The lawmaker who authored the California Dream Act said Saturday that Gov. Jerry Brown has signed the bill allowing Illegal immigrants attending California universities to receive state financial aid.

The governor’s action also allows those without citizenship papers to tap into institutional grants while attending the University of California and California State University systems, and to get fee waivers in the California community college system. 

SOURCE: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2011/10/gov-jerry-brown-has-signed-california-dream-act-legislator-says.html

Senators failed to invoke cloture on the DREAM Act. It will not be passed this session. Democrats voting no were: Pryor (AR), Nelson (NE), Tester (MT), Baucus (MT), Hagan (NC).

The DREAM Act is finally moving forward in the Senate and Dems there have offered a compromise to Republicans on the bill.

The latest version, filed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) late Tuesday night, would bar illegal immigrants from receiving in-state college tuition; drops the age of eligibility to 29 from 34; would not grant permanent legal status to anyone for at least 10 years; would restrict eligibility for those who commit certain misdemeanor crimes; and would limit individuals from being able to sponsor family members for U.S. citizenship, among other changes.

Those who receive conditional legal status under the DREAM Act also would be ineligible for Medicaid, food stamps and other government-funded benefits.

The new bill “simply is an effort to deal with any potential costs estimates [to] make it revenue-neutral,” said Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the only Hispanic member of the Senate and an ardent DREAM Act advocate. “There wouldn’t be any reason for anyone to vote against it because it wouldn’t cost anything.”

SOURCE: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/45844.html#ixzz16zAFiqER