The Tea Party-controlled New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday to prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving in-state tuition rates at the state’s universities and colleges.

The House voted 217-82 in favor of the legislation, which would require all students seeking in-state tuition rates to sign an affidavit attesting that they are legal residents of the United States. The bill passed the Republican-controlled state Senate 18-5 earlier on Wednesday. The bill will next be considered by Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat.

“HB 1383 is an attack on the university system of New Hampshire,” said Rep. Mary Gile (D-Concord), referring to the bill by its number.

During the course of the session, Gile spoke to her colleagues primarily about what she said were a series of attacks on the university system, which she said threatened New Hampshire’s economic future. During discussions of the House and Senate education committees, no testimony had surfaced shoing that undocumented immigrants had been seeking the in-state tuition rate in New Hampshire’s public university system, she said.

Gile, who House Speaker William O’Brien (R-Mont Vernon) tried to cut off after a few minutes, said she believes the testimony shows that there is no interest among undocumented immigrants in seeking the in-state tuition rate. The Tea Party majority that has controlled the state legislature since 2011 is trying to end public higher education in the state, she claimed.

Read the full story at the Huffington Post