TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Senate on Tuesday paved the way for final passage of a contentious bill allowing undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at Florida colleges and universities.

Using a procedural move, senators cleared the bill for a vote on the floor later this week. It is almost certain to pass because 21 of the 40 members of the Senate have publicly expressed their support. Another three have voted for the bill along its committee stops.

Tuesday’s action, albeit understated, marked an important victory for supporters, who have fought for years to persuade the Legislature to approve the measure.

“We’re in the home stretch now,” declared Sen. Jack Latvala, the Clearwater Republican sponsoring the bill.

House Speaker Will Weatherford said he, too, was hopeful.

“We are on the verge of a very proud moment as a state,” said Weatherford, a champion of the bill in the lower chamber.

The maneuver in the Senate that kept the proposal in play Tuesday was so subtle that it went practically unnoticed by the undocumented immigrant students watching from the Senate gallery.

The Senate bill (SB 1400) had stalled after Senate Budget Chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart, refused to hear it in his committee. Latvala then tried adding the language to different Senate education proposals, but was unsuccessful.

With time running out, Senate Rules Chairman John Thrasher motioned to waive the Senate rules and let the upper chamber take up the House version of the bill (HB 851).

Senate President Don Gaetz asked whether there were any objections. There were none.

Gaetz approved the motion and moved on with the agenda.

Had five members of the Senate raised their hands, the motion would have required a two-thirds vote. That alone could have killed the bill’s chances of becoming law.

Gaetz also could have quashed the motion. But despite his objections to the policy, he had said he would not stop it from reaching the floor.

“A majority of the members of the Senate wish to have this bill heard,” Gaetz said Tuesday. “As presiding officer of the Senate, it is my duty to abide by the will of the Senate.”

Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, an opponent who likened the proposal to “pandering” to Hispanic voters, agreed that the issue should be decided by the entire chamber.

“Despite people’s feelings about the policy, there’s a belief that the majority (the senators who support the proposal) had been abused by the minority (the opponents), and that the injustice needed to be rectified with an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor,” Lee said.

Latvala expects the Senate to discuss the measure today on the floor before taking a final vote on Thursday.

At some state universities, undocumented students pay four times the tuition rate for Florida residents.

Nationwide, at least 17 states have provisions in their laws allowing for in-state tuition rates for undocumented immigrant students.

The language that will be considered in the Senate already has the support of the House and Gov. Rick Scott. It includes a compromise over the so-called tuition differential that would allow the University of Florida and Florida State University to raise tuition up to 6 percent above the rate set by the Florida Legislature. All other universities would have to charge the state-mandated tuition rate.

Scott, who has made the bill a priority in recent weeks, expressed his support Tuesday at the National Guard Armory in Fort Lauderdale.

“We need to get tuition lower so all of our students — low-income, middle-income, everybody — can afford college and university,” he said.

Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, meanwhile, kept the pressure up in Tallahassee.

“We’re optimistic that it will get done by Friday,” he said between conversations with lawmakers and lobbyists in the Capitol Rotunda.

Student activists also worked to sustain the momentum. They donned caps and gowns, and held a mock graduation ceremony outside the Senate chambers.

For Veronica Perez, a Hillsborough Community College student who was born in Mexico but raised in Polk County, the fight is personal.

Perez had to put her education on hold from 2010 to 2012 because she could not afford the out-of-state tuition rate. She aspires to be an engineer.

“Hopefully, this will be the week for undocumented students,” she said.

Times/Herald staff writers Marc Caputo and Amy Sherman contributed to this report. Kathleen McGrory can be reached at kmcgrory@MiamiHerald.com.

Charlotte’s new Immigrant Integration Task Force is hosting the first of three planned public hearings Sunday.

The event is set to run from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Midwood International & Cultural Center, 1817 Central Ave., Charlotte.

The hearing is aimed at getting public input on city efforts to create new policies and practices that are more welcoming of immigrants and businesses created by immigrants.

In addition to the three sessions, the task force is asking community groups and immigrant-support agencies around the city to host smaller public meetings to gather more feedback.

Organizers hope to discuss issues ranging from transportation to how to better support small businesses, in order to better understand the needs of Charlotte’s immigrants.

The City Council voted in November to create the task force, which includes immigrant advocates, economists, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office and police departments, and representatives of local industry.

Task force members are expected to take their findings and create recommendations for the City Council to consider early next year for adoption.

The task force has been facing increased pressure from immigrant groups in recent weeks to expand its mission to include promoting comprehensive immigration reform. However, task force leaders note the group has no control over federal immigration laws.

A new Charlotte City Council effort to boost growth by creating more immigrant-friendly policies has quickly become caught up in the debate over immigration reform.

