"Other measures up for signature today include prescription drug monitoring, tighter gun laws..."

Tighter gun laws! Yay!!!

Why don't you go all the way and allow illegals to vote in the general elections.

Tighter gun laws only make the criminals safer.

Now we have the California of the east.You must really be proud Martin.What else are you giving away and raising the taxes to fund.You should have jumped on Obama's train instead of Hillarys.Glad I moved out before you took over Annapolis after ruining Baltimore.Make your mark here because this is your highwater mark.

So as somebody who is not sick, were I to be picked up on a minor pot possession charge, I would not be able to plead not guilty?

"nation’s broken immigration system?!"....Excuse me, while on active duty, I married my wife from Panama and she went through the immigration process, became a permanent resident and is now becoming a US citizen. I'm sorry Mr. Governor, unless you've been through the system, don't be talkin' SMACK! How about providing tuition assistance as an INCENTIVE to become LEGAL citizens?! Since WHEN do we sponsor and promote ILLEGAL activities for ILLEGAL immigrants?!...

Tell me again why we are giving breaks to illegal immigrants MOM?

Del. Jeannie Haddaway and Sen. Colburn are circulating a petition to have this go to a referendom to let the voters decide. Contact their office to see how you can sign this petition online to have a voice and overturn this unbelievable decision!

Tighter gun laws are a joke. The criminals will continue to get guns. Tighter gun laws are just another Democrat liberal step towards taking guns away from law abiding citizens.

MOM is sucking up so that he hopes to have a base when he runs for a federal office. I would not vote for that lying, coniving pos of you know what for nothing. He is going to give the illegals a free ride and would you believe that he has stuck us with a bunch of new fees. I know that he feels good a night when he goes to sleep and dreamikng on what he is going to stick the tax payers with next

So illegal means against the law unless it has something to do with CASA, MD politics or immigration. Nice to know

Impeach O'malley!!! raising our taxes and giving resident rates to ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS while AMERICANS/US CITIZENS who are not a resident of the State of Maryland, have to pay out of State rates. I can't wait until the housing market turns around so I can get the heck out of this JACKED Up Communist state of Maryland. Thanks all you morons who voted for the biggest Moron O'Malley!

how about voting on relinquishing my daughters student loans we are still paying on after granduating 4 years ago

Hey Omalley, people in college aren't kids. They are young adults. Maybe some 17 year olds in their, but don't try to compare them to a 10 year old.

Reading is fun people! Theyre giving in-state tuition rates to the children of illegal immigrants, provided that the parents pay their taxes, the students graduate from a Maryland high school, and all are working towards citizenship. Herb Rivera, they must be working towards being legal if they want to benefit from this program. John, if we educate more young people, the chances of them leading a productive life full of consumerism and tax paying is higher. Therefore, consider it an investment on the state's part.

Omalley says "we have a contstitutional duty to provide public education for every child in our state". Number 1:
Will someone tell me where in the constitution it syas this? Number 2: we are providing public education but the constitution doesn't say how much the education should cost the student". Number 3: Article IV states:The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States." So regardless of residency, shouldn't all Citizens pay the same tuition?

The majority of social problems are due to poverty. I do not understand why you would not want people living in our state to be more educated. More education leads to more productive citizens, future tax payers, and less overall crime. Think about the big picture here people! If people aren't educated they are more likely to end up on public assistance where we will be paying for them and their children for the rest of their lives!!

I say just combine these bills and let us ship immigrants from Mexico directly to Marylanders.

I paid for a visa, paid taxes, and still had to pay out of state tuition for most of my college here.. This does not piss me off at all...

Well Thom, those undocumented students who get instate tuition have to apply for citizenship...

So your wish is granted.

It's a curse and punishment to be a responsible , legal US Citizen .....;((

the bill is for illegal immigants who have graduated from maryland's high schools...give me a tree, give me a tree. i need to hug a tree.

Please tell me how illegal immigrants can get college tuition paid while I struggle to keep my daughter in college. I fill out all the forms but do not qualify for assistance, it is not because I make a boat load of money, because I don't, I live pay check to pay check. My daughter has two years left; I am just hoping I can keep paying to keep her in school. Loans are not cheap

Thanks for using our money to pay for illegals, Marty. Have you ever looked up the definition of "illegal" in a dictionary, or would that go against the grain of a politician to look himself up???

So instead of addressing how it is that the kids were able to attend and graduate from a Maryland High School for free, we are going to spout off about how wrong it is that they will be paying money to go to College in Maryland. Why not focus more on the 4 and 5 year olds that are entering the school system each year illegally? Take care of that, and the college thing won't even be a proble.

