Touch?, Sen. Simonaire. Simonaire is a Maryland state senator representing Anne Arundel County. He’s a Republican, which means that in the Papa Smurf-blue state of Maryland he’s probably regarded as something of a threat, a menace and a royal pain in the neck.
As a Republican in a state where Democrats enjoy near hegemony, Simonaire probably considers it his duty – and that of other members of his party – to inject common sense into debates and discussions when Democrats fail to do so. Take what happened last week as an example.
Sen. Victor Ramirez, a Democrat from Papa-Smurf-bluer-than-Maryland Prince George’s County, has proposed a bill that would allow the children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at Maryland colleges and universities. Megan Poinski, a reporter for the Web site http://marylandreporter.com, summed up the essence of Ramirez’s proposed legislation.
“Ramirez’s bill would take a student’s citizenship out of the determination for whether he or she qualifies for in-state tuition. State residents pay about $8,600 in tuition each year to attend the University of Maryland, College Park. Illegal immigrants, who are not currently counted as state residents, must pay out-of-state tuition rates, about $25,000 a year.”
Now this Ramirez guy must consider himself quite the clever fellow, because, according to Poinski’s story, he had this to say about the tuition non-Maryland residents have to pay.
“That’s not a car payment; that’s a car.”
So your point would be what, exactly, Mr. Ramirez? Parents of UMCP students who live in 49 other states have to pay tuition that’s the equivalent of a car.
The good senator from Prince George’s County has no problem with that. But when it comes to the children of those who, by definition, have broken the law either by entering the country illegally or remaining in it illegally, then that, somehow, isn’t fair.
Ramirez wants children of illegal immigrants who have “attended a Maryland high school for at least two years, can provide proof that their parents or guardians have paid taxes and who have applied to be legal permanent residents (to) be able to qualify for the in-state tuition rate,” according to Poinski’s story.
The Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee of the Maryland Senate held hearings on Ramirez’s bill last week. According to Poinski’s story, Ramirez was still on his be-kind-to-lawbreakers kick when he got done introducing his bill.
“Why should they be held responsible for the sins of their fathers?” he asked, according to Poinski’s story. It was at that point the annoying Simonaire injected some unwelcome (for Democrats) logic into the discussion.
“With our dire budget situation,” Simonaire asked, “why are our taxpayers held responsible for the sins of their fathers?”
With one succinct, brilliant interrogative sentence Simonaire has become my new hero. With, I’m willing to bet, a smile on his face and a song in his heart, Ramirez has proposed having Maryland taxpayers do exactly what Simonaire accused him of doing: having us pay for the sins of the fathers of children whose parents came to this country illegally, or remained here after their visas had expired. And Ramirez wants to sock it to Maryland taxpayers to the tune of $3.5 million.
That’s how much Ramirez’s bill would cost us, according to Poinski’s story. And believe me, that figure is a minimum. Can you imagine the lawsuits Maryland will get from residents of the other 49 states who wonder why children of lawbreaking non-citizens pay $8,600 a year for tuition, while they pay $25,000?
Doesn’t that violate the “privileges and immunities” thing in the 14th Amendment?
Examiner Columnist Gregory Kane is a Pulitzer nominated news and opinion journalist who has covered people and politics from Baltimore to the Sudan.
