A Mean-Spirited Amendment
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44 responses to “A Mean-Spirited Amendment”
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“It is likely that some non-DACA students who were on the margins of qualifying for financial aid, and would have gotten some otherwise, will lose out to DACA students who are more needy.”
Rest assured each and every one will be covered extensively here on BR…
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Assuming that it is somehow, anyhow, driven on a merit system first, only one such event will happen… the fight for last place.
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DACA represents continuing strong Conservative attitudes towards the immigration issue in general IMHO.
One would think that DACA could be a starting point for compromise since DACA folks are here by circumstances beyond their own doing and really this IS their home.
In times past, it would be no contest to grant DACA folks citizenship but today, it’s a non-starter.
Morrisey and Spruill had a chance to stand up for BOTH and instead rewarded the hard-core which apparently includes Youngkin.
Youngkin is, as we speak, building his credentials for national office.
I give him credit. He knows what he is doing, clearly.
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DACA is neither in the Constitution nor in the compromise set of political virtues.
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I’m the first to admit I do not understand exactly how the Constitution and Laws work (or not).
For instance, it appears that some laws passed can be found to be not Constitutional later after challenge and apparently so even for some things that are not actually in the Constitution.
So that’s where immigration and related issues seems to be – which I admit I don’t know all the dimensions or history.
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Given the billions in reserves, not quite sure why one group was pitted against the other over a lousy $5 million. But one group represents registered voters and the other not so much. As a former SCHEV member who pushed to give the DACA students in-state status, let me add this: The state’s pot of scholarship money should just be there for those who need it, and carving it into special funds to pander to special groups was stupid to begin with and set up this situation. Earmarks have risks.
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Good article Dick … thanks for sharing.
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Hmmmm…… supporting citizens over non-citizens. What a novel idea.
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Yeah, having laws permitting immigration, disfavoring native born population growth, for non-citizens is just crazy.
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thus the “tell” for folks who claim to be Conservative and Libertarian.
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It disfavors *legal* immigrants. I know a load of them, they bring honor and glory to this country. I will NOT EVER stop being a voice for them and the positives they bring this country for their work and sacrifice in being here.
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“As several Democrats pointed out, there was enough revenue available to help both high-need groups.”
What revenue would you have redirected, to meet the needs of both groups?
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The Appropriations Act for 2022-2024 shows an ending balance of over $15 million. In addition, hundreds of millions were placed in a discretionary reserve fund, in addition to the required deposits into the rainy day fund. The money was there. No revenue needed to be “redirected”.
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Just when you think they can go no lower, they dig just a little deeper.
When I was a cruel child, we would tie two baits with a long string and toss them to the seagulls on the fishing pier. It was a source of amusement to watch the birds try flying tethered to one another. Eventually, one would cough up his prize and end the fight. The winner, of course, would lose in the days ahead with a blocked gut.
Meh, seagulls, who cares? More where they came from, eh?
Hey! This is EXACTLY like this amendment.
Meh, seagulls, who cares? More where they came from, eh?
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There are plenty of back door tricks to get a “Dreamer” in state tuition at any NVCC campus. It takes a little persistence and figuring out how to get some one-on-one time with the director of admissions. I cannot recall an instance where I failed to help a former student achieve this.
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Back door? Isn’t that how they are always expected to enter? This was a front door.
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Back doors work better. Making the most of the opportunity and demonstrating gratuity are the only requirements.
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The front door is for “real people”…
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where were your parents! geeze…
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It was my friend’s father what taught to us.
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Wow… and to think I swore off hunting and firearms because of the guilt I felt from once shooting a common sparrow with a pellet gun.
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It was an illustrative example of cruelty subjected by morally superior beings on those they view as inferior… just like Youngkin.
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BTW, are those the only criteria for in-state eligibility? They seem to preclude someone who moves to Virginia after high school and who has been working, paying taxes, and living independently. What of “adult continuing education” students? The “and” is highly restrictive.
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There is a Code section that has been on the books for awhile that covers citizens. To qualify for in-state tuition, one has to have established his domicile for at least a year in the Commonwealth. The statue I linked to is the one that applies regardless of citizenship status. It seems to me that it could be read to everyone, including citizens.
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When government picks winners and losers by race and national origin, the losers always have a legitimate gripe – a constitutional equal protections complaint.
The General Assembly and the Governor should have considered the classic reasons for scholarships – merit and need – and allocated whatever money was available for this expenditure on those criteria.
As soon as there are interest groups rewarded and penalized as part of a racial and national origin spoils system, the government is out of bounds.
Consider the fate of the debt forgiveness set asides for Black farmers passed by Congress and signed by President Biden in 2021. A lower court blocked the program and the Justice Department, in a very unusual move, passed up the chance to appeal. That decision was made because they anticipated that a loss in the Supreme Court would jeopardize many other federal programs with racial set asides.
“It is probably a good idea not to appeal it,” said Lloyd Wright, former director of the USDA’s Civil Rights Office. He said new criteria for which farmers qualify for debt relief could get the funds flowing soon.”
“Our coalition has offered a definition that removes race from the class of farmers that would receive debt relief and direct payments,” Wright added. “Our proposal has received broad support from the Black community.”
I advocate for government support to education and healthcare for the poor pretty much every week, but I do not recommend racial criteria for such support. It is not the right way to go about it, because it jeopardizes broad support and risks successful challenges in court.
I recommend that in the future the Governor and the General Assembly follow Mr. Wright’s lead and, like the case of the Black farmers, remove race from the targets for expenditures. By failing to do so, they risk the very programs that they support.
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The financial aid in that pot set aside for DACA would have still been awarded based on merit and need.
