Post by unlawflcombatnt on Jul 11, 2009 18:49:14 GMT -6
from the Seattle Times
Bill gives in-state tuition to foreign professionals,
families in Washington on visa
By Lornet Turnbull
"A little-noticed measure passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor will extend in-state tuition rates at Washington state colleges and universities to foreign professionals at companies such as Microsoft and Amazon, as well as to their children and spouses.
Under House Bill 1487, which takes effect July 1, the foreign workers would qualify for the same tuition rate as state residents if they have been in the state at least a year on certain kinds of temporary work visas, such as the H-1B.
The measure passed amid a roiling budget crisis and hundreds of millions of dollars in cutbacks to higher education. It was nicknamed the "Microsoft subsidy bill" by some lawmakers who say the software giant and its workers surely could afford to pay the higher tuition rates.
Subject to lively legislative debate, the bill received little attention outside the Capitol. An analysis put the immediate tuition revenue loss at the University of Washington at about $430,000, with potential for bigger losses in future years, and about $215,000 at Washington State University.
State Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, the bill's sponsor, retired from Microsoft in 2000 after 17 years. He said employers in his Eastside district sought the provision....
The bill passed the House 59-38 and the Senate 31-13.
Lydia Tamez, associate general counsel and director of global migration at Microsoft, said it would allow Washington to attract and keep talented foreign professionals and to compete with about 13 other states, including Oregon, that already offer tuition breaks to foreign workers.
[And all at Washington State taxpayers' expense. How nice.]
Microsoft has thousands of workers who may qualify....
A state resident who is a full-time undergraduate at UW will pay $7,677 in tuition and basic fees next year, compared with $24,352 for a full-time nonresident student.
Rep. Bob Hasegawa, D-Seattle, opposed the measure, calling it unfair to resident students at a time when the state is making it more difficult for everyone to afford to go to school in the state.
"It's a diversion of limited resources," Hasegawa said. "We only allow X amount of slots for resident tuition rates and we are displacing those residents with H-1B visa holders, their families and dependents. Microsoft can well afford out-of-state tuition for its people."
Furthermore, Hasegawa said, some dependents of visa holders already were eligible to receive in-state tuition under a measure passed six years ago.
That bill, HB 1079, was meant to benefit illegal immigrant children who had lived in the state at least 3 years before graduating from a Washington high school.
But the measure was written so broadly that children of visa holders who also had graduated from a state high school became unintended beneficiaries. State records show about one-quarter of those who have gotten the tuition break since 2003 were visa holders.
HB 1487 will benefit a much broader student population. It doesn't require someone to have graduated from a Washington high school to qualify, and it reduces from 3 years to 1 year the time a person must first live in the state."
seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009366983_tuition22m.html
Bill gives in-state tuition to foreign professionals,
families in Washington on visa
By Lornet Turnbull
"A little-noticed measure passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor will extend in-state tuition rates at Washington state colleges and universities to foreign professionals at companies such as Microsoft and Amazon, as well as to their children and spouses.
Under House Bill 1487, which takes effect July 1, the foreign workers would qualify for the same tuition rate as state residents if they have been in the state at least a year on certain kinds of temporary work visas, such as the H-1B.
The measure passed amid a roiling budget crisis and hundreds of millions of dollars in cutbacks to higher education. It was nicknamed the "Microsoft subsidy bill" by some lawmakers who say the software giant and its workers surely could afford to pay the higher tuition rates.
Subject to lively legislative debate, the bill received little attention outside the Capitol. An analysis put the immediate tuition revenue loss at the University of Washington at about $430,000, with potential for bigger losses in future years, and about $215,000 at Washington State University.
State Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, the bill's sponsor, retired from Microsoft in 2000 after 17 years. He said employers in his Eastside district sought the provision....
The bill passed the House 59-38 and the Senate 31-13.
Lydia Tamez, associate general counsel and director of global migration at Microsoft, said it would allow Washington to attract and keep talented foreign professionals and to compete with about 13 other states, including Oregon, that already offer tuition breaks to foreign workers.
[And all at Washington State taxpayers' expense. How nice.]
Microsoft has thousands of workers who may qualify....
A state resident who is a full-time undergraduate at UW will pay $7,677 in tuition and basic fees next year, compared with $24,352 for a full-time nonresident student.
Rep. Bob Hasegawa, D-Seattle, opposed the measure, calling it unfair to resident students at a time when the state is making it more difficult for everyone to afford to go to school in the state.
"It's a diversion of limited resources," Hasegawa said. "We only allow X amount of slots for resident tuition rates and we are displacing those residents with H-1B visa holders, their families and dependents. Microsoft can well afford out-of-state tuition for its people."
Furthermore, Hasegawa said, some dependents of visa holders already were eligible to receive in-state tuition under a measure passed six years ago.
That bill, HB 1079, was meant to benefit illegal immigrant children who had lived in the state at least 3 years before graduating from a Washington high school.
But the measure was written so broadly that children of visa holders who also had graduated from a state high school became unintended beneficiaries. State records show about one-quarter of those who have gotten the tuition break since 2003 were visa holders.
HB 1487 will benefit a much broader student population. It doesn't require someone to have graduated from a Washington high school to qualify, and it reduces from 3 years to 1 year the time a person must first live in the state."
seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009366983_tuition22m.html