Oh finally, CCW in MD. Or am I mistaken?

We have a constitutional obligation to provide a public education for every child in our state," the governor wrote. "But we should not allow our nation’s broken immigration system to serve as an excuse to escape our basic, moral obligation to expand opportunity for all Marylanders, provided they graduated from a Maryland high school, pay taxes in our state, and are on a path toward citizenship."
Wrong! You have a constitutional obligation for the CITIZENS of the state to receive BASIC tuition. That does not include paying for their college and that does NOT include illegal aliens (they are not immigrants, they are alien invaders and should be treated with such, not coddled.).
O'Malley may be the first since Agnew to be seen as a criminal in the eyes of the voters.
Tougher gun laws? Why not just enforce the ridiculously draconian laws you have put in place. Like most people say, you are only protecting the criminals in Maryland by making more and more gun laws. They won't care about more laws, only the law abiding citizens will.

I agree with Thom. Use tuition as an incentive to become a citizen. We spend millions of dollars for immigrants. We should use some of that money to help our law abiding citizens. They laugh in our face and disrespect our rules and the government helps them. My grandparents were immigrants from Italy and the Ukraine and all 4 of them became citizens. They respected the US and its rules and lived by them. That should be mandatory. And if immigrants don't like that, they can go back to the country they left!!

So if the children are illegals what does that make the parents? I have been in Maryland all my life - and have had to work outside the state for over 16 years because of the corporate government mentality. Most companies ONLY hire minorities and the gray suits lack any moral fortitude. ILLEGALS = ILLEGALS - which is technically what this law is - right?

OMALLEY STATES WE HAVE A LEGAL OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE EDUCATION FOR EVERY CHILD IN MARYLAND?????.....then why not give them a waterfront home in Annapolis, a 2011 Corvette to drive to college (we wouldn't want them to be embarrased by having to ride a bus would we) and a state funded credit card without a spending limit ....sounds just as reasonable as OMALLEY - will his alleged illegitimate child living out of state also get instate tuition rates if it moves to MD to be near Daddy dearest someday.....

Here is the opportunity to stand up against this scam. Send to all your family and friends.

You need to make a two sided copy of the first 2 pages. The petition must have the bill printed on the back or will be thrown out!

http://www.mdpetitions.org/

wonder how long before 'Spanish' becomes the state language?

the law is only the law in MD when you're a tax paying, law abiding citizen...the rest can do whatever they want on our tab according to this disgraceful state government.

What is wrong with people. ILLEGAL's should not be given anything. They have to earn the right to go to school. And how are they paying taxes if they are ILLEGAL.

Can I get in-state tuition in Mexico? Maybe I should move down there since all the Mexican are moving up here, better yet O'Malley why don't use rename the state to Mexiland, seems to fit.

O'Malley is worse then Glendenning. I am proud to say I voted for Ehrlich.

No you can't get in-state tuition in Mexico - and they won't teach you in English, and they won't teach you Spanish. I moved off the Mexican border 18months ago. I promise you that if you give illegals an inch they'll take the proverbial mile. This gets their illegal toes in the door - there will be no stopping them and the people who protect their "rights". Who is protecting my rights? Not our government. How will they confirm that students are on the path to citizenship? For that matter, what is the definition of said path? Look out Maryland - stop them while you still have a chance.

www.mdpetitions.com

We must act. Visit the above website to print-out and sign your petition. Follow the instuctions closely or they will find an excuse to throw it away!

By the look of the comments left here so far we seem to be a hate State.

This was not an easy choose to make.
The Governor knew it would be unpopular.

I thought illegal immagrents were supposed to be deported. No wonder we can't find jobs. They don't deserve anything

To LJ, "My grandparents were immigrants from Italy and the Ukraine and all 4 of them became citizens." Your assumption that the path to citizenship these days is as easy as it was back then, simply shows your ignorance of this topic. All of you seem to believe that these illegals are not citizens by choice. The fact is, there is no path to citizenship right now for these people. They are stuck in LIMBO! There are MANY of them that are perfectly capable of contributing to this state if only the were allowed to begin a LEGAL process to become citizens, but AGAIN, THERE IS NO PATH THAT THEY CAN FOLLOW RIGHT NOW. ALL THEY CAN DO IS SIT AND WAIT.

I am so pleased to live in a state where the Governor and Legisltaure have the fortitude to stand up to the NRA. The NRA is a subversive group of pseudo Constitionionalist responsible for the murder of so many Americans. Keep Maryland safer by supporting gun control laws.