It sounds as if you do not think HBCUs should be accorded special consideration.
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Good point. Yes, HBCUs have special consideration apparently because enough people feel they were systemically discriminated against and now deserve special considerations.
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Those black farmers were ORIGINALLY discriminated against on the basis of RACE.
How do the people who had their land taken away from them get justice?
re: ” I recommend that in the future the Governor and the General Assembly follow Mr. Wright’s lead and, like the Black farmers, remove race from the targets for expenditures. By failing to do so, they risk the very programs that they support.”
so how do you prove you were discriminated against by the USDA without showing why or how?
It’s almost like we cannot admit or refuse to, that there actually was discrimination based explicitly on race that DID cause lasting and generational economic damage to people.
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Given the billions in reserves, not quite sure why one group was pitted against the other over a lousy $5 million. But one group represents registered voters and the other not so much. As a former SCHEV member who pushed to give the DACA students in-state status, let me add this: The state’s pot of scholarship money should just be there for those who need it, and carving it into special funds to pander to special groups was stupid to begin with and set up this situation. Live by the earmark, die by the earmark.
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I agree with you that the scholarship pot should be there for those who need it. Earmarking some of it just puts a bull-eye on it. Instead of earmarking, just make sure the pot is big enough.
By the way, I just got around to finishing my search for the origin of this amendment. I knew that it was not in Northam’s introduced bill. I assumed that it arose in the Senate, but I could not find it. My assumption was wrong–it originally came from the House Appropriations Committee! https://budget.lis.virginia.gov/amendment/2022/1/HB30/Introduced/CA/142/5h/ So Youngkin scuttled a Republican initiative and the House Republicans went along with the scutttling.
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Disappointed in Youngkin. He had an opportunity to prove his good intentions to not be “divisive” and instead showed otherwise.
too bad.
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The funding was actually included in Gov. Northam’s outgoing budget. Here is the budget document – http://publicreports.dpb.virginia.gov/rdPage.aspx?rdReport=BDoc2022_Agency&iptAgency=245&rdAgReset=True
And from the actual Northam’s outgoing budget bill – K. Out of this appropriation, $8,000,000 the first year and $8,800,000 the second year from the general fund is designated for students eligible for state need-based financial aid pursuant to § 23.1-505.1 of the Code of Virginia.The amendment you cite was the House’s amendment reducing the amount to reflect updated projections on the potential number of students eligible.
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Being ignored is the fact that the DACA program was ruled unlawful in July 2021 and appeals are still going forward, the latest of which will be heard next Tuesday, July 6. The administrative program only provided temporary protection from deportation and for work permits. It did not, and could not, provide for participation in state or federal programs designed for citizens.
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You are correct. However, the federal court’s ruling on the DACA program does not prevent a state from extending in-state tuition to the persons without regard for this immigration status.
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Understood. The reason I replied was it seems that some people might have been under the impression that the DACA program itself provided that temporary DACA recipients were to be treated as U.S. citizens.
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Dick I flat out owe NOTHING to criminals. NONE. I want and have advocated for Americans to be helped. I am very very proud of Gov. Youngkin for putting money back to helping our own folks. African Americans, Hispanic Americans, those legally here, get help first. End of discussion. I’m not paying for every one and his brother. I shouldn’t have to be where I can’t pay for needs when thousands of criminals get the $$$. Its wrong. I’ve gone up against Lopez before and I’ll do it again. If you or any one else wants to support them AFTER you pay to help your fellow Americans, go for it. Do NOT require us to do so.
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I gather that you think that people brought to the United States as children when their parents illegally entered this country are criminals. That is a pretty harsh position. Is this a version of “the sins of the fathers being visited upon the sons”? However, maybe we should follow the words of Ezekiel 18:20: “The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father.”
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You got it. The word is “illegal”. What you and others forget is the ONLY reason that part of the constitution was done was for the former enslaved/African American folks. Stop rewarding illegal behavior.
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Why is Virginia Union University in Richmond not included as a Virginia HBCU?
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Virginia Union and Hampton University are HBCUs, but, because they are private schools, they do not receive state appropriations for financial assistance to students. However, under the state TAG program, Virginia residents who attend Virginia Union or Hampton University are eligible for tuition assistance grants.
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How about all these folk get off the public dole and pay there own way.. it’s enough that we provide them with free k thru 12, not to mention free breakfast and lunch..
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If you had read my post, you would realize that the DACA student or his parents must have filed state income tax forms for at least two years before applying for in-state tuition. In addition to those income taxes, they have been paying state and local sales taxes for stuff they buy. In sum, they have been contributing to the public treasury.
Furthermore, they are not getting a free college education. They are subject to the same in-state tuition and fees that other Virginia residents must pay. If they qualify, under the same criteria as everyone else has to, for financial assistance, they will have to pay the tuition that remains after the financial assistance is taken into account. In summary, they are “paying their own way”. Perhaps, however, you would prefer that there be no financial assistance for anyone and that every student be required to pay his own way, thereby making higher education accessible only to children from upper-middle class and upper class families.
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Another strawman argument. Why should any one who came here illegally get to slap the face of legal immigrants? I’ve seen what they have to go through. Why should a couple who have been here almost 15 years LEGALLY, paying taxes, no crimes, working in science fields, contributing to America, end up going back home to their country because they can’t get VISA’s and get slapped in the face with DACA’s getting rights?
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Shouldn’t even give free education. Since abortion at any stage is something the Chinese govt. does, and that’s what progressives want, they also do not provide education to these kids. https://thediplomat.com/2015/03/chinas-hidden-children/ So since progressives want to have the same abortion rights as China, lets do the same thing for education then.
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