Cuomo Might Cut Dream Act From State Budget

New York Times

By Liz Robbins

March 24, 2015

Cuomo Might Cut Dream Act From State Budget 

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signaled this week that a bill that would allow high school graduates who are undocumented immigrants to apply for state financial aid for college could be removed from his budget, disappointing some immigrant advocates who believed that the measure stood a better chance of passing this time than it has in the past.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Cuomo said on Monday night that the measure, commonly known as the Dream Act, might have to be taken up later in the legislative session if it could not be passed jointly with an education tax credit. Linking the two was seen as a way to appeal to both Democrats who have been supportive of the Dream Act and Republicans who have embraced the tax credit.

Immigrants fear that if it were a stand-alone measure, the Dream Act would most likely fail in the Republican-controlled Senate.

“It looks like the signs are not good,” said Steven Choi, the executive director of New York Immigration Coalition. “But the game is not over.”

Francisco Moya, a Democratic Assemblyman from Queens who was the lead sponsor of the bill that passed the Assembly, said he heard on Monday night after a legislative conference session that it had been removed from the budget.

“Beyond disappointment,” he said, describing his mood. “That got a lot of members upset. This is an issue that affects all New York.”

According to state officials, the Dream Act would cost about $27 million — the state’s proposed budget is $141 billion.

“Governor Cuomo, in the State of the State address, made it into one of his priorities for thousands of Dreamers across the state to be able to pursue their dream of getting a higher education,” said Javier H. Valdés, co-executive director of Make the Road New York, an advocacy group.

But he said that proponents would not concede defeat yet. The budget is not expected to be announced until April 1.

“We’ll be pushing the governor to reinstate it in the budget,” Mr. Valdés said. “To our community, this is the moment of the truth with Governor Cuomo and the way he can make this right to our community is by reinstating the Dream Act in the budget.”

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