Golly. Never thought the day would come when so many Native Americans were so outspoken on a single issue.

Illegal immigrants should be deported, not given tuition breaks. They should not be paying income taxes because they should not be working because they shouldn't be here to begin with.

Every time a brainless politician pushes another gun restriction through, I run out and buy another gun. Now I have two vaults full of exotic guns, most never fired.

And what part of illegal aliens doesn't O'Malley understand? He's a fool.

Mojosfun "pseudo Constitionionalist responsible for the murder of so many Americans."

Too bad your not one of the stats!

Paul_D,
Guess what? I am native american. I was born and raised in the USA. If you are talking the tribes that were here when the europeans arrived, I have cherokee on both sides of my family traceable on the Dawes Rolls. Either way, I am a natural born citizen and can definitely protest giving rights to an invading army instead of treating them like the enemy they are. IIRC, there is a penalty for harboring and giving aid to fugitives, which illegal aliens should be classified as. If this is so, O'Malley and anyone that votes for or passes legislation like this should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

some legal immigrants, particularly from europe, china, india and even the middle east, do raise the educational level of the state by attendance at MD colleges. these societies have traditions of scholarship and professional occupatons. The Latin American cultures that are mestizo based and the poor Central American societies bound by ignorance and crime, have little to offer.

Frankly the more "white" or Spanish element of South America is basically european, with european values and levels of education. But we can't "discriminate" by merit achievements based on ethnic or national origin. so illegal will have to be the quality control.

Overall, keep out illegals, you raise the qualtiy of the workforce and student bodies. yes Governor, race matters. Business knows it. High end colleges know it. You know it but lack the guts to say so. you'll do anything to keep yourself and your family in comfort on the public tab. Like your parasite buddy Obama.

HELLO! WHY DOES EVERYONE THINK THE ONLY IMMIGRANTS ARE FROM MEXICO!!!!!!!!!! SHOWS WHY THEY HAVE SUCH A PROBLEM WITH IT!!!! THE IGNORANCE IS AMAZING

"Every time a brainless politician pushes another gun restriction through, I run out and buy another gun. Now I have two vaults full of exotic guns, most never fired. "

Way to show 'em, genius.

It's clear that no one has actually read the law. It increases the sentence for using a gun while committing a crime of violence, something you nutjobs are usual falling all over yourselves about.

By signing the "illegal immigrant give away act of 2011," Gov. O'Malley just insured he has no political future outside of Maryland. Recall that drivers licenses for illegals (not even a $3M give away in tax payer money) tripped up Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primary. And note that this law goes against the trend every where else in this country. This law will be gone by November and O'Malley ain't leaving Maryland to go to the White House. Democrats have awoken a sleeping giant in Maryland.

Ham Snadwich (it's hard to do that typo on purpose),
It doesn't do any good to increase the sentences when too many MD judges, especially in the AA and Balto county court systems won't hand out the sentences. They seem to prefer to hand out PBJs for everything except drug possession. I know of one young man that stole a handgun, got a PBJ for that even with a juvenile drug distro record, then proceeded to do 3 felony theft motor vehicles in a row in which with the 3rd they finally ordered him to a facility for 'troubled youths', not even jail time.
go figure.

"HELLO! WHY DOES EVERYONE THINK THE ONLY IMMIGRANTS ARE FROM MEXICO!!!!!!!!!! SHOWS WHY THEY HAVE SUCH A PROBLEM WITH IT!!!! THE IGNORANCE IS AMAZING

Posted by: Lisa MARTin | May 10, 2011 3:18 PM "
Okay, Latino then... (I think that covers Mexico, Latin American states in South America)

this back and forth is ridiculous... everyone that thinks this is a mistake needs to push participation on this link;

http://www.mdpetitions.org/

with their families, friends and neighbors. we the 'citizens' need to show them we mean business...

"IIRC, there is a penalty for harboring and giving aid to fugitives, which illegal aliens should be classified as.

-Assuming every foreign citizen on American soil is a criminal. Woe to the software programmer on a work Visa or pitchers like Jose Contreras or Aroldis Chapman. I'm sure Concerned Citizens® will stay busy "prosecuting" the MLB.

