CLT
UPDATE
Friday, January 6, 2006
So-called Mass. Taxpayers Foundation
again runs cover for tax-and-spenders
Letting undocumented immigrants who graduate from
Massachusetts high schools pay in-state tuition rates at public colleges
and universities would generate up to $5.7 million in new revenues by
2009, according to a report released yesterday by the Massachusetts
Taxpayers Foundation, a business-backed watchdog group.
The conclusion that the controversial bill is a money-maker and not a
costly burden to taxpayers was published just as House Speaker Salvatore
F. DiMasi told lawmakers that the bill would make it to the floor for a
vote next week, setting the stage for a divisive debate that has largely
fallen along party lines....
"The taxpayers foundation report really just eliminates the bogus claims
of critics that we can't afford this piece of legislation, and it puts
the in-state tuition bill in a position where we not only can afford it
as a state, but we need it as a state," said Ali Noorani, executive
director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition,
which is spearheading the lobbying effort behind the bill....
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation study concluded that the
legislation here would create virtually no costs for the state because,
by 2009, only 530 to 660 such students would take advantage of it.
That's a relative drop in the bucket in a higher education system with
160,000 students on nearly 30 campuses, the study's authors said.
The Boston Globe
Friday, January 6, 2006
Tax lobby sees gain in tuition proposal
Public colleges would attract $2.5 million in net new
revenues by 2009 if a law is approved to allow undocumented immigrants to attend
public higher education institutions and pay in-state rates, according to a
report released Thursday.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation report, hailed by supporters of the bill,
was released as activists on both sides of the issue braced from a potentially
bruising House floor debate, which could come as early as next week.
"This report definitely helps," said Ali Noorani, executive director of the
Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition and a leading organizer
of immigrant students who are pushing for the bill's passage....
Foundation officials believe undocumented student enrollment would grow from 100
in 2006 to 600 in 2009, leading to the receipt of several hundred thousand
dollars in tuition and fees in 2006 and $2.5 million by 2009....
Bob Casimiro, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration
Reform, which opposes the bill, says the report's premise that adding hundreds
of students without adding significant new costs doesn't hold up. "It just
doesn't make any sense to me," he said, noting students will require costly
services just as current students to.
If there is unused capacity in the higher education system that would enable
students to be added without major new costs, Casimiro says, then the system
should attract more "American students whose parents pay taxes into the
educational system."
State House News Service
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Study on immigrant tuition bill's cost fuels debate,
vote likely this month
The state’s public colleges would gain millions of dollars in
new revenue if undocumented immigrants were allowed to attend these schools at
in-state tuition rates, according to an analysis released today by the
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation
News Release - January 5, 2006
Massachusetts public colleges would gain millions of dollars
from undocumented immigrants
"The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation analysis puts to rest
bogus claims that the In-State Tuition Bill will be a financial burden," said
Ali Noorani, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee
Advocacy Coalition. "Over the past two months it has become exceedingly clear
that this legislation serves the education and economic interests of the
Commonwealth."
Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA)
News Release - January 5, 2006
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation declares
in-state tuition bill a benefit to Massachusetts
Chip Ford's CLT Commentary
We've sure started off the new year on the right note
with evidence that, as we've been saying for so many years, the
so-called
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation is a deceptively-named front
group of fat-cats which consistently provides cover and runs
interference during raids on your wallet and mine. Never has it
been so clear as it is today.
We have to wonder why the so-called Massachusetts
Taxpayers Foundation decided to jump in all of a sudden on --
taxpayer-subsidized higher education for illegal aliens.
And how did MTF coordinate its news release (hardly a
study, simply a news release) so precisely with the Massachusetts
Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), so that they both went
out on the very same day?
"Romney, speaking at an unrelated press conference,
said he had not seen the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation report and
refused to comment on its conclusions." But Ali Noorani had his
response prepared and in the news media's hands simultaneously with MTF.
Gee whiz, what a coincidence.
"The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation analysis puts
to rest bogus claims . . ." Noorani gushed.
The very definition of MTF providing cover,
again.
House Speaker Sal DiMasi is pushing hard for his
employer-funded universal health care in his House version of healthcare
reform -- which MTF and its members, fat-cat employers, vehemently
oppose. House Speaker Sal DiMasi is an advocate of taxpayers
subsidizing illegal aliens, for which MTF just provided cover, again.
Gee whiz, probably just another coincidence too.
You think?
