At a meeting with the state's Hispanic Legislative Caucus on Wednesday, newly sworn-in Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera avoided a question about whether he supports the state DREAM Act, a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition prices to attend public universities.
"The legislative process will work itself out," said Lopez-Cantera in response to the question, according to The Florida Times-Union. "That process has a way of being the process that it is."
Pressed by the caucus about whether he supported the bill when he served in the state's House of Representatives, Lopez-Cantera said his memory was fuzzy.
"I haven’t reviewed my voting record recently," the lieutenant governor said.
Checking Lopez-Cantera's record wouldn't necessarily clarify things, though. The DREAM Act bill has been submitted to the state legislature 11 times, but it has rarely been voted out of committee, according to The Florida Times-Union -- meaning that Lopez-Cantera wouldn't necessarily have had an opportunity to cast a vote on it.
Florida's Hispanic Legislative Caucus has adopted the issue as one of its legislative priorities for this year. The caucus hopes to gain Gov. Rick Scott's support as he heads into a reelection bid in which he'll need strong Latino turnout, according to The Miami Herald.
Scott attended Wednesday's meeting, but also refused to say whether he'd support the measure.
"I'll certainly consider it," Scott said, according to the Herald.
Lopez-Cantera, who was born in Spain to Cuban parents, is the first Hispanic to hold the position of lieutenant governor in Florida history. He was sworn in on Monday.
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