For all the people offering their opinions, I haven't heard one counter solution. If we don't try to educate them, what should we do with them. I mean we are talking about kids wanting to go to college, not your bottom rung criminals and that's only if they PAY TAXES. If you say hunt them all down and deport them, we'll let you pony up the first Billion of billions upon billions it would cost. Even then, where do you send them, how do you know what country they come from. They will still come back. What about all the jobs they bust their butts in that Americans don't want to work. Housekeeping jobs that barely pay doesn't seem to be a job that most Americans line up for. It just seems that a cheaper realistic cost is to try and educate the few that want to learn. I'm talking about realistic options. Not some extreme point of view. Yes, they are here illegally, but so what, what do you do. Complaining that they are illegal doesn't change the fact that they are here. Let them pay taxes and educate them to be productive members of society seems reasonable and cost effective. You have to pay income taxes to get this benefit. Scum in the city and rednecks living in trailer parks contribute nothing to our society, but we don't care about them draining the system. We only care about a handful of kids from another country trying to learn.

Well, you know what they say, data isn't the plural of anecdote. You knowing someone who got off easy doesn't prove that judges are lenient. What this bill *does* do is allow for harsher sentencing for violent felons and drug offenders.

The Latin American cultures that are mestizo based and the poor Central American societies bound by ignorance and crime, have little to offer."

Gee thanks, Max Weber. Thats something to remember when you fire up the color teevee or computer.

Wow...I'm not shocked at all by this in-state tuition for kids of illegal immigrants. Let the citizens pay for rights and privileges of those who milk the system for all that the govt will allow. Clever maybe, but counterproductive overall.

What do you Marylanders expect from a state as disgustingly liberal as ours? If the govt was handing out free fruit baskets to "everyone in need", I would go pick mine up, no matter how much money I make. Free is free...isn't it?

This is similar to banning smoking in bars in Maryland, in one sense. The result being: one group of people feel accomplished and happy, while the other group becomes pissed off and vindictive...so this is the world we live in....from one side of the pendulum to the other....and in the end we all get cut if half and divided.

Wake up, or go back to sleep.

I'm sure residents of Maryland will be positively surprised by the significant payback to the USA, Maryland, and his/her home neighborhood by the young man or woman who, thanks to the in-state tuition provision, will have a college degree.
But what if the young person returns to his/her home country after graduating? If so, we will have another friend in a sister country.

Hmm no mention about the bill that went into effect on may 1st prohibiting online sales of cigars and pipe tobacco in maryland. way to take our right to shop where we wish away. Has omalley ever heard of interstate commerce? It is illegal to close the borders of a state to a legal item in interstate commerce.

BOOOOOOO O'Malley!

The misinformation and propaganda by the pro illegal immigrant posters here is staggering.

Why don't any of you mention that illegals who have federal and state taxes withheld are also eligible for refunds? Most illegals don't file, and a majority of the ones that do receive refunds equal to or greater than the amount withheld. Having the highest birth rate in America pays off for them when they apply for the child tax credits and other deductions just like everyone else. The IRS doesn't check immigration status, it just does the math most of the time.The net result is, wait for it..... they don't pay taxes! The next time some sanctimonious person tells you illegals pay taxes, yell into their face, " and most of them get full refunds or more! " You can expect to be called a racist once they realize they've been caught in a lie.
We can talk about the crimes they commit by misusing a TIN or stealing a social security number for their tax forms some other time.
Are all of these students orphans?
Why don't any of the do-gooders mention the cost of providing services ( public school, emergency room care, maternity care....) to not only the students, but their illegal alien mothers, fathers and siblings. What about the costs to the state of having a citizen thrown out of work because an illegal took their job.
Once the students get amnesty, they will sponsor mom and dad for citizenship, and the tax payers can pick up the huge tab for that. Now everyone in the family is eligible for every tax payer funded program there is. Who says crime doesn't pay. Gee whiz, I wonder why Los Angeles is broke?
Don't worry, these superhuman students will each be paying enough taxes to offset the costs of having their families and compatriots here.
Get ready for lots of new visitors. Spanish language radio, TV and newspapers all over the country are reporting on this place called Maryland where Latinos (90% of illegals) are getting their "rights."
Finally, do you know the worlds richest man, Carlos Slim, is a Mexican. He spends most of his time with the other millionaires and billionaires of "poor" Mexico. How can a country that is responsible for 60-70% of this countries illegal aliens produce the worlds richest man? Simple. Let the stupid Americans take care of your poor. How does it feel to be made fools of by a latin ruling class that thinks you are culturally inferior to them. Was it Stalin or Lenin that was talking about some of you people when he used the phrase "useful idiots."

John said it perfectly:
"Why don't you go all the way and allow illegals to vote in the general elections."
That's exactly the point!
Gov. O'Malley: Please change all references to "illegal aliens" to "undocumented Democratic voters". We know where this is going. Shameful.

