New immigration law has price for agencies

$2.5 million wanted for enforcement of tough standard

April M. Washington, Rocky Mountain News

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Several state agencies are seeking a combined $2.5 million to enforce a tough immigration law that took effect a month ago, state officials said Monday.

"Relative to the state's budget this is a small amount," said state Budget Director Henry Sobanet. "The additional cost is directly a result of the new law's impact."

At least five of the state's largest agencies are expected to submit supplemental budget requests to the Joint Budget Committee on Wednesday.

The agencies say they have seen a spike in workloads at driver's license offices and human service agencies statewide.

The Colorado legislature passed the measure during a special session in July, a law some say imposes the toughest immigration rules in the nation.

House Bill 1023 went into effect Aug. 1 and establishes strict identification rules that require tens of thousands of Coloradans to prove to local and state agencies they're in the country legally before they can obtain most government benefits.

Several agencies said Monday they are still working to identify the programs that fall under the law's umbrella as well as 15 other measures passed this summer and last spring that overlap and present their own set of challenges.

Sen. Abel Tapia, vice chairman of the JBC, said Monday he hadn't seen the requests for additional funding. Tapia said lawmakers had expected the state's immigration costs to climb, but not beyond what most state agencies could absorb in their existing budgets.

"These are supplemental requests above what was anticipated in the bills we passed in July. They'll have to explain where the additional costs are coming from," he said.

The additional $2.5 million could come from various sources, including the state's general fund and accounts that contain federal funds, said Sobanet. The monies would be used to address some of the immediate effects of the new legislation.

The Department of Revenue, for example, has fielded numerous complaints of longer wait times at DMV offices as clerks verify the legal immigration status of people applying for licenses and identification cards.

Also, more than 1,700 people have been caught attempting to use fake documents to get a driver's license or ID card in just the first month of the new law.

Meanwhile, Colorado's 64 counties are in charge of administering welfare benefits such as food stamps and Medicaid to more than 100,000 residents. And, many county human services departments have had to hire additional workers to verify the legal status of people applying for benefits, said Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services.

"We're getting into the more difficult areas of the legislation to determine certain aspects of what services are in or out," she said. "You can predict some of the costs and certain things, but as more things and more situations come to light, we'll have to determine the needs accordingly."

State officials said it will likely take months before they clearly understand the costs and scope of the new immigration laws. "It's important to remember that we're two months out from the special session. It's relatively soon," Sobanet said. "If it turns out that people were getting benefits they shouldn't have been, then we may see a reduction in costs. But that remains to be seen."

Funding Supplemental budget requests:

$1.2 million: Additional funding the Department of Labor and Employment is seeking to cover the costs of nearly 11 full-time employees needed to verify the legal status of residents seeking to participate in workforce development programs and applying for unemployment benefits.

$577,360 Funding the Department of Human Services is seeking to cover costs being footed by counties to enforce the new law.

$378,107 Funds the Department of Regulatory Agencies wants to modify its electronic licensing systems, its application process and to cover legal services.

$372,533 Monies the Department of Revenue wants to fund 10 temporary state employees to process and verify the legal status of residents applying for Colorado driver's licenses and identification cards and to cover increased costs to investigate fraudulent documents.Source: State Agencies