A bill to allow $100,000 in state spending to pay the legal costs of lawmakers who support SB 1070 has been approved in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Senate President Andy Biggs says the money would come from the state’s general fund.

“There is an attorney that has agreed to actually participate on behalf of the 21 or 22 former members,” Biggs said. “We actually have some people on this committee who were not even here, yet they were subpoenaed.”

The committee also approved a companion bill enabling the Attorney General to represent parties not involved in the lawsuit. Opponents of SB 1070 are attempting to get records, like email, of lawmakers to determine if they contain racial references.