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Chip Ford |
The Boston Globe
Friday, January 6, 2006
Tax lobby sees gain in tuition proposal
By Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff
Letting undocumented immigrants who graduate from Massachusetts high
schools pay in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities
would generate up to $5.7 million in new revenues by 2009, according to
a report released yesterday by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a
business-backed watchdog group.
The conclusion that the controversial bill is a money-maker and not a
costly burden to taxpayers was published just as House Speaker Salvatore
F. DiMasi told lawmakers that the bill would make it to the floor for a
vote next week, setting the stage for a divisive debate that has largely
fallen along party lines.
Governor Mitt Romney and Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey have blasted
the measure as a costly reward to those who flout federal immmigration
laws, and Romney has vowed to veto it. Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly
and Deval Patrick, two Democrats running for governor, have endorsed the
bill.
Healey, a possible Republican opponent to Reilly, has said the measure
would cost the state roughly $15 million in its first four years.
The Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill last year, but backers in
the House have struggled to build a coalition large enough to override a
veto, which takes a two-thirds majority.
They said yesterday that the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation report
could put them over the top by the time the vote takes place next week.
"The taxpayers foundation report really just eliminates the bogus claims
of critics that we can't afford this piece of legislation, and it puts
the in-state tuition bill in a position where we not only can afford it
as a state, but we need it as a state," said Ali Noorani, executive
director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition,
which is spearheading the lobbying effort behind the bill.
But Robert Casimiro -- who heads the Massachusetts Coalition for
Immigration Reform, which opposes the bill -- disputed the conclusions
and said he believes that the arrival of hundreds of undocumented
immigrant students would have plenty of costs for the state, both at
instititions of higher education and in general.
"The classes I have attended [at Massasoit Community College] are filled
to capacity; they would have to open new classes, and that costs money,"
Casimiro said. He added that Massachusetts could become a magnet for
undocumented immmigrants if the bill becomes law, which he believes
would cost the state in less obvious ways, such as social services and
public safety.
Romney, speaking at an unrelated press conference, said he had not seen
the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation report and refused to comment on
its conclusions. He said that he opposed the bill because he feels it is
wrong to extend tuition breaks to those who may have broken the law.
"Our support should be overwhelming for those who are here legally,"
Romney said. "I'd like to see more immigrants come to our state, not
fewer. I'd like to see more legal immigrants."
The study by the Taxpayers Foundation -- a nonpartisan, nonprofit group
-- did not wade into the social and political questions generated by the
legislation, which mirrors laws in nine other states, including Texas,
California, New York, and Illinois.
The study relied on data from the Massachusetts Board of Higher
Education; the New England Association of Schools and Colleges; the
state of Texas, the first state to enact such a law; and the Pew
Hispanic Center to answer some persistent questions raised by critics:
Would the bill cost the state money? How many students would take
advantage of such a law?
In November, a Globe review of enrollment figures in six of the nine
other states that have such laws found that most of those states have
seen modest gains in the number of illegal immigrants attending public
higher education institutions. In Texas, however, the increase was
sizable, jumping from about 1,500 in fall 2001 to about 8,000 in 2004.
Officials there attributed the increase to active marketing efforts to
recruit undocumented immigrant students.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation study concluded that the
legislation here would create virtually no costs for the state because,
by 2009, only 530 to 660 such students would take advantage of it.
That's a relative drop in the bucket in a higher education system with
160,000 students on nearly 30 campuses, the study's authors said.
Such an increase in enrollment, they argued, would not require colleges
to hire new professors, build new classrooms, or expend any expenses not
offset by tuition and fees.
Because few of the 200,000 to 250,000 undocumented immigrants living in
Massachusetts enroll in public colleges at present -- given the cost of
out-of-state rates, which top $18,000-a-year at the university level --
the costs cited by Healey and others are illusory, the report's authors
contend.
The taxpayers foundation study was the second report to call the
in-state tuition bill a financial boon for Massachusetts.
In November, the Boston Redevelopment Authority issued a report saying
the state would receive $4.20 in income taxes for every $1 spent by
cutting tuition for such students from the higher out-of-state rate to
the in-state price in the next 40 years.
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State House News Service
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Study on immigrant tuition bill's cost fuels debate,
vote likely this month
By Michael P. Norton
Public colleges would attract $2.5 million in net new revenues by 2009
if a law is approved to allow undocumented immigrants to attend public
higher education institutions and pay in-state rates, according to a
report released Thursday.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation report, hailed by supporters of
the bill, was released as activists on both sides of the issue braced
from a potentially bruising House floor debate, which could come as
early as next week.
"This report definitely helps," said Ali Noorani, executive director of
the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition and a leading
organizer of immigrant students who are pushing for the bill's passage.
