Two years ago, this state’s Senate countered its Flori-duh stereotype by granting in-state college tuition rates to undocumented students who attended high schools in the state. The context was emotional as it passed by a wide margin (26-13). State Sen. Jack Latvala of Clearwater underscored the rationale when he said it was about “doing the right thing.” And Gov. Rick Scott signed it. With a bit of flourish too. “Just think,” he declared, “children that grew up in our state will now get the same tuition as their peers.”
And just think, two years later there is an effort to undo it.
State Sen. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, filed a repeal bill last week with the rationale that he just doesn’t think helping out those immigrant dreamers is particularly “good public policy for the state.” Steube, who was elected to the Senate last month after six years in the House, says he’s honoring the wishes of his constituents. Without fail, he says, voters he encountered during his primary campaign asked about two things: the Second Amendment and illegal immigration.
Too bad his cherry-picked door knocking didn’t bring him into contact with those who might have asked: “Are you running to do what’s best and what’s right for Florida and all those who call this home–regardless of where they’re from or who brought them here? Or are you running to be another pandering pimp to the alt-right?”