Fifteen Democratic governors, including Peter Shumlin, chair of the Democratic Governors Association, are urging Speaker of the House John Boehner to pass an immigration reform bill similar to the one approved by the Senate.
The group, which represents just under three-quarters of the Democratic governors in the country, sent a letter, addressed to Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday.
In a statement announcing his part in the letter, Shumlin emphasized the economic importance of immigration reform. “This week I joined 14 other Governors in urging the House leadership to approve common sense immigration reform that will help stimulate the U.S. economy, provide farmers in Vermont and other rural states with the workforce they need to continue to feed the nation, and establish a carefully constructed path to earned citizenship, while also ensuring border security.”
The letter emphasizes economic benefits, too, citing a Congressional Budget Office report showing that the Senate bill would decrease the deficit by $175 billion during a 10-year period.
The governors assure the House leaders that they are on board with making undocumented immigrants pay taxes and a fine in order to get citizenship, but they ask them not “to litter the pathway with insurmountable obstacles.” The letter gives a passing nod to “securing our border.”
The letter also includes a plug for more STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) funding for state schools.
Democratic governors from Arkansas, Connecticut, Colorado, Hawaii, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Washington signed on.
The non-signing Democratic governors are from California, Missouri, Montana, New York, Virginia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