"It actually confirms what we believed anyway," added Rep. Marie St.
Fleur (D-Dorchester), one of the bill's leading supporters in the House.
The proposal would allow undocumented immigrant students who have
graduated from a Massachusetts high school and spent at least three
years at the school to pay in-state tuition rates at a public college as
long as they have filed or plan to file an application for permanent
residency. Supporters say the bill would make higher education
affordable for immigrant students looking to place roots in
Massachusetts. Critics say the legislation subsidizes and rewards
illegal immigrants and may reduce educational opportunities for students
living here legally.
Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey has estimated that if the bill passed and 400
illegal immigrants paid in-state rather than out-of-state tuition rates
to attend the University of Massachusetts, the "cost to the taxpayers"
would be $14.4 million over four years. She says efforts should be made
first to assist legal immigrants waiting to take English classes.
But the foundation's report claims the "common perception" that the
policy would cost Massachusetts millions of dollars is based on a faulty
assumption that hundreds of undocumented immigrants now attend public
colleges and pay the significantly higher non-resident rates. Citing the
New England Association of Schools and Colleges as their source, the
report says "few if any" undocumented students are currently enrolled in
public colleges in Massachusetts.
According to the report, public colleges would incur little or no added
costs to educate at many as 600 undocumented immigrant students by 2009
because the volume of students represents a small fraction of the
estimated 160,000 students served at public universities, colleges and
community colleges.
Foundation officials believe undocumented student enrollment would grow
from 100 in 2006 to 600 in 2009, leading to the receipt of several
hundred thousand dollars in tuition and fees in 2006 and $2.5 million by
2009.
The projections are based on estimates of the number of undocumented
immigrants in Massachusetts and on the enrollment figures recorded over
four years in Texas, one of nine states that have adopted in-state
tuition laws.
Bob Casimiro, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition for
Immigration Reform, which opposes the bill, says the report's premise
that adding hundreds of students without adding significant new costs
doesn't hold up. "It just doesn't make any sense to me," he said, noting
students will require costly services just as current students to.
If there is unused capacity in the higher education system that would
enable students to be added without major new costs, Casimiro says, then
the system should attract more "American students whose parents pay
taxes into the educational system."
But St. Fleur said the study paints an accurate picture on the cost
front. "The fact that you add one student to a classroom is not going to
increase costs by anybody's imagination," she said, adding that
Massachusetts public policies need to react to the influx of immigrants
here, in spite of slight overall population declines.
According to the report, in addition to the new tuition revenues, the
bill's passage would also lead to "millions of dollars in additional
income and other taxes for Massachusetts" by expanding the pool of
skilled workers needed to propel the state's knowledge-based economic
sectors.
The report's conclusions are based in part on undocumented immigrant
expert Jeffrey S. Passel's estimate that two thirds of 1 percent of
undocumented immigrants in a given state graduate from high school each
year. Applying that percentage to the 200,000 to 250,000 undocumented
immigrants in Massachusetts, researchers concluded that 1,300 to 1,700
undocumented students would be expected to graduate from Massachusetts
high schools annually. The report suggests that about 40 percent of
expected graduates would attend public higher education institutions,
with many opting not to go to college, failing to legally qualify for
financial aid, or failing to meet eligibility criteria.
Rep. Jeffrey Perry (R-Sandwich), a leading opponent of the bill, said he
doesn't see the logic of providing discounted tuition to hundreds of
illegal immigrants to attend a system that "is crying out and saying
they need more money and resources" to deliver on employee contracts and
to repair crumbling infrastructure.
Perry, who believes the bill may surface for debate next Wednesday, also
disputed the assertion that the policy change would boost tax revenues.
"By their very nature, illegal immigrants can not become net producers
for society in that they don't have the ability to pay income taxes," he
said. "It's illogical not to assume that a number of the people we would
be providing taxpayer benefits to will never be taxpayers."
Another opponent of the bill, Rep. Marie Parente (D-Milford) said the
legislation is striking a nerve among constituents who don't qualify for
particular government services, and don't believe illegal immigrants
should qualify for benefits. "Where is the fairness and the equity?"
Parente said. "The wider subject and the wider issue is whether or not
this state will give benefits of any kind to people who entered
unlawfully."
At an unrelated press conference, Gov. Mitt Romney, whose threatened
veto of the bill means it needs two thirds support in both chambers,
said that with an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the country
and debate continuing on guest worker permits and other immigration
issues, he hopes a national solution can be reached.
Romney planned to look at the study.
