SB 303 About to Become Law As Congress Wrestles With #cir

So it finally happened this week. In the closing days of the 77th session of the Nevada Legislature, the Assembly voted 30-9 to pass SB 303. This bill allows for undocumented immigrants and others who have difficulties accessing their personal documents to obtain driver's authorization cards.



And already, Governor Brian Sandoval (R) has signaled his willingness to sign SB 303 into law. So does this mean the matter is settled?

Perhaps not. Remember that this is just state policy on legal driving status. Ultimately, the federal government handles actual legal immigration status...

And US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Searchlight) had something to say about this.

“I talked about this to a number of my senators today, and what he wanted to say is they haven’t done a whip count on this yet,” Reid said. “I think we have 60 votes. Remember, we start out at 55 Democrats. I think the most I’ll lose is two or three. Let’s say I wind up with 52 Democrats. I only need eight Republicans, and I already have four, so that should be pretty easy.

Funny enough, SB 303 enjoyed healthy margins in both houses of the Nevada Legislature. Yet in Congress, S 744 (the Senate comprehensive immigration reform [CIR] bill) has yet to reach 60 votes (out of 100) in the Senate. Oh, and it's still anyone's guess as to what US Senator Dean Heller (R-46%) will do to it.

And again, there's also the issue of the US House. Can any CIR bill pass there? Can anything get past the 21st Century Know Nothings there?

That's actually why Nevada is about to get SB 303. What else can the state do while the 21st Century Know Nothings continue to block comprehensive immigration reform in Congress? And will Republican Congresscritters notice what several Republican state legislators just voted to do?