Gov. Deval Patrick’s controversial decision to allow undocumented immigrants holding work permits to pay in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities raised the hackles of Republicans and some Democrats on Beacon Hill. Rep. James Lyons, an Andover Republican, isn’t a fan of what he sees as Patrick’s back door move to provide in-state tuition by executive order. Calling Patrick’s gambit “insanity,” he’s introduced a bill that would kill the governor’s initiative by requiring that Massachusetts restrict state benefits to US citizens and legal immigrants. The rep’s office has been flooded with e-mails, 100 and counting, supporting his stance on denying in-state tuition and other benefits to undocumented immigrants.
But the governor’s got news for Lyons. “I don’t need to discuss with state lawmakers about the enforcement of existing policy,” the Springfield Republican quoted Patrick as saying Monday. “This isn’t about a change in policy and more to the point, it’s about the right thing to do.” Interestingly enough, Democrats, even the ones who weren’t happy with the governor’s move, aren’t flocking to sign on to the Lyons proposal.
Massachusetts has not been in the vanguard on in-state tuition for undocumented students. Rhode Island and New York already allow certain immigrants to pay the lower rate. As governor, Mitt Romney vetoed a 2004 proposal.
Texas offers an in-state tuition option, too, a fact that Gov. Rick Perry stood firm on even as the other Republican presidential contenders pummeled him on during the primary season. In a move now seen as a huge miscalculation, Romney continued to blast the Texas governor on the issue, only to end up making Perry look like a visionary as the heavy pro-Obama Latino vote continues to be sliced and diced by election analysts.
Lyons and other Bay State lawmakers working themselves up into a lather on immigration should ponder that some national Republicans are bowing to the demographic inevitable and are backing away slowly from opposition to regularizing the status of certain young people.
Sen. John McCain, who has put out his own mixed messages on immigration, is co-sponsoring a Dream Act-lite measure that would stop short of citizenship, but would give young people a path to permanent legal residency if they have worked in the US for four years or more and have completed military service or graduated from college.
Which begs this question: If the winds of change on immigration are picking up in Washington, can Bay State lawmakers afford to be blown off this new course by harrumphing over Patrick’s legal authority on in-state tuition?
–GABRIELLE GURLEY
BEACON HILL
The Globe tees up the litany of big problems piling up on Deval Patrick’s watch. Brian McGrory weighs in with this: “His governorship is basically falling off a cliff.” Patrick’s chief of staff Mo Cowan exits and is replaced by communications chief Brendan Ryan.
Among the huge problems, the drug lab scandal, whose costs just for public defense legal work, according to a new estimate, could reach one-third of a billion dollars. The enormous cost estimate assumes each of the 190,000 cases that went through the drug lab — not just those handled by Annie Dookhan — are challenged.
Former House speaker Tom Finneran has been granted immunity to testify before a federal grand jury probing patronage in the state Probation Department, the Globe reports. Howie Carr writes as if the immunity deal was old news, but he predicts that Finneran will turn on old pal John O’Brien, and that five lawmakers “may be getting target letters in the next round of indictments.” Rep. Harold Naughton tells the Herald his brief June appointment with the grand jury ended soon after he said House Speaker Robert DeLeo didn’t buy his vote with promises of patronage jobs.
As Steve Wynn lands in Everett to talk up a riverfront casino proposal, New Hampshire lawmakers are saying they, and pro-gambling Gov.-elect Maggie Hassan, could convert the Rockingham Park race track to a casino well before any Massachusetts casino opens. There’s also casino competition looming to the south, as Rhode Island voters recently approved a ballot question allowing the Twin Rivers slot parlor to expand to a full casino.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Scot Lehigh writes what many are whispering: It’s time for Tom Menino to call it quits.
Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua gives his former political rival, ex-rep. Jose Santiago, a $15-an-hour job in the Water and Sewer Department, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
Beverly Mayor Bill Scanlon says he will veto a law giving tax breaks to those who develop property along a single street. He says he wants the law changed to give him more flexibility in determining the size of a tax break, the Salem News reports.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
Susan Rice’s Capitol Hill charm offensive turns ugly. New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte is now vowing to block anyone the White House nominates to fill Hillary Clinton’s spot atop the State Department. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman searches for a fill-in for Rice, and bypasses John Kerry in favor of current education secretary Arne Duncan. Meanwhile, John Kerry is maintaining an unusually low profile.
President Obama launches a tax-the-rich road tour.
ELECTIONS
Massachusetts achieved a record turnout in the election when nearly three of every four voters voted, the Globe reports.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
The Cape Cod Times says “thank goodness for the remnants of Massachusetts blue laws,” which spared us a Black Thursday, otherwise known as Thanksgiving.
EDUCATION
State education officials indicate they may revoke the charter of the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School, the Gloucester Times reports. The Times also reports on an unusual $75,000 loan to the Gloucester charter school from the head of the Conservatory Lab Charter School in Boston.
Default rates on student loans — nearly all of which originate from the federal government — skyrocket. Student loan defaults now outpace credit cards and mortgages. CommonWealth’s Winter 2012 issue examined the education debt crunch.
TRANSPORTATION
Former transportation secretary James Aloisi, in the second of his three-part series for CommonWealth series on transportation financing, says reform before revenue was the wrong answer. In the third and final installment, Aloisi lays out five funding solutions. Aloisi and CommonWealth’s Gabrielle Gurley discuss the state’s transportation funding challenge in this “Face to Face” video.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Many governments are finding they can’t afford to continue paying fuel price subsidies, a development that Time says will lead to worldwide political instability.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Panzer, a Labrador mix, is the first pet to be protected under the state’s new domestic violence protection laws.
Ayer’s bylaw restricting where sex offenders can live is being challenged in federal court in Boston, the Lowell Sun reports.
A 15-year veteran English teacher at Lynn English High School is arrested for selling pot to students, the Item reports.
MEDIA
Radio Boston interviews its own station’s general manager, Charles Kravetz, about WBUR’s purchase of a Martha’s Vineyard radio station’s signal.
A new report from the Columbia Journalism School talks about the new role of journalists, the Nieman Journalism Lab reports.
NPR finds out what makes people share or like stories on Facebook, the Nieman Journalism Lab reports.
Read about the half man who is biting the hand that feeds him.