Federal News in Brief

After being stalled for months, lawmakers are expected to begin work this week to reconcile House and Senate versions of a broad immigration-reform bill.

House and Senate conferees are expected to include in HR 2202 a fiercely debated provision that would allow states to deny certain illegal-immigrant children a free public education. The House's version of the bill includes the provision; the Senate's does not. ( "Pressure Builds To Nix School Ban for Illegal Immigrants," June 19, 1996.)

Going into the House-Senate conference committee, Republicans crafted a compromise that would allow illegal-immigrant students already enrolled in public schools as of Sept. 30 of this year to continue to receive a free public education until they reached the highest grade at their current school level, elementary or secondary. States could exclude any illegal-immigrant children who enroll after Sept. 30. Schools would still have to check all students' immigration status and could report illegal-immigrant students to federal immigration...