BillHobbs.com is a frequently updated blog of original reporting and commentary by Bill Hobbs, a longtime Nashville journalist and media relations adviser. I am currently serving as communications director for the Tennessee Republican Party, a job I began on Oct. 29, 2007.
Donna Locke of Tennesseans for Immigration Control and Reform sends along this summary of what the state legislature did - or, I should say, didn't do - to combat illegal immigration. Locke also updates progress - or lack thereof - at the national level.
The state legislative session has ended. Apparently only one immigration-related bill we supported was passed: HB 0111, the public contracts bill.
Not even the Democrats' version of the highway-patrol-immigration-enforcement bill was passed.
Toward the end of the session, some legislators tried to amend other bills in order to get some of the items we want. Those efforts failed, along party lines reportedly. In other words, the Democrats killed them. But the Republicans are not without fault in these bill failures.
A number of Republican state lawmakers and a few Democratic lawmakers worked hard to get some of these bills passed. Those who worked hardest by sponsoring and talking up the bills we want are:
Rep. Donna Rowland - R, Rep. Tom DuBois - R, Sen. Mark Norris - R, Sen. Bill Ketron - R, Rep. Curry Todd - R, Rep. Dolores Gresham - R, Rep. Gary Moore - D, Sen. Joe Haynes - D, Rep. Frank Buck - D, Rep. Debra Young Maggart - R, Sen. Doug Jackson - D, Sen. Don McLeary - R
They had some backup, but they were the primary sponsors of the hard-hitting immigration-related state bills.
On the federal level, don't be fooled by Sen. Lamar Alexander's vote against the bad Senate bill, S. 2611.
Lamar Alexander actually supports the bad stuff in the bill. He's made that clear for some time. He found something to quibble about and voted against the final bill, but he has sided with the amnesty/guest-worker/increased-immigration folks for a long time. That's why he has a D grade from Americans for Better Immigration. Alexander voted to invoke cloture on the bill before he voted against the final bill. Invoking cloture cuts off debate on the bill.
As one of the folks in the movement put it:
"If you've expressed gratitude to your senators for voting NO on S. 2611, you may have missed a sneaky trick they pulled along with my Senator Jon Kyl (AZ).
Check how they voted on cloture of 2611 -- they voted YES to bring the bill to a Senate floor vote rather than filibuster it and let it die. The 10 senators who voted YES on cloture and then 'flip-flopped' to vote NO on S. 2611 (as Alexander did -- D.L.) knew that the bill would pass a Senate floor vote. So if they were REALLY opposed to amnesty, why didn't they vote NO on cloture as real patriots did -- Jeff Sessions, Ernest Inhofe, Byron Dorgan, Robert Byrd and the rest.
These 10 senators voted to let it go for a floor vote because they really wanted S. 2611 to pass -- there's just no other explanation! Then they played good cop, bad cop and tried to recover their 'anti' image by voting NO on passage, well aware that their NO vote was just symbolic.
If you really oppose a bill that is expected to pass, you'll do anything possible to prevent a floor vote, and cloture would have been the obvious way."
On the state and federal levels, our cause would be best served by voting out as many Democrats as possible -- unless the person is a Democrat truly committed to our cause -- and voting into office real Republicans. The "real" part is the catch.
House Bill 0111, which Donna referred to, prevents any person from contracting with the state or any state entity, or bidding for such a contract, for a period of one year from the discovery that the person receives services from illegal immigrants.
It's a good bill.
But it's the only thing the legislature did about illegal immigration this year, and it's not nearly enough.
I sometimes wonder if we wouldn't be best served by simply voting out every incumbent in every local, state and federal office every few years, regardless of party. On the illegal immigration issue, it's become painfully obvious that the current crop of politicians isn't going to do the right thing, and that, if we picked 100 senators at random by grabbing two ordinary American adults out of line at a Wal-Mart in each state, we'd be more likely to get a secure border and illegal immigration under control.
If the state ignores illegal immigration then there's no problem right?
Ummm, sorry no.
It's estimated that uninsured hispanic births cost Tennesssee over $50 million last year and Tennessee saw and increase of 53% from 2000 to 2003. See my most recent blog post.
Below is a description of what is occuring in N.C. You will see the use of the word "fortunate" as it relates to taxpayers. A word the News Sentinel editor used in support of Bredesen spending all of the state revenue surplus this year.
WakeMed, a 515-bed hospital in Raleigh, N.C., saw Hispanic births rise from 463 in 1997 to 1,819 in 2005. A 392% increase!
Hispanics account for about 36 percent of the births at the hospital. Most years, more than 90 percent are Mexican, said Dr. Juan Granados, who trains obstetrics residents at the hospital.
Only about 3 percent of the families have health insurance, he said. Fortunately, the state provides a special Medicaid payment to help offset such unreimbursed care, he added.
"So the hospitals don't go into bankruptcy," said Granados, a University of North Carolina professor of obstetrics and gynecology and maternal and fetal medicine.
The Senate Sellout
After voting in May, 2006 to build a border fence, yesterday, July 13, 2006 the Senate voted 71 to 29 not to fund the fence. The list of who voted against and who voted for should be on the Senate site later. Tennesseans involved in summertime activities should take the time to let these fine gentleman know how they feel.
Posted by: Mary Chamberlain at July 14, 2006 7:24 AM
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Donna Locke of Tennesseans for Immigration Control and Reform sends along this summary of what the state legislature did - or, I should say, didn't do - to combat illegal immigration. Locke also updates progress - or lack thereof - at the national level.