On one side are immigrant advocates demanding Charlotte take a stand on national policies, including ceasing to collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on deportations. On the other side are citizens concerned the city is about to roll out the red carpet for people who may be in the country illegally.

Leaders of the city’s Immigration Integration Task Force are resisting the entanglement. They say their mission is to study what other cities already are doing to encourage immigrants to settle down, start businesses and be more involved in civic life.

The end result of the yearlong study will be a series of action items recommended to the City Council, said Emily Zimmern, co-chair of the task force.

“This is not just about dialogue and discussion. This could result in changing local regulations or laws … that help immigrants. It’s about the economic and social benefits of being immigrant friendly,” Zimmern said.

“Addressing the broader issue of immigration reform is not what we’re asked to address.”

Public suggestions on what Charlotte should do to help immigrants will be gathered through a series of public listening sessions. The first will be at 5 p.m. April 27, at Midwood International & Cultural Center, in partnership with International House.

Encouraging immigration

The council voted in November to create the task force, which includes people from the immigration community, economists, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, the Mecklenburg County sheriff’s and police departments, and representatives of local industry.

The intent is to transform the way Charlotte deals with immigrants. This includes creating policies that encourage immigrants to move here, a step some cities are trying as a way to revitalize inner-city neighborhoods and create new businesses. Other cities have not yet proven whether those policies work.

“Encouraging immigration makes sense for our new economy, which is a global economy,” said Astrid Chirinos, of the Latin American Chamber of Commerce in Charlotte.

“We have not gotten to the depressed stage of cities like Detroit, which are in a crisis. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to fall behind. … Immigrants create new models, new innovations and new energy.”

Chirinos said she believes national immigration reform is “the elephant in the room” that the task force can’t ignore. “They’ll have to take a stand, like many other cities have, by looking at it as economic development, not just as a social issue.”

One group that’s already suspicious of the task force’s agenda is NC Listen.

“There is no problem embracing legal immigrants in this country, so what are they trying to fix?” said Ron Woodard of NC Listen. “What this committee is trying to do is lump legal with illegal immigrants together as if they were one and the same. This is already a political group, if you peel the onion layers back. …The public doesn’t want illegal immigration embraced.”

What could change

Manolo Betancur of Colombia and his wife, Zhenia Martinez of Mexico, are examples of Charlotte’s immigrant business community. The two run Las Delicias Bakery on Central Avenue, and he operates a second business that picks up people from bars and chauffeurs them and their car home for a fee.

Betancur says he works up to 80 hours a week, which he says is typical of immigrants.

“Americans don’t realize they are getting the best of people from foreign countries, because hard-working people are the ones who come to make a better life. The lazy people don’t want to leave their countries,” Betancur said.

The city could help immigrants by hiring more government employees who are bilingual. “It’s not an expense,” he said. “It’s an investment.”

Cities that already are trying more immigrant-friendly policies include Detroit, Louisville, Ky.,, St. Louis and Nashville, Tenn.

At the Charlotte task force’s meeting on Thursday, they’ll hear about Nashville.

In 2012, Nashville had the fastest-growing immigrant population of any American city, with 12 percent of its population born outside the United States. Nearly half were recent immigrants who entered the country since 2000.

Nashville has had a variation of Charlotte’s immigration task force (the Nashville Human Relations Commission) since 2009, the same year the city’s voters defeated an English-only amendment for conducting city business.

Tom Negri, interim head of Nashville’s commission, says his city’s efforts include building a community center to help immigrants with everything from English classes to a health clinic. A park is now under consideration adjacent to the center.

“Ten years ago, Charlotte was ahead of us on such issues, but the engine somehow stalled,” Negri said.

“I think what happened here is that we started a community conversation over the English-only issue, and it turned out to be a discussion of immigrants. It brought everyone to the table and it became clear where we had to go.”

UNC Chapel Hill released a report this week noting immigrants had a $19 billion economic impact on North Carolina, based on 2010 data. Charlotte, with a 14 percent foreign-born population, ranked fourth among communities in the state with the largest percentage of immigrants.

Stefan LaTorre, who co-chairs the task force with Zimmern, said he believes the creation of the task force is a commentary on how progressive Charlotte has become on immigration. He also believes the task force will make a statement on national immigration reform, but only after doing the necessary homework. Task force meetings are open to the public, he added.

“I think we have moved beyond the discussion of who should not be here,” LaTorre said. “We have been charged with trying to make things better for all immigrants, documented and undocumented.

“The understanding on the committee is that these people are here and let’s do something to help them.”

