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A veteran California lawmaker said Friday he will, for the tenth time, introduce legislation to allow driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

Assemblyman Tim Donnelly said Tuesday he has filed a referendum to repeal the law. "We need 504,000 valid signatures," said Donnelly (R-Twin Peaks), to qualify for the statewide ballot in either June or November 2012.

A bill loaded with immigration politics and potential implications for highway safety has landed on Gov. Jerry Brown's desk. The legislation by Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, would change police procedures at drunken-driving checkpoints, prohibiting officers from arresting drivers and immediately impounding their cars if their only offense is not having a license. Supporters say the bill, AB353, would impose a consistent policy statewide - some agencies confiscate unlicensed drivers' cars now, and some do not - while keeping DUI checkpoints from being turned into traps for otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants who cannot obtain licenses. "In most parts of California,...

(Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law on Monday a bill allowing illegal immigrants to receive privately funded scholarships to attend the state's public colleges and universities. The bill, dubbed the California Dream Act, passed the state Legislature earlier this month and aims at helping illegal immigrants who have earned a high school diploma after attending at least three years of high school in the state. "At the end of the day, if we're going to continue as a powerful, equal-opportunity society, we're going to have to invest in our people," Brown, a Democrat, said at the signing...

State lawmakers Wednesday advanced measures that would allow undocumented university students to apply for financial aid, would help police monitor use of social networking websites by sex offenders and would end the fingerprinting of food stamp recipients. The state aid that undocumented students could become eligible for would include Cal-Grants, institutional aid and fee waivers at publicly funded colleges. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed measures that would have provided the same privileges. Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) said his proposal, which passed the lower house, would help "children brought here through no choice of their own, who embrace our values and learn...

California lawmakers have opened the door to state-funded financial aid for immigrant college students who entered the United States illegally. . . . Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, a Los Angeles Democrat, has introduced similar legislation each year since 2005 only to see it vetoed by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

One state lawmaker from the southland is taking another shot at helping undocumented California college students pay for their education. Democratic Assemblyman Gil Cedillo of Los Angeles Tuesday re-introduced a state version of the federal "DREAM Act" which was shot down by Congress last month. Cedillo's previous attempt to help illegal immigrant students obtain financial aid was vetoed three different times by then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who cited the state's financial crisis as his reasoning. If approved, the measure would give undocumented college students in the Golden State the opportunity to vie for Cal grants and other means of financial aid....

The head of the California Senate and minority lawmakers unveiled a resolution Wednesday urging a boycott of Arizona to protest its new police immigration law. Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, said 44 legislators have agreed to co-sponsor his Senate Concurrent Resolution 113. It urges, but does not mandate, an end to California public entities investing or doing business in Arizona. The measure also recommends not traveling to Arizona and calls on private businesses to consider severing business ties with the state. Arizona's new law requires police officers to ask for proof of legal status if they have "reasonable suspicion" that...

... With 220 of 222 precincts reporting, (Judy) Chu comfortably outdistanced Democratic state senator Gil Cedillo by over 4,000 votes, 32 to 23 percent. ...

The federal government has released long-awaited draft regulations creating a national standard for driver's licenses, but left California and other states to deal with the emotional issue of illegal immigrants. The Real ID Act regulations -- which will require all 23 million California drivers to go in person to Department of Motor Vehicles offices -- do not prohibit states from issuing licenses to illegal immigrants. But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who previously said the state would wait until the regulations were issued before grappling with the issue, now wants to wait until the federal government enacts an immigration overhaul. The release...

To the Members of the California State Senate: I am returning Senate Bill 160 without my signature. I applaud all young people who work hard, graduate high school and attend college. Current law allows undocumented students who have attended a California high school for three years and graduate from a California high school to attend a state college and get a reduced “in state tuition rate” but not be eligible for public financial aid dollars. California has over 100,000 students here legally who apply annually for financial aid to attend college, and our state has limited funds available for this...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation Thursday to allow illegal immigrants to obtain California driver's licenses, marking the eighth consecutive year such proposals have died. Senate Bill 1162 was a far weaker proposal than had been pushed in years past, recognizing the string of defeats and bitter political friction over the issue in an election year. The veto marked one of dozens of actions taken Thursday by Schwarzenegger, who is racing to meet a deadline of midnight Saturday to sign or veto about 500 bills remaining on his desk. Two high-profile bills signed by the Republican governor, Senate Bills 1655 and...

To the Members of the California State Senate: I am returning Senate Bill 1162 without my signature. This issue has been the subject of a number of prior legislative attempts. Last year I vetoed a similar measure, SB 60, because action on this issue is premature until federal regulations are promulgated to implement the REAL ID Act. We are still awaiting those regulations. Given the potential impact of the REAL ID Act on the public safety and homeland security of Californians, members of my administration are working with the federal government to develop those regulations and secure funds necessary to...

A bill allowing illegal immigrants to obtain state driver's licenses has passed the Legislature, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said he will veto it.

The state Assembly on Monday passed a pair of sweeping social policy changes -- a universal health care bill and a proposal to allow undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's licenses -- that have virtually no chance of becoming law but could become fodder in the governor's race this fall. The bills represent heartfelt Democratic causes and are certain to draw vetoes from Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, should they reach his desk. They also highlight important differences between Schwarzenegger and his opponent, Democratic Treasurer Phil Angelides. The difference is sharpest on the driver's license bill: Schwarzenegger opposes it; Angelides said...

Legislation to allow illegal immigrants in California apply for driver's licenses was resurrected Monday in a weakened version that's contingent on federal funding. Senate Bill 1162 by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, was approved by Democrats in the Assembly on a 42-34 vote, a week after Democrats derailed its precursor, fearing a voter backlash in November. The emotionally charged measure still requires confirmation by the state Senate, which passed an earlier version, SB 1160. It also faces a likely veto by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who vetoed similar legislation last year. Unlike SB 1160, the amended legislation does not require state...

SACRAMENTO -- Sen. Gil Cedillo said Friday that he has not given up on his eighth attempt to enact legislation that would let illegal immigrants get driver's licenses, even though his latest bill is bottled up in committee with time running out on lawmakers' 2006 session. "There are a myriad of ways to do this," the Los Angeles Democrat said in an interview. "We're going to find one of them to do it." Cedillo has been trying for eight years to overturn 1993 legislation that prohibits the state from issuing licenses to drivers who cannot prove they're in the country...

This was the seventh time in seven years that Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, had tried to pass the measure, which would establish a special license for the state's more than 2 million undocumented immigrants who, according to estimates, are driving. His most recent efforts have been passed by the Legislature only to be vetoed by Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gray Davis. This time, the bill was shot down by a Democratic-controlled committee. Political insiders suggested the measure was perhaps too controversial for an election year. The bill is opposed by Republicans -- and a majority of voters -- who...

SAN FRANCISCO – When he started high school, Matias Bernal's English was so limited he stumbled over the words for numbers and colors. Four years later, he was on the wait list at Princeton. Bernal is an illegal immigrant from Mexico City. Without access to financial aid, grants and most scholarships, he had to push aside the Ivy League brochures and prepare to attend California State University Fresno, where he can live with family and pay tuition with money from jobs he is not supposed to have. “I was crushed,” he said. About 65,000 illegal immigrants graduate from U.S. high...

State Senator Gill Cedillo, infamous for his effort to give drivers licenses to illegal immigrants has now wants to allow them to get grants provided to UC and CSU students and would make them eligible to receive the Community College Boar d of Governor’s Fee Waiver that would allow them to attend Community College in California for free. Read More...