But he echoed Democrats in praising what legislation survived, including the measure banning services, House Bill 1023.

Owens said that once that measure becomes law, on Aug. 1, nearly 1 million Coloradans currently receiving welfare benefits will have to provide proof of citizenship when they renew for those benefits.

"Virtually everybody agrees that public services should be for those who are here legally," he said.

Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Coal Creek Canyon, and House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, also praised the compromise package.

"We're writing Colorado history here," Fitz-Gerald said.

"As part of Colorado's history we want to be able to look in the mirror and say we did legislation that was tough, fair to the taxpayers, enforceable and humane."

The Senate passed House Bill 1023 on a 22-13 vote, with nine of the 17 Republicans voting for it and four of the 18 Democrats voting against it. In the House, it passed 48-15.

Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, one of the no votes, said he talked to government officials and voters in his district who were concerned the bill would restrict too many services.

He also said he's concerned about Colorado "going it alone."

"I'm uncomfortable with the state of Colorado, its agencies and local and county workers being federal immigration officers, especially without any federal money," Tupa said.

But Rep. Debbie Stafford, R-Aurora, said at the caucus that she was upset that the bill exempted children under 18.

"We're helping create the next generation of terrorists," she said.

Owens called lawmakers back into session after the Colorado Supreme Court last month disqualified from the ballot a proposed constitutional measure that would have banned services to illegal immigrants beginning July 1, 2007.

Republicans wanted lawmakers to put a form of that proposal, Initiative 55, on the ballot.

Romanoff questioned why, noting the measure would have allowed citizens to sue government agencies, such as water and transit districts, that served non-citizens.

"The ballot measure was an invitation to litigation," he said. "It would have been a full employment act for every constitutional lawyer in the United States."

Former Denver Mayor Federico Peña, chairman of Keep Colorado Safe, a group that was formed to fight Initiative 55, praised the compromise deal.

"We feel the legislature has produced a balanced and productive solution to the immigration challenge," he said.

And Owens said House Bill 1023 is far stronger and more substantive than Initiative 55, but many Republicans wanted to see a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

"I think it is outrageous that something is not on the ballot," May said.

But he credited Republicans, in the House in particular, for forcing Democrats to crack down on illegal immigration. He and Rep. Dave Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, noted Democrats are now supporting proposals they once fought.

"We ought to think of this as a good victory for our side," Schult-heis said. "We have come a huge light-year from where we were 1 1/2 years ago."

Democrats took control of the legislture in 2004 for the first time since the 1960 election.

House Bills 1023 and 1017

Main provisions of the cornerstone bill of the session, House Bill 1023, and of another key bill targeting employers:

HB 1023

• Benefits: To get public benefits, people over 18 would have to prove that they are in Colorado legally.

• Penalties: The maximum penalty for falsifying information would be a year and a half in jail and a $5,000 fine for each offense.

• Restrictions: The measure would restrict retirement, welfare, health, disability, public or assisted housing, postsecondary education, food assistance, unemployment or any other similar benefits from state or local governments. It also would restrict public grants, contracts, loans, professional licenses and commercial licenses.

HB 1017

• Legal workers: Employers would have to examine and save proof that workers they hire are here legally.

• Proof: State would be able to audit and verify the proof.

• Penalties: Violation would mean $5,000 fine for first offense and $25,000 for every subsequent offense.

bartels@RockyMountainNews.com