A new Charlotte City Council effort to boost growth by creating more immigrant-friendly policies has quickly become caught up in the debate over immigration reform.

On one side are immigrant advocates demanding Charlotte take a stand on national policies, including ceasing to collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on deportations. On the other side are citizens concerned the city is about to roll out the red carpet for people who may be in the country illegally.

Leaders of the city’s Immigration Integration Task Force are resisting the entanglement. They say their mission is to study what other cities already are doing to encourage immigrants to settle down, start businesses and be more involved in civic life.

The end result of the yearlong study will be a series of action items recommended to the City Council, said Emily Zimmern, co-chair of the task force.

“This is not just about dialogue and discussion. This could result in changing local regulations or laws … that help immigrants. It’s about the economic and social benefits of being immigrant friendly,” Zimmern said.

“Addressing the broader issue of immigration reform is not what we’re asked to address.”

Public suggestions on what Charlotte should do to help immigrants will be gathered through a series of public listening sessions. The first will be at 5 p.m. April 27, at Midwood International & Cultural Center, in partnership with International House.

Encouraging immigration

The council voted in November to create the task force, which includes people from the immigration community, economists, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, the Mecklenburg County sheriff’s and police departments, and representatives of local industry.

The intent is to transform the way Charlotte deals with immigrants. This includes creating policies that encourage immigrants to move here, a step some cities are trying as a way to revitalize inner-city neighborhoods and create new businesses. Other cities have not yet proven whether those policies work.

“Encouraging immigration makes sense for our new economy, which is a global economy,” said Astrid Chirinos, of the Latin American Chamber of Commerce in Charlotte.

“We have not gotten to the depressed stage of cities like Detroit, which are in a crisis. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to fall behind. … Immigrants create new models, new innovations and new energy.”

Chirinos said she believes national immigration reform is “the elephant in the room” that the task force can’t ignore. “They’ll have to take a stand, like many other cities have, by looking at it as economic development, not just as a social issue.”

One group that’s already suspicious of the task force’s agenda is NC Listen.

“There is no problem embracing legal immigrants in this country, so what are they trying to fix?” said Ron Woodard of NC Listen. “What this committee is trying to do is lump legal with illegal immigrants together as if they were one and the same. This is already a political group, if you peel the onion layers back. …The public doesn’t want illegal immigration embraced.”

What could change

Manolo Betancur of Colombia and his wife, Zhenia Martinez of Mexico, are examples of Charlotte’s immigrant business community. The two run Las Delicias Bakery on Central Avenue, and he operates a second business that picks up people from bars and chauffeurs them and their car home for a fee.

Betancur says he works up to 80 hours a week, which he says is typical of immigrants.

“Americans don’t realize they are getting the best of people from foreign countries, because hard-working people are the ones who come to make a better life. The lazy people don’t want to leave their countries,” Betancur said.

The city could help immigrants by hiring more government employees who are bilingual. “It’s not an expense,” he said. “It’s an investment.”

Cities that already are trying more immigrant-friendly policies include Detroit, Louisville, Ky.,, St. Louis and Nashville, Tenn.

At the Charlotte task force’s meeting on Thursday, they’ll hear about Nashville.

In 2012, Nashville had the fastest-growing immigrant population of any American city, with 12 percent of its population born outside the United States. Nearly half were recent immigrants who entered the country since 2000.

Nashville has had a variation of Charlotte’s immigration task force (the Nashville Human Relations Commission) since 2009, the same year the city’s voters defeated an English-only amendment for conducting city business.

Tom Negri, interim head of Nashville’s commission, says his city’s efforts include building a community center to help immigrants with everything from English classes to a health clinic. A park is now under consideration adjacent to the center.

“Ten years ago, Charlotte was ahead of us on such issues, but the engine somehow stalled,” Negri said.

“I think what happened here is that we started a community conversation over the English-only issue, and it turned out to be a discussion of immigrants. It brought everyone to the table and it became clear where we had to go.”

UNC Chapel Hill released a report this week noting immigrants had a $19 billion economic impact on North Carolina, based on 2010 data. Charlotte, with a 14 percent foreign-born population, ranked fourth among communities in the state with the largest percentage of immigrants.

Stefan LaTorre, who co-chairs the task force with Zimmern, said he believes the creation of the task force is a commentary on how progressive Charlotte has become on immigration. He also believes the task force will make a statement on national immigration reform, but only after doing the necessary homework. Task force meetings are open to the public, he added.

“I think we have moved beyond the discussion of who should not be here,” LaTorre said. “We have been charged with trying to make things better for all immigrants, documented and undocumented.

“The understanding on the committee is that these people are here and let’s do something to help them.”