A group of conservative activists are hoping to bring the issue of illegal immigration back to the front-burner of California politics with a new ballot measure that would create a new caste of birth certificates for children of illegal immigrants and require undocumented parents to be photographed, fingerprinted and pay an additional $75 fee.
A first version of the measure was cleared for circulation on Friday, but Ted Hilton, one of the measure's authors, said in a brief phone interview that the proponents planned to "to do some changes and then re-file" the measure.
He hung up before sharing what parts of the measure would be changed. Former Republican state Sen. Bill Morrow, another author of the measure, could not be immediately be reached for comment.
Proponents call the measure the California Taxpayer Protection Act 2010. They have a here, is aimed for the June 2010 ballot, according to the Web site.
Once a final version is cleared for signature gathering, they must collect 433,971 valid signatures from registered voters in 150 days to qualify for the ballot.
"This is going to be a tremendous grassroots effort," said Hilton.
Few ballot measures in California qualify without funded signature-gathering campaigns and proponents have already created a fundraising account, which spent nearly $200,000 in 2008. Funds were raised mostly in small increments.
Attorney General Jerry Brown has given the first draft of the measure its official title and summary:
DENIAL OF PUBLIC BENEFITS FOR PERSONS WHO CANNOT VERIFY LAWFUL PRESENCE. DENIAL OF BIRTH CERTIFICATES TO CHILDREN OF UNDOCUMENTED PARENTS WHO FAIL TO VERIFY STATUS. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Requires applicants for state, local, and state-administered federal aid to verify lawful presence in United States. Requires applications for public benefits submitted by undocumented parents on behalf of their lawful-resident children to be given to federal authorities. Denies birth certificates to children born to undocumented parents unless mother provides fingerprint and other information to be given to federal authorities. Limits benefits for children in child-only CalWORKS cases to federal minimum. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: If upheld in the courts, unknown potential one-time and ongoing costs to state and local governments due to changes in the application process for public benefits as well as changes in the way birth certificates are issued. These costs would be partly offset by additional new fees for certain birth certificates. Unknown, but probably minor, state and local law enforcement costs due to provisions in the measure creating new crimes, such as for the filing of false affidavits to obtain public benefits. If upheld in the courts, state savings of over $1 billion annually from prohibiting child-only CalWORKs cases, partially offset by state and county costs for children who shifted to Foster Care or county general assistance programs. Further unknown savings from the provisions changing the application processes for public benefits. (09-0004.)
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