Tuition bill appears dead

A bill to repeal in-state tuition for qualified undocumented immigrants is on life support, but not dead, after a motion to reconsider Tuesday's vote on HB224 failed today in a 36-38 vote.

The bill died in a tied vote Tuesday, but a co-sponsor, Rep. Keith Grover, R-Provo, was absent.

Today, Rep. Roger Barrus, R-Centerville, had sought to amend the bill to grandfather in all students who enroll before 2010 to give Congress time to act.

"We support the rule of law and we support education," Barrus said.

HB224 would repeal a 2002 law allowing undocumented students pay in-state tuition if they attend a Utah high school for three years and graduate.

After today's vote, HB224 goes to the House rules committee, but the measure could still return if a successful motion is made to lift it from that committee. The bill's co-sponsor, Rep. Glenn Donnelson, R-North Ogden, said, "I worked hard on it and I will continue to work hard."

Donnelson said the bill and others he's sponsoring deal with illegal immigration because of a frustration over a lack of federal action on the issue.

"We just have a problem here," Donnelson said. "We graduate them and they can't get a job. It absolutely has to change."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com