Republican and Kansas Senate President Steve Morris http://www.senatorstevemorris.com/map.html
When I heard that, you could have knocked me over with an illegal immigrant! Let’s look at the Senator’s voting record on illegal immigration. (Clicking on any Senator’s name [Actual Vote sections] will allow you to look at their votes on many different issues. Great tool, have fun.)
__________
Project Vote Smart’s Synopsis: Vote to adopt an amendment that removes state funding for law enforcement agencies that the attorney general finds are obstructing their officers from enforcing immigration law.
Highlights:
- Provides that no law enforcement agency may be prevented from sending, receiving or obtaining information regarding any individual’s immigration status [Sec. 7 (a)].
- Provides that no law enforcement agency may restrict or discourage its officers from asking individuals their citizenship or immigration status. [Sec. 7 (a)].
- Allows any member of the Kansas legislature to request that the Attorney General make a determination on whether an agency is in violation. [Sec. 7 (b)].
- Reinstates funding when the agency proves to the attorney general that it is now in compliance with the provisions of the amendment [Sec. 7 (b)].
Full Text of Legislation (PDF Document)
Senate Amendment Vote: 03/26/2008 : Amendment Rejected 14 – 24
Actual votes: http://www.votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_member.php?cs_id=18460
__________
Project Vote Smart’s Synopsis:
Vote to adopt an amendment repealing a 2004 law which allowed undocumented immigrants seeking legal status to receive in-state tuition.
Full Text of Legislation (PDF Document)Senate Amendment Vote: 03/26/2008 : Amendment Rejected 14 – 25
Actual votes: http://www.votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_member.php?cs_id=18465
__________
Project Vote Smart’s Synopsis: Vote to adopt an amendment that sets deadlines for when state employers must participate in E-Verify, and sets penalties for employers that fail to comply.
Highlights:
- Sets the following deadlines for employers to enroll in E-Verify;
- July 1, 2008 for state agencies, departments, boards and commissions;
- July 1, 2009 for municipalities and employers with more than 250 employees in the state of Kansas;
- July 1, 2010 for employers with more than 30 but less than 250 employees in the state of Kansas;
- July 1, 2011 for all other employers (Sec. 3).
- Prohibits employers who knowingly fails to comply with these deadlines from claiming any payment or compensation to an unauthorized immigrant as a deductible business expense for state income tax purposes [Sec. 3 (e)].
Full Text of Legislation (PDF Document)Senate Amendment Vote: 03/26/2008 : Amendment Rejected 11 – 27
Actual Votes: http://www.votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_member.php?cs_id=18467
__________
Project Vote Smart’s Synopsis: Vote to adopt an amendment that makes undocumented immigrants ineligible for state or local public benefits in the state of Kansas.
Highlights:
- Includes the following benefits: government grants, contracts, loans, licenses, retirement, welfare, health, disability, housing, food assistance, unemployment benefits, credits, reduced rates, reduced fees.[Sec. 20 (b)]
- Provides exceptions for the following public benefits [Sec. 20 (a)]:
assistance for the treatment of emergency medical conditions, not including organ transplant procedures, short-term, non-cash, in-kind emergency disaster relief, public health assistance for immunizations and for testing and treatment of communicable diseases, programs specified by the Attorney General which deliver in-kind services at the local level; do not condition assistance on the recipient’s income or resources; and are necessary for the protection of life or safety such as soup kitchens, crisis counseling and short-term shelter.
- Requires that applicants for public benefits must first prove that they are United States citizens or lawfully admitted immigrants before they are granted benefits [Sec. 20 (c)].
Full Text of Legislation (PDF Document)
Senate Amendment Vote: 03/26/2008 : Amendment Rejected 12 – 26
Actual Votes: http://www.votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_member.php?cs_id=18474
__________
Project Vote Smart’s Synopsis: Vote to adopt an amendment that sets penalties for businesses that employ undocumented immigrants and practitioners of employment identity fraud, prohibits unauthorized immigrants from receiving public benefits, and sets new requirements for driver’s license applicants.
Highlights:
- Requires all businesses in the state of Kansas to verify the employment eligibility of new employees with the federal government’s E-Verify program by January 1, 2009 [Sec. 2 (b-c)].- Sets penalties for businesses convicted of knowingly employing undocumented immigrants as follows:
- For a first offense, suspension of the business’ licenses for between 10 and 30 days;
- For a second offense, suspension of the business’ licenses for between 90 days and a year;
- For a third offense, permanent suspension of the business’ licenses [Sec. 2 (d)(2)(f-h)].
- Prohibits businesses from claiming payment or compensation to an employee or independent contractor as a deductible business expense for income tax purposes if the employee in question is an undocumented immigrant or the independent contractor does not participate in E-Verify [Sec. 3 (a-b)].
- Prohibits persons who cannot prove legal residency in the United States from receiving public benefits. (Sec. 5).
- Makes employment identity fraud, defined as ‘willfully presenting to an employer false or misleading identification documents for the purpose of obtaining employment in the state of Kansas’, a level 8 felony [Sec. 4].
- Requires that applicants for a driver’s license in the state of Kansas must sign an affidavit stating that they are citizens of the United States and that they understand that making a false statement of citizenship is an federal crime [Sec. 9 (m-n)].
Full Text of Legislation (PDF Document)
Senate Amendment Vote: 03/26/2008 : Amendment Rejected 12 – 27
Actual Votes: http://www.votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_member.php?cs_id=18475
__________
Oh what the heck, let’s just go ahead and measure the entire Republican Senate Leadership and others.
-
Senate President Morris- Voted “NO” on all
-
Senate Vice President Vratil- Voted “NO” on all.
-
Senate Majority Leader and new Kansas Attorney General D. Schmidt- Voted “NO” on all.
-
Senate Majority Leader (new) Emler- Voted “NO” on all but one.
-
Senate Ass’t Majority Leader V. Schmidt- Voted “NO” on all.
-
Senator Reitz Majority Puppet- Voted “NO” on all.
-
Senator Wysong Majority Puppet- Voted “NO” on all.
-
Senator Brownlee new Secretary of Labor- Voted “NO” on all.
Just kind of chokes me up with emotion. I’m sorry, but moments like this just make be so proud to be a Republican.
“Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation. It is better be alone than in bad company.” George Washington
Read Full Post »
