Colorado & Denver News

DENVER (AP) ― Batting aside sharp objections from minority Republicans, the Senate on Sunday gave tentative approval to the special legislative session's cornerstone bill to bar some state services to illegal immigrants.

Senators approved several amendments that Democrats said would satisfy concerns from GOP Gov. Bill Owens, but Republicans said among the key problems remaining was one glaring flaw: Voters would not be given a direct voice on the issue, as they would have with a ballot initiative the state Supreme Court disqualified last month in a move that prompted Owens to call the special session.

"The only real way to resolve the wrong that was done is to put something on the ballot," said Sen. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs.

The bill faces a final vote in the Senate before going back to the House for consideration of amendments. Legislators were meeting again Monday morning.

Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Golden, who is sponsoring the bill (House Bill 1023), said the measure has many advantages over the failed initiative. It more specifically spells out what services would be denied to illegal immigrants 18 years old and older, and it would go into effect Aug. 1 if Owens signs it, Fitz-Gerald said.

She also said it did not include a provision written into the initiative that would have allowed any resident who believed the state or local government was providing services to illegal immigrants to sue.

"We stand in a position here, members, to do something now," she said. "It leaves out the endless litigation ... that ultimately could cost us all the benefits we enjoy. We have the opportunity to effect change and effect it today and do our jobs as duly elected senators."

Owens' spokesman, Dan Hopkins, was meeting with Owens and was not immediately available for comment.

Opponents said the measure did not go far enough, merely denying to illegal immigrants the services that are already denied them under federal law.

"When we were called into special session, the people of this state were expecting to get steak and we have pablum," said Sen. Jim Dyer, R-Littleton. "The underlying problem is it's got all the back doors left open."

The bill would require adult applicants for non-emergency state services to present a state identification card or driver's license, or a military, Coast Guard or American Indian tribal identification and sign an affidavit stating they are in the country legally before they can obtain the service.

Violations would be misdemeanors. Illegal immigrants would be denied services such as college education; welfare benefits; non-emergency health care; professional or commercial licenses; unemployment and retirement benefits; and benefits for disabilities or public housing.

"It's nothing more than what's going on now," said Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Fort Collins.

Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, said the measure leaves the door open for future legislators to add to the list of services available to illegal immigrants.

"It's worse than a status quo bill," he said.

Frustrated with the lack of progress during the unusual Sunday session, the House adjourned for the day after passing only one bill.

Before leaving, the House voted 46-17 to approve a measure (Senate Bill 2) that would require the state Supreme Court to rule within 30 days of the filing of briefs in challenges to decisions by the state Title Board on ballot initiatives. The Senate voted to reject the House's changes, sending the measure back to the House for a decision on whether to let the bill die or accept the Senate version.

Before beginning debate on the last remaining major bill that would bar state services to illegal immigrants, the Senate resolved one major issue of the session, giving quick approval to House changes to a bill (Senate Bill 6) to restrict common-law marriage to people 18 and older. That measure now heads to the governor. Lawmakers proposed the bill after a state court ruled that girls as young as 12 and boys as young as 14 can marry.

The Senate also agreed to put a measure on the November ballot asking voters whether the attorney general should sue the federal government seeking to force it to enforce immigration laws.

The Senate approved several minor measures that now go to the governor for his signature. Those measures included a bill that would make it a felony for someone to vote in an election when the voter is not qualified, a bill that would make it a felony to subject illegal immigrants to extortion, and a bill to make it a felony to coerce illegal immigrants by withholding or threatening to destroy immigration documents.

(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)