Senate Republicans threatened Wednesday to block debate on a proposal to offer in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants if the bill makes it to the Senate floor.

With three days left in the General Assembly’s 90-day session that will end at midnight Tuesday, Sen. Andrew Harris, R-Baltimore County, said he would lead a filibuster against the bill if the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee approves it and sends it to the floor for debate.

“Maryland is already one of the few states to give illegal immigrants drivers’ licenses,” Harris said in a written statement. “Now they want taxpayers to give each illegal immigrant over $53,000 to go to our taxpayer-funded state colleges and universities.”

The Senate committee listened to testimony on the bill late Wednesday afternoon, and a committee vote on the issue could come as early as today. The House of Delegates passed the bill last week 81-57 after long and heated debate.

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Gov. Martin O’Malley has supported the bill, calling education “the light that allows individuals to create greater opportunity for all of us.”

“I think that that’s squandering the investment we’ve already made in our country and our state, where we believe in the dignity of every individual,” O’Malley said last week.

Del. Victor Ramirez, D-Prince George’s, the bill’s lead sponsor, said he was confident the Democrats would have enough votes to squash any extended debate.

“There’s really no justification for what they’re doing,” Ramirez said. “We have answers to their questions. They’ve turned this into a partisan issue and it’s not a partisan issue.”

Ramirez and other supporters of the bill have argued the legislation is about fairness — offering the same opportunities to all students. Under the bill, nonresident students would be eligible for in-state tuition if they have attended high school for at least two years or have graduated from a Maryland public high school. The eligible student’s parents also must have paid income taxes in the last year.

“We’re talking about high school kids — kids who are just as American as we are, and we should offer them every opportunity we offer every other high school student,” Ramirez said.

stracy@baltimoreexaminer.com