Adam Tamburin

USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

Tennessee law requires undocumented immigrants to pay substantially more than their peers to attend state colleges, but an effort to change that scored a big win — and support from Gov. Bill Haslam — Wednesday.

Lawmakers, together with immigrant rights advocates, have worked for five years to pass a bill that would allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at schools like the University of Tennessee and Nashville State Community College. Their progress has come in fits and starts, with a 2015 bill passing in the Senate only to fail by one vote on the House floor.

But advocates and students cheered from the steps of the Capitol after the latest bill — sponsored by Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, and Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis — easily cleared a key hurdle Wednesday by winning support from the Senate Education Committee with a 7-2 vote.

"We know we still have a long way to go," said Stephanie Teatro, co-executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, which has advocated loudly for each iteration of the bill. But "after such a strong showing in the Senate committee we are more optimistic than ever that the Class of 2017 will be able to graduate with greater opportunity to go to college in the fall."

The coalition brought more than 150 undocumented students to Nashville from across the state for the vote. During an impromptu after-party, they got the chance to mingle with a high-profile supporter after the committee vote, when Haslam emerged from the Capitol to pose for pictures and quiz them about their college goals.

Haslam has signaled his support for legislation in the past, but by laughing and posing for pictures with a crowd of undocumented students, the governor sent an especially strong message to lawmakers.

The governor has championed several initiatives to boost college enrollment in Tennessee. In an email, his spokesman said Haslam supports the latest in-state tuition bill — and she suggested that he sees it as a natural extension of those efforts.

"The legislation increases autonomy for individual institutions to provide equitable tuition policy and creates seamless pathways to higher education that support a more successful workforce," Haslam spokeswoman Jennifer Donnals said.

In the past, critics of the legislation have said the bill was unfair to immigrants who entered the country legally and that it could encourage more undocumented immigrants to come to Tennessee. But supporters, including some conservative Republicans, have said discouraging undocumented students from attending college squanders the state's investment in their K-12 schooling.

Under current laws, undocumented students must pay out-of-state rates, which are often two or three times higher, to attend a public college. Some students decide to go to colleges in neighboring states that offer discounted tuition rates. For others, the higher price tag in Tennessee might as well be a stop sign.

"This bill would remove additional barriers for tens of thousands of Tennessee students," Gardenhire told the Senate committee Wednesday. "They want to go to college and they want to contribute to our state, and that’s why we should allow them to pay their way."

The bill still needs to weave its way through several other legislative committees before it can come up for final floor votes. The House Education Administration & Planning Subcommittee is scheduled to consider the bill next week.

Reach Adam Tamburin at atamburin@tennessean.com or 615-726-5986 and on Twitter @tamburintweets.