Latest news with #HB1403
CBS News
05-06-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Texas Dream Act allowing in-state tuition for undocumented students dismantled
For over 20 years, thousands of undocumented students have benefited from the Texas Dream Act. The law gave college students without legal residency access to reduced in-state tuition. "All three of my brothers and sisters are college graduates. We made it, but we are a very small percentage of people who, because of HB 1403, because of in-state tuition, were able to make it," said Cesar Espinosa, a Texas Dream Act recipient. Wednesday, just hours after the Department of Justice filed suit challenging the Texas law, a federal judge blocked the Texas Dream Act, calling it "unconstitutional and invalid." The law was passed in the state legislature in 2001 with bipartisan support. Domingo Garcia who was a state representative at the time and helped write the bill is calling this latest development "mean-spirited." "The recent remarks and actions targeting the Hispanic community in Texas are deeply concerning and do not reflect the values of fairness, justice, and equality that our society is built upon," said Garcia. There have been efforts in the legislature to eliminate the Texas Dream Act. In April, Espinosa was one of dozens of people who testified against a bill to tear it down. "It took me 33 years to get my status. I wanted to get status when I was 5, I wanted to get status when I was 10, I was dying to get status when I was 18 and was accepted to Yale, and Brown and Cornell University," said Espinosa. Many are also highlighting the economic consequences this repeal will bring. According to a report by Every Texan, Texas Dream Act students paid $81.6 million in tuition and fees in 2023. "The Texas Dream Act is one of the rare pieces of legislation that over 20 years people who have tried to come and mess with it have failed because it was designed so well to do what it was supposed to do what it was supposed to do, which is recoup the investment that we make on students," said Jaime Puente, Director of Economic opportunity, Every Texan.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State House committee looks to clarify fine points of school-safety law
Students protest at the Florida Capitol in 2018 following the Parkland school shooting tragedy. (Photo by Julie Hauserman/Florida Phoenix) The Marjory Stoneman Douglas School Safety Commission may see some legislative clarification of a 2024 school safety law that public safety officers have had trouble interpreting. That law, HB 1473, requires classrooms and the perimeter of a campus to be locked while students are present. HB 1403, heard in the House Education Administration Subcommittee Tuesday, would allow for doors to be unlocked if they are actively being watched. The bill, sponsored by Reps. Brad Yeager and Christine Hunschofsky, who was mayor of Parkland at the time of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shootings in 2018, would require gates and access points to be closed at least 30 minutes before and after school. Hunschofsky said she and Yeager made sure to consult with school leaders in crafting the legislation 'so that whatever we're doing up here also makes sense in a school environment, because it's about safety but it's also about making sure the kids and the teachers have the environment that they need to thrive.' Cafeterias, auditoriums, and media centers would only be covered by the law when they are being used for instruction or student testing. The bill requires at least one locked barrier between classroom and instructional spaces and school grounds. 'This bill puts school safety first while protecting the student campus experience for the students across Florida,' Yeager said. The proposal addresses concerns Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd raised in July, saying his county feels 'boxed up' by the gray areas he said the law presented. Legislative clarification may be needed on school safety law, commission says The 2024 law requires gate and access points to be locked unless the school has approval from the state. Judd said he supports the purpose of the law, 'but we're having a really hard time.' 'We need something from the state to come down to these folks,' Judd said in July, voicing complaints from his officers. 'Just give me something to explain what all campus access doors means, because I can't physically keep them locked and I don't want to violate the rules, so we need help with some definitions.' The chair of the safety commission, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, assured Judd at that time that enforcement would not include 'aggressively trying to find the most obscure situation just so they can have a violation.' Gualtieri said then that exceptions may need to be made for welding, diesel engine, and other shop classes. The proposal approved Tuesday does that, carving out an exemption for career and technical education classrooms to open doors for health and safety reasons. The proposal would authorize childcare facilities to participate in the state's school guardian program, which provides state funding to sheriff's offices to train security personnel. Substitute teachers would be required to be informed of school safety procedures before their first day of teaching under the bill. Representatives on the Education Administration Subcommittee approved the measure 16-0. The bill was referred to the Criminal Justice Subcommittee and the Education and Employment Committee. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
