Mass. House nixes illegal immigrant benefit ban
By Jessica Van Sack and Hillary Chabot
Beacon Hill lawmakers shot down a Republican-sponsored crackdown on taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal immigrants this afternoon in a closer-than-expected showdown.
Rep. Jeffrey D. Perry (R-Sandwich) filed the budget amendment to force state departments offering entitlement programs to screen out illegal immigrants, but House members voted 82-75 to send the bill to “study,” a bureaucratic way of killing legislation.
Opponents repeatedly interrupted Perry on the House floor and advocated for a further study of the bill that most agreed would never happen.
“I see many red flags that indicate this needs to be studied,” said Rep. Denise Provost (D-Somerville), who said she feared the bill would become an “unfunded mandate” that would add “an additional layer of bureaucracy on all state agencies.”
Perry, who is running for U.S. Rep. William Delahunt’s congressional seat, said the savings gained by eliminating illegal immigrants from the rolls of taxpayer funded programs like welfare would exceed the cost of the mandated screenings, estimated at $6 per transaction.
“No one is counting; No one is checking,” Perry said. “There is no uniform policy across this Commonwealth. Do you want to ensure that our tax dollars are spent on legal, hardworking residents and citizens of this Commonwealth or not?”
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