Illinois is one of 16 states that offer in-state tuition rates to undocumented immigrants, if they meet all other residency and admission requirements, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

NCSL also notes that at least nine states — California, Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington — offer student financial aid to certain undocumented immigrants while others, such as Utah, allow public institutions to offer them financial aid using private funding sources.

In some states, those laws have been the subject of bitter controversy amid the fierce national debate over U.S. immigration policy. But in the Illinois House, opponents of the bill did not talk about immigration issues and instead focused their arguments on the potential cost.

Rep. Allen Skillicorn, a Republican from East Dundee, pointed to a fiscal note for the bill that said if all of the students who become eligible under the bill were to use those benefits, it could add about $9 million to the cost of the MAP grants. That means lawmakers would either have to appropriate more money for the program, or administrators of the program would have to shift grant funds away from other recipients.