SCR1044 uses the power of referendum to make students without lawful immigration status eligible for in-state tuition and financial aid at public colleges and universities in Arizona. It allows voters to approve amending and repealing sections of Arizona law that prohibit non-U.S. citizens from accessing state or local public benefits.
The Senate passed SCR1044 on March 4, 2021, by a vote of 17 to 13. We have assigned pluses to the nays because this resolution abuses taxpayer funds taken from American citizens to subsidize illegal aliens at government-run institutions of higher education. Moreover, the rights of Arizonans should not be subject to popular votes by statewide ballot measures--or other majoritarian democratic initiatives--that undermine Article IV, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees each state a republican form of government limited to the rule of law.