Governor Signs "Illegal Immigration" Bill

Mar 14, 2008 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) Governor Jon Huntsman signed 27 bills Thursday, including one of the controversial immigration bill, Senator Bill Hickman's First Substitute Senate Bill 81, "Illegal Immigration." The governor's spokeswoman, Lisa Roskelley [Ross-kelley], says Huntsman believes the bill is a good step forward, but he hopes there will be a comprehensive discussion on the bill's implications before it goes into effect next summer.

"There were some provisions in this legislation early on that the governor had some concerns about. But by the end of it, it truly was a compromise bill, and something that he felt comfortable with," Roskelley says.

Another controversial bill, Senate Bill 2, the education omnibus bill, has not yet reached his desk. Education leaders are calling on the governor to veto parts of the bill. However, Roskelley says the governor can only make line-item vetoes on appropriations bills, such as for specific budgets. Senate Bill 2, she says, is primarily a statutory bill, which makes policy changes as well as appropriates money to specific programs.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2008 KCPW