Oregon's mini-Dream Act moved another step closer to reality last week. The House Rules Committee held a public hearing about the "tuition equity" bill (SB 742), which would allow undocumented immigrant students who graduate after attending three years of Oregon high schools to pay in-state tuition at state universities ["Dollar Scholars," News, March 10]. That would whack $17,640 annually off the cost of a college education for immigrant children like Alicio Reyes—an eighth-grade son of illegal immigrant farm workers who told legislators last week that his dream to study astronomy in college would be out of reach without the bill. SARAH MIRK

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The Oregonian reported this week on Mayor Sam Adams dishing out a larger slice of the city budget pie for bikes... but didn't include all the relevant facts. The article, "Portland Mayor Sam Adams Boosts Funding for Bike Projects, but Now There's Less for Paving Streets," noted that bike projects jumped from one percent to 17 percent of the city's general transportation fund this fiscal year, while car projects shrank from 85 percent to 62 percent. Not mentioned in the article: Thanks to new state funding, the city has $10.6 million more to spend on transportation this fiscal year than it did last time around. Rather than slashing car projects to make way for bikes, spending on bikes is slated to jump to $2.7 million (over 4,000 times more than 2009-2010), while spending on car projects more than doubled to $9.8 million. Charts here. SM