A GOP lawmaker is again attempting to repeal a law that allows undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition if they attended a Utah high school for at least three years and graduated.

Last year, the repeal attempt failed in a tied House vote. This year, "I hope we can win it by one vote," said Rep. Glenn Donnelson, R-North Ogden.

Donnelson's argument for HB241 is simple: the state is violating federal law by giving an in-state tuition rate to undocumented students when it isn't available to U.S. citizens who aren't Utah residents.

However, those who support keeping the tuition law, passed in 2002, say Utah is on sound legal ground and that the undocumented students should have the same educational opportunities as their peers.

"The potential of a child is the most important thing," said Theresa Martinez, co-chairperson of Utahns for the American Dream, a coalition supporting the tuition law, which includes organizations such as the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce and Utah System of Higher Education.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. recently told the Deseret Morning News editorial board that he supports keeping the tuition law because "we should not hold the sins of the parents against the kids."

In the current academic year, preliminary numbers from the Utah System of Higher Education show 280 students are paying in-state tuition, for a total of $1.4 million in out-of-state tuition waived by state colleges and universities. Donnelson's law would grandfather in those students already attending a college or university, but would deny the in-state rate to students who enter after May 1, 2008.

"Your heart tugs at you, but a law has been broken," Donnelson says. "We cannot continue breaking laws."

Donnelson's efforts may be hurt somewhat by a federal appeals court's decision last fall to dismiss a similar Kansas tuition law because the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue.

However, Donnelson said that the ruling never addressed the merits of the law and that he may be helped by a growing frustration at the state Capitol over the federal government's failure to act on immigration reform.

"Now the states are dealing with it," said Donnelson, who is also sponsoring bills to allow local law officers to perform some immigration duties and to require that public employers verify new hires' legal status.

Some other lawmakers are also sponsoring bills dealing with illegal immigration, the most comprehensive of which is still being drafted by Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George. While the text has yet to be released, Hickman has told the Deseret Morning News that it won't include the tuition repeal.

Martinez says it may be advantageous to be able to single out the tuition bill as a separate issue, especially given that she's also noticed lawmakers seem more open to comprehensive legislation this year.

"There's a level of frustration that didn't exist last year," she says. "We're going to be working as hard as we can. We really need to have (federal) comprehensive immigration reform."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com