"For me this is not a question of money," he said. "I do think that as a
nation we need to revisit our immigration policies and the status of
those who are here illegally, the status of those who come across the
borders. Obviously there been a great deal of discussion about the
porous nature of our borders . . . Certainly (we) want to support
immigration and immigrants. And our support should be overwhelming for
those who are here legally. I'd like to see more immigrants come to our
state, not fewer. I'd like to see more legal immigrants."
Many of the students who would benefit by the bill's passage have been
attending the public K-12 system for years, are known by the government,
and have never been the subject of deportation attempts, said St. Fleur.
"They want to go to college and they say, 'Let me pay the same as the
students I have been sitting with since first grade.'"
St. Fleur said the bill may surface next week, adding: "It's definitely
happening this month. It's time for a vote on this one way or the
other."
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Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation
News Release
January 5, 2006
Massachusetts public colleges would gain millions of dollars
from undocumented immigrants
The state’s public colleges would gain millions of dollars in new
revenue if undocumented immigrants were allowed to attend these schools
at in-state tuition rates, according to an analysis released today by
the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.
The Foundation projects that the Commonwealth would receive several
hundred thousand dollars in tuition and fees in 2006, an amount that
would increase to $2.5 million by 2009. Undocumented student enrollment
in the state would grow from nearly 100 in 2006 to 600 in 2009. The
tuition and fee payments would represent net new revenues to the state,
since public colleges would incur little or no added costs in
accommodating these small numbers of additional students, a tiny
fraction of the 160,000 public college students in Massachusetts.
The Foundation’s projections are based on estimates of the number of
undocumented immigrants in the Commonwealth and on Texas’ enrollment
experience during the first four years under a similar tuition policy.
In 2001, Texas was the first of nine states to pass this type of law.
Under a proposal currently before the Massachusetts Legislature, in-
state tuition rates would be extended to undocumented immigrants who
meet three eligibility criteria: These individuals must have graduated
from high school or obtained a GED; have lived in the Commonwealth for
at least three years; and have filed or plan to file an application for
permanent residency.
The Foundation’s finding that undocumented students would generate new
revenues contradicts the common perception that the proposed policy
would cost Massachusetts millions of dollars in forgone tuition and
fees, a conclusion based on the faulty assumption that hundreds of
undocumented immigrants now attend public colleges at much higher non-
resident rates. According to the New England Association of Schools and
Colleges, few if any undocumented students are currently enrolled in
public colleges in the Commonwealth.
It is also clear that over the long term Massachusetts would derive
positive benefits from increased tax revenues and a greater number of
educated workers if the new tuition policy were adopted. As MassINC
recently reported, immigrant college graduates in the Commonwealth earn
twice as much as their counterparts with just high school diplomas, a
margin that translates into millions of dollars in additional income and
other taxes for Massachusetts. At the same time, the policy would help
expand the pool of skilled workers available to the knowledge-based
industries that drive the Commonwealth’s economy.
Enrollment Projections
The Foundation projects that enrollment of undocumented immigrants would
grow from nearly 100 students in the fall of 2006 to about 600 in 2009
if these students were allowed to pay in-state tuition and fees at
Massachusetts’ public higher education institutions.
Projected Enrollments of Massachusetts Undocumented Immigrants
Total Undocumented Immigrants {1}
2006 200,000-250,000
2007 200,000-250,000
2008 200,000-250,000
2009 200,000-250,000
Projected Enrolled Undocumented Immigrants
2006 70-80
2007 190-240
2008 320-400
2009 530-660
The Foundation’s estimates are based on (1) the experience in Texas, the
first state to pass this type of law and the one that has released the
most data, and (2) the best available estimate of the number of
undocumented immigrants in the Commonwealth. The projections are derived
by applying the annual ratio of undocumented public college students to
the undocumented population in Texas in the first four years of its
program (2001-2004) to the estimated 200,000-250,000 undocumented
population in Massachusetts in 2006-2009. Based on the Texas experience,
enrollments would grow as students learn about the program and prepare
academically and financially to pursue higher education.
National estimates of the number of undocumented immigrants completing
high school each year confirm the reasonableness of these projections.
Undocumented immigrant expert Jeffrey S. Passel of the Pew Hispanic
Center estimates that two-thirds of one percent of undocumented
immigrants in a given state graduate from high school each year.
Applying this percentage to the 200,000-250,000 undocumented immigrants
in Massachusetts, 1,300-1,700 undocumented students would be expected to
graduate from high school annually. The Foundation’s projection of
530-660 undocumented public college students in 2009, approximately
two-fifths of the expected high school graduates, makes sense because
some of these graduates would choose not to go to college; others would
need financial aid, which they cannot legally receive, in order to
attend; and still others would fail to meet the proposed legislation’s
eligibility criteria.
