Smarting from primary election criticisms over his past votes for measures supporting the aspirations of Illinois' illegal alien population, apparent GOP Gubenatorial nominee, State Sen. Bill Brady last Wednesday introduced a bill to deny state mortgage loans to them.
The measure, SB 3457 (see detailed synopsis here)basically instructs the Illinois State Housing Development Authority not to buy mortgage loans made by banks or other lenders to illegal aliens.
The bill was referred to the nether regions of the Committee on Assignments, where, given the Democrat majority in the State Senate it is almost certain to never see the light of day.
But it would appear that Brady is trying to place a symbolic smokescreen around his past votes for three major bills that were avidly prized by illegal alien advocacy groups.
During the 93rd General Assembly, in April of 2003, Brady voted for the Illinois "Dream Act," (HB 60) which made illegal aliens eligible for in-state tuition rates at Illinois state universities. That bill, which was co-sponsored in the State Senate by one Barack Obama, handily passed both houses of the legislature and became law.
Then during the 94th General Assembly, in April of 2005, Brady voted with the Democrat majority to help pass the Matricula Consular bill, SB 1623, which permitted state agencies to accept ID documents issued by foreign governments, as acceptable ID for the provision of various state services. The foreign documentation is regularly used by illegal aliens who cannot legally acquire legitimate state identification cards.
Then during the 95th General Assembly, in May of 2007, Brady voted for HB 1744, which effectively precluded Illinois employers from using the federal E-Verify database to ascertain the legality of the work status of their prospective hires.
The Illinois measure, which passed handily, demands that the feds demonstrate that their system is 99% accurate within a 3 day response period, before Illinois employers can rely on it. (Isn't it truly heartening to see a state government that is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, demand Prussian efficiency from another level of government?) The bill was eagerly sought by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and others in the state's illegal alien lobby.
During the primary campaign, Brady was excoriated in the conservative blogosphere for these votes and began to take hits from several of his GOP rivals on this score.
According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, as of 2007 there were 775,000 illegal aliens in Illinois and on a net basis, they cost the state government $3.5 billion annually.
In a time of high unemployment, rising educational costs and looming state budgetary disaster, these costs take on a higher level of salience than in the past.
Consequently, Brady dropped his symbolic bill to "get tough" on prospective illegal alien home mortgagees last week to cover his tracks.
Political analyst, Jeff Berkowitz characterized Democrat Pat Quinn's positions on illegal alien control as being "predictably liberal."
So it would seem that for yet another election cycle, Illinois voters will not likely be presented with a serious debate over the impact of illegal aliens. Nor, once again, will they likely be presented with meaningful philosophic and policy alternatives.
But the but the 800 pound gorilla is still in the room.
