8 Pro-Refugee State and Local Policies We’re Tracking This Year
With 2022 state legislative sessions underway, there are opportunities throughout the country to pursue inclusive policies that make our communities more welcoming for refugees and other new Americans. The Lab team has developed 2022 policy agendas in our pilot states that will help pave the way for welcome and provide a blueprint for further action in communities across the country. Here are eight important pieces of pro-refugee state and local legislation our team is tracking this year:
1. Colorado’s International Medical Graduate Healthcare Workforce Bill (HB1050)
What Will It Do?
This bill seeks to address the barriers that International Medical Graduates (IMGs) face when trying to integrate into Colorado’s healthcare workforce, as well as provide a solution to the state’s shortage of healthcare providers.
What’s at Stake?
Throughout the COVID pandemic, internationally trained healthcare providers were prohibited from providing lifesaving support amid a stretched and struggling healthcare system. This measure is a step towards recognizing the skills and expertise of refugees and immigrants—and enabling them to pursue those careers and achieve their full potential.
As HB 1050 sponsor State Rep Naquetta Ricks said on Twitter, “By 2030 Colorado will have a shortage of 2400 doctors, HB 1050 will increase the pipeline of doctors!”
What Happens Next?
This bill, introduced in January 2022, was heard in committee on February 9 in the House Health and Insurance Committee and is pending a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee. (as of 2/25/22)
2. Colorado’s Medicaid Assistance for Survivors of Torture Bill (HB1094)
What Will It Do?
This bill will allow survivors of torture who do not otherwise qualify to access Medicaid assistance for care and rehabilitation services.
What’s at Stake?
Survivors of torture who reach the United States often need to wait for long periods to acquire immigration status in order to qualify for physical and mental health services through the state Medicaid program. Denying access to this critical care means that mental and physical health challenges as a result of their experience manifest in other ways as they are trying to rebuild their lives. It is a cruel and unfair standard.
What Happens Next?
Introduced in January 2022, this bill was heard in committee on February 16 where it was assigned to the appropriations committee and is pending hearing. (as of 2/24/22)
3. Budget Request for the Colorado Office of New Americans
What Will It Do?
Last year, the Colorado state legislature passed a bill to create a Colorado Office of New Americans (ONA). This critical infrastructure piece connects immigrant and immigrant-hosting communities with critical state resources. In the last year, it has served as a centralizing force to coordinate state support for welcoming arriving Afghans.
What’s at Stake?
A small investment of just over $300K will enable the ONA to continue expanding services to New Coloradans, preserving Colorado's role as a welcoming state for refugees and so many others. When state agencies coordinate to serve populations, the results are an accessible government that is capable and nimble enough to respond rapidly to changing circumstances and population needs. This is vital assistance for organizations that provide direct services and integration support to New Americans.
What Happens Next?
As part of a broader budgetary package, this amendment will be heard before the Joint Budget Committee. (as of 2/25/22)
4. Utah’s Refugee and Immigrant Student Policies Amendments (HB230)
What Will It Do?
This bill seeks to amend the enrollment process for refugee and immigrant students in Utah public schools to ensure that they are able to enroll in the grade-level appropriate for them and allow them to stay on track with their studies.
What’s at Stake?
With the arrival of so many Afghan families to the state of Utah, families and their children are moving to new towns with new school districts. Enrollment policies throughout the state, however, were inconsistent. And there was a lack of requirements around communicating with families in their chosen languages. This bill changes all of that. It centralizes a system to make sure that existing assessments for placing children in classrooms are consistent. And it sets requirements for appropriate, accessible communication with English language learning families.
As bill sponsor, Utah Representative Dan Johnson wrote in an op-ed for Deseret News, these measures “respect and support the role of all families — including refugee families — in Utah’s school system.”
What Happens Next?
This bill passed unanimously in both the state House and Senate! It is pending signature by the Governor. (as of 2/25/22)
5. Utah’s Educational Language Services Amendments (HB302)
What Will It Do?
This bill seeks to strengthen language accessibility throughout the public school system for all English language learning families and at every touchpoint, they have with schools. It will help teachers and school administrators better engage with refugee and immigrant families, ensuring even greater involvement by families in their child’s education.
What’s at Stake?
Absent language accessibility, simple engagement between parents and school staff can be a particularly arduous task for English language learning families. Sign-offs for field trips, setting up parent-teacher conferences, or committing to volunteer in the classroom can all be a challenge without translation services. Teachers are spending personal time figuring out how to best communicate with students’ families. And often, children in English language learning families themselves need to step up to be the official translators when the schools lack guidance or services to do so. This bill will resolve the questions parents and teachers alike face around language access.
What Happens Next?
This bill passed in the state House, and is currently working its way through the Senate where it received unanimous support in the Rules Committee and has gone to a floor vote. (as of 2/25/22)
6. Utah’s Occupational and Professional Licensing Modifications (SB43)
What Will It Do?
This bill reinstates an endorsement pathway for international professionals. Approximately sixteen of Utah’s licensing boards allow for international equivalency pathways in rule or code; reinstating this provision in Section 58-1-302 would allow new Utahns of all professions to contribute the full range of their skills to Utah’s economy.
What’s at Stake?
Similar to Colorado, not passing this measure means that the state denies those with training and expertise the opportunity to try to prove themselves qualified for licensure in Utah. From nurses to barbers, licensing professionals with qualified international training can help meet the workforce needs of the state.
What Happens Next?
This bill passed the Senate, then passed the House with amendments, which sent it back to the Senate. The Senate has passed the legislation but rejected some House amendments, which means it returns to the House. (as of 2/25/22)
7. Virginia’s Public Schools; English Language Learners S.B. 156
What Will It Do?
For every 1,000 students identified with limited English proficiency, this measure would provide funding for 22 full-time equivalent instructional positions to a school district. This measure would create a new division-wide oversight of statewide language needs.
What’s at Stake?
English learning students should not be disadvantaged simply because they need some accommodation to learn in school. Yet this happens every day as districts de-prioritize the language support needs of these students. With the appropriate staff support levels, these students have a real opportunity to achieve parity in school success with their native English-speaking classmates.
What Happens Next?
Having already passed the Senate, the measure has been assigned to the House Subcommittee: K-12 and is pending a hearing. (as of 2/25/22)
8. Virginia’s State Budget HB 30/SB 29
What Will It Do?
This measure would allocate $8 million for the Office of New Americans to invest in Virginia communities and ensure that they have the resources needed to help refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants in the state integrate and thrive.
What’s at Stake?
With the U.S. commitment to rebuilding the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and Virginia’s role in welcoming thousands of Afghan evacuees, Virginia has a critical role to play in investing in community wholeness and ensuring new arrivals have their basic needs met.
What Happens Next?
HB 30 has passed through committee and was voted to pass by the House of Delegates. SB 29 has passed the Senate chamber and crossed over to the House where it was assigned to the Committee on Appropriations. (as of 2/25/22)