The ASUC Senate unanimously passed a bill Wednesday night urging Gov. Jerry Brown to sign the second part of the California DREAM Act — AB 131 — that was approved last week by the state Senate and Assembly.
The bill, passed with a vote of 19-0, will be sent to Brown’s office accompanied by a letter from ASUC President Vishalli Loomba and External Affairs Vice President Joey Freeman by Sept 9, to show the ASUC’s support of AB 131 — a bill, that if signed, would allow undocumented students to receive state funded financial aid like Cal Grants.
The ASUC bill is a senate resolution that takes a stance supporting AB 131 but does not implement any policy change, said ASUC Executive Vice President Chris Alabastro. The bill encourages students to call Brown’s office and to attend the University of California Student Association DREAM Act press conference Sept. 12. It also requires that the ASUC President and External Affairs Vice President send the bill and a letter explaining the ASUC’s strong support of AB 131 to Brown.
Co-authored by CalSERVE senators Ju Hong and Sydney Fang, the bill was co-sponsored by Loomba, Freeman, Alabastro, Academic Affairs Vice President Julia Joung, Graduate Assembly President Bahar Navab, as well as every senator present at the meeting.
“By having every senator co-sponsor the bill, we show solidarity for AB 131,” Hong said at the meeting.
On Tuesday, even before the ASUC bill was passed, the ASUC began a campaign to phone the office of the governor to further push him to quickly sign the second part of the California DREAM Act into law, Freeman said at the meeting. So far, UC Berkeley students have made over 140 phone calls through the campaign.
Brown has until Oct. 9 to sign AB 131, which if signed, would take effect Jan. 1, 2013, according to the office of Assemblymember Gil Cedillo, author of the bill.
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Don’t like that the Dream Act sanctions/rewards/encourages further illegal immigration? Don’t like that it pushes legal citizens out of opportunity by allowing an indefinite number of ineligible people to compete for your students’ vital resources to go to college? Or that it gives money to illegal residents when there are so many legal citizens who need the money? Or that it wastes money on people that cannot even work here legally? Me neither. So I’m doing something about it. My name’s Luke Morrison and I’m in the initial stages of readying a petition initiative that would get a measure on the ballot where voters can take a stand for our students and against the outrageous Dream Act. It seeks to protect our finite public monies for legal resident students who need them. There are many of us whose dreams depend on such public funds being there for them, but will be less likely to get it thanks to legislation like the Dream Act, which opens the floodgates for anyone and everyone from other countries to come in and claim these precious resources for themselves without going through the proper process of becoming a legal citizen. Join the movement of people giving a voice to those affected by the Dream Act. Stand up for us and our children. Do not let them pay the costs for the conscious decision of some to enter the country illegally.http://www.facebook.com/S.O.S.Initiative
If U.S. citizenship is not required to get financial aid to attend Cal then being admitted to Cal should no longer be required to vote for ASUC officers. Stanford students, local residents, and illegal aliens working in local restaurants should all be allowed to vote during ASUC elections.
Does anyone really care what Berserkely does or passes or has an opinion on?
ummm then why are you reading it?
Just to see what the crazies are up to.
Because definitely some of the most intellectual youth in the world are crazies.
You have an unjustifiably high opinion of yourself, fruitcake.
ummm then why are you reading it?