Visit the NumbersUSA and the ALIPAC websites and help fight illegal immigration.

Magyart,

Did you know that NumbersUSA was founded and is run by anitsemites and white nationalists? I would watch what organizations you endorse...look up NumbersUSA founder John Tanton and his history in the white supremacy movment. He's one screwed dude.

Some of the comments here really make me laugh out loud. So many Marylanders want to ensure that these children of poor, mostly minority, immigrants have no access to an education. That would pretty much make it a sure thing that they won't be able to get a good job and be productive members of society. At the same time, they want relaxed restrictions on guns. Anyone else see a connection here?

Lack of access to eduction + lots of guns easily available on the streets = extremely high violent crime rate

John,
way to spin doctor the lies. "So many Marylanders want to ensure that these children of poor, mostly minority, immigrants have no access to an education. " This bill has notning to do with LEGAL immigrants getting in-state tuition. They already get that. It is to ensure the ILLEGALS, the ones that should not have jobs, residences and privileges in this or any other state get the in-state break.

Also,
You might find it interesting to know that the more draconian the firearm restrictions are, the higher the crime rate. See Japan's violent crimes which keep increasing despite a lack of legal firearms and British violent crimes, also increasing. The truly interesting statistic is that in the USA, the violent and handgun crime rates are lower in the states with shall issue concealed carry laws and fewer restrictions on firearms ownership. I still remember the crime rate involving firearms in DC got so bad, even with no handguns being allowed in the district, that they were even selling t-shirts with fake bullet holes that said 'Welcome to DC. Sorry we missed you..."

Moonwolf, Yes I actually do find Britain's homicide rate interesting. London has a tiny fraction of the murders Baltimore has, yet London is many times larger. You say that their violent crime rate is increasing, but you fail to mention how low it is by comparison to ours. And you say that I am spinning the lies?

You probably don't live in the city, or you'd be able to face the fact (because you would see it) that illegal immigrant are in this country. They are having children, who are staying here. Fact: They need to have access to education. Period.

John,
Wrong again. The UK has a higher per capita crime rate, including violent crime than the US or Canada. The US has more murders per year, but per capita, the UK rate is higher.
In the UK, there are 2,034 offences per 100,000 people, way ahead of second-placed Austria with a rate of 1,677.
The U.S. has a violence rate of 466 crimes per 100,000 residents, Canada 935, Australia 92 and South Africa 1,609.

source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196941/The-violent-country-Europe-Britain-worse-South-Africa-U-S.html

And I live about 1/2 mile outside the city and travel it extensively, unfortunately. Yes, there are illegal aliens in this country, in fact, when I lived in Glen Burnie years ago there were 10 living in the apartment below me the last year I lived in a certain complex (even were the occupants not illegal, having 10 people living in a 2 bdrm apartment is illegal by the housing laws). Where I live now, MS13 is slowly moving in and causing the amount of violent crime in the area to escalate. Just because they are moving into the area does not mean we have to give them access to things only citizens should have access to at the taxpayers' expense. The less they receive, the less they want to live in an area. Take away their means to make a living, their free schooling and cheap housing and they will leave.

Moonwolf,

You're very bold, not to mention just plain rude, to insist that I am wrong, especially when I am not.

There were only 117 homicides in London during the one-year period of March 2009 to March 2010. Baltimore can expect nearly that many murders every few months.

Baltimore's population 620,961. London's population 7,556,900 (as of July 2007).

You do the math.

Source: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23824836-shootings-on-increase-in-the-capital.do

You cited the general crime rate, not the murder rate and twisted the statistics in a misleading way to justify your flawed argument. It would suck to be the victim of a crime, no doubt. But there'd be no crime worse than being the victim of one of Baltimore's daily shootings. It's so weird how people in Maryland just accept that people are shot to death every day on Baltimore's streets. We just go on with business as usual. So strange to me.

John,
Wrong yet again. If you had actually read the article instead of skipping it, it ONLY mentions violent crime rates. Yes, the UK's overall violent crime rate, not just murder but all assault, rape, etc, is almost 5x what the rate is in the US per capita.
Here's another article pointing out the same fact, and also pointing out where in Australia, the number of murders involving firearms dropped after the gun ban, the number of crimes has actually increased by several percent, whereas before the ban there had been a steady decline in crime.
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=21902

Just goes to prove what many people have pointed out time and again. If criminals need fear no strong self-protection, as by a firearm, they are emboldened and crime increases.