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.