WASHINGTON — It is “highly likely” that Gov. Jerry Brown will sign the bill for the California Dream Act Part II before the Oct. 9 deadline, according to California Assemblyman V. Manuel Perez.
Perez, who is co-author of the bill, said on Wednesday that he thinks Brown is “probably going to sign it by next week.”
The second part of the California Dream Act would give undocumented students the ability to apply for financial aid if they can demonstrate need and merit.
Two recent amendments to the bill have paved the way to its signing. The first ensures that the program is within the measures approved by the Supreme Court.
“Not one student will be displaced and not one scholarship will be taken away from a US-born student,” said California Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, the bill’s main author.
Adey Fisseha, policy attorney and campaign coordinator for the National Immigration Law Center, praised California's Dream Act. (Photo by David Cassilo/MNS)
The second moved the start date back six months, giving the legislation two budget cycles before it begins.
“It gives us time to ramp up the program,” Cedillo said.
Part one of the California Dream Act was signed on July 25 and allowed undocumented students to apply for private college scholarships to state schools.
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 28 percent of California’s population is Latino, the highest in the country.
But only 16 percent of Latinos in California have earned an associate degree or higher, according to the Lumina Foundation for Education.
“Latino students, undocumented or not, are the future of California,” said Rene Aguilera, school board member in Roseville, Calif.
Despite’s its success in California, the DREAM Act has not yet been approved on a national level. The bill was passed by the House in 2010, but with 55 votes, it failed to reach the 60 needed to avoid a filibuster in the Senate.
A new version of the bill was introduced in May 2011 and is awaiting a vote.
“We did not as a collective group do enough on the in-state tuition provision,” said Adey Fisseha, policy attorney and campaign coordinator for the National Immigration Law Center. “We didn’t do a good job explaining it.”
In late June, Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., held the first-ever Senate hearing and put pressure on his colleagues to consider passing a national DREAM Act. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano appeared to help Durbin make the case. The bill has yet to see any action since then.
Fisseha, though, believes California is setting a strong example that the DREAM Act can work.
“California has been one of the lead states,” Fisseha said. “With access to in-state tuition they have both passed it and implemented it.”
If he does sign the bill, Gov. Brown could see a domino effect.
“He’s very committed to education to correct this economy for California,” Cedillo said.