O’Mara criticizes Senate's approval of college tuition assistance for the children of illegal immigrants, votes no on ‘DREAM Act’

Albany, N.Y., January 23—State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C,I-Big Flats) today voted against legislation (S1250) approved by the Senate known as the “DREAM Act” to provide state taxpayer-financed college tuition assistance to the children of illegal immigrants.

After today’s vote, O’Mara released the following statement:

“We have law-abiding, hard-working families across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions struggling to make ends meet, paying outrageously high state and local taxes, and going into huge amounts of debt trying to afford college for their children.  It’s not right to ignore the needs and the hopes of these families while we turn around and deliver hard-earned taxpayer dollars to provide free college tuition for illegal immigrant families.”

The implementation of the DREAM Act, which is expected to be approved by the Assembly and signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo, is estimated to cost the state approximately $27 million.