Remember the study on the costs and benefits of illegal immigration in Kansas?

A legislative committee seemed poised Tuesday to say “never mind.”

But, in the end, the Legislative Post Audit Committee gave auditors another month to try to determine the best method for accurately answering a question that has bedeviled other states and organizations.

Leo Hafner, deputy post auditor, said some initial study had revealed that providing an accurate assessment of the costs and benefits to the state of illegal immigrants was “like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall.”

Hafner told the committee it was most likely that auditors would have to borrow data from other organizations, such as the Pew Center for Hispanic Studies, which estimates there are between 40,000 and 70,000 illegal immigrants in Kansas.

He cautioned legislators that pursuing the study would be costly and time-consuming, and the end product, he said, would be “imprecise at best.”

After weighing and eliminating several possible options that auditors might consider, the committee almost pulled the plug on the project.

Rep. Virgil Peck, a Tyro Republican, said he believed it would be wasteful to expend the time and money to pursue a study that would yield dubious results.

Sen. Chris Steineger, a Kansas City Democrat, agreed, and motioned that the study not be pursued.

Rep. Tom Burroughs, also a Kansas City Democrat, ultimately agreed with Steineger.

“I don’t think we should diminish the reputation of the (Legislative Division of Post Audit) by putting out something based on assumptions,” Burroughs said.

However, when committee members were reminded that, because a so-called law provision insisting on a study was inserted into an appropriations bill, they were legally bound to pursue such a study - though they were not bound by the scope statement outlined in the law provision.

Committee members briefly considered defying that law and sending a letter to the full Legislature to explain why. But Rep. Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat, pointed out that it would be the ironic indeed if the committee sent a letter to colleagues explaining why they were ignoring a law regarding a study of people who ignored the law to get into this country.

Finally, the committee agreed to give auditors until Sept. 17 to further explore study methods that would be more likely to yield an accurate product. If no such methodology is identified, committee members said they would reserve the right to refine the scope statement under which the study was to be pursued.

- Phil LaCerte

The Week in Review