Lacking undocumented student enrollment figures in Texas for 2005, the
Foundation has made no projections beyond 2009. Nevertheless, public
college enrollment of undocumented immigrants in the Commonwealth would
likely continue to grow for a few years beyond 2009, albeit at a slower
rate. Given the limited number of undocumented immigrants finishing high
school each year, the growth would reach a plateau as the program
matures.
New Revenues
The newly admitted undocumented students would generate significant
additional revenues for the state’s public colleges, growing from
several hundred thousand dollars in 2006 to about $2.5 million in 2009,
based on the Foundation’s enrollment estimates and the Massachusetts
Board of Higher Education’s current tuition and fee schedule. {2} If
enrollment continued to grow beyond 2009, as is likely, the annual
revenues would rise even more.
Projected Tuition and Fees Paid by Massachusetts Undocumented Immigrants
Projected Enrolled Undocumented Immigrants
2006 70-80
2007 190-240
2008 320-400
2009 530-660
Projected Tuition and Fees
2006 $290,000-$330,000
2007 $780,000-$980,000
2008 $1.31-$1.64 million
2009 $2.17-$2.70 million
These projections assume that 85 percent of undocumented students would
enroll at community colleges, ten percent at UMass, and five percent at
state colleges. The Commonwealth’s enrollment patterns for those who pay
in-state rates support this breakdown, which is consistent as well with
the experience in Texas. {3} While 53 percent of Massachusetts students
paying resident rates attend community colleges, a higher percentage of
undocumented students would almost certainly enroll in these more
affordable schools. If undocumented immigrants went to the more
expensive UMass or state colleges in greater proportions than we have
assumed, then revenues from this program would increase.
These tuition and fee payments represent net new revenues for public
colleges, since the campuses would incur virtually no new costs from the
small number of undocumented students who would attend for the first
time. According to the Foundation’s enrollment estimates, undocumented
students would constitute a minuscule 0.4 percent of the state’s more
than 160,000 public college students, or an average of about 20 students
per undergraduate campus. Massachusetts education officials confirm that
their schools can accommodate these small numbers of additional students
without incurring new costs.
{1} Jeffrey S. Passel, “Estimates of the Size and Characteristics of the
Undocumented Population,” Pew Hispanic Center, March 21, 2005, p. 6. The
estimate of 200,000-250,000 for the Commonwealth’s undocumented
population covers 2002-2004. Given uncertainties about future changes in
this population, the Foundation uses this estimate for 2006-2009 as
well.
{2} Massachusetts Board of Higher Education: Fiscal Policy (Tuition &
Fee Survey). This survey uses weighted averages to apportion in-state
tuition and mandatory fees according to school enrollments. The
Foundation’s projections hold these fees and tuitions, which have
increased yearly since 2001, constant for four years. Projected revenues
would rise if either fees or tuitions increase above current levels.
{3} For students paying resident rates in the fall of 2003, UMass
enrollment exceeded state college enrollment by five percent, the same
margin that the Foundation’s projections assume. For the falls of 2001-
2004 in Texas, 80 percent of undocumented students enrolled at community
colleges, 19 percent at the University of Texas campuses, and one
percent at state colleges.
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Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy
Coalition (MIRA)
January 5, 2006
News Release
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation declares
in-state tuition bill a benefit to Massachusetts
Boston, MA - Today, the Massachusetts Taxpayers' Foundation released an
analysis laying out the case that Massachusetts public colleges would
gain millions of dollars from undocumented immigrants if they were
allowed to attend these schools at in-state tuition rates.
According to their news release, "The Foundation's finding that
undocumented students would generate new revenues contradicts the common
perception that the new policy would cost the Commonwealth millions of
dollars in forgone fees and tuitions, a conclusion based on the faulty
assumption that hundreds of undocumented immigrants now attend public
colleges at non-resident rates."
"The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation analysis puts to rest bogus
claims that the In-State Tuition Bill will be a financial burden," said
Ali Noorani, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and
Refugee Advocacy Coalition. "Over the past two months it has become
exceedingly clear that this legislation serves the education and
economic interests of the Commonwealth."
Noorani continued, "Given recent news that our state's population is
decreasing, and our skilled workforce lags in comparison to other
states, it is painfully obvious we need this legislation."
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MIRA works to advocate for the rights and opportunities of immigrants
and refugees. In partnership with its members, MIRA advances this
mission through education, training, leadership development, organizing,
policy analysis and advocacy.
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