Poll: 78% Utahns want tough immig.bill passed

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Utahns favor immigration bill by wide margin
SB81 » 78 percent of voters polled want the measure passed.

By Sheena Mcfarland

The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 01/27/2009 05:58:20 PM MST

After hearing impassioned testimony from dozens of advocates on both sides of the immigration reform debate, one House member thinks more objective, factual information is needed before Utah allows a comprehensive immigration reform bill to become law this July.

Rep. Stephen Clark, R-Provo, has proposed a bill that will fund a $150,000 study assessing the fiscal impacts of undocumented workers on the state in five, 10 and 25 years. The bill also would delay the implementation of immigration bill SB81.

"We're putting a big burden on the state in implementing this, and on employers," Clark said. "We should know every piece of data that is out there. There is no appetite to rush this."

But 78 percent of registered
Utah voters want to see SB81 implemented, according to a poll by The Salt Lake Tribune . The bill would, among other provisions, require all companies that contract with the state to check the immigration status of their employees and allow local police to enforce immigration law.

Just 12 percent of poll respondents said they oppose SB81, which was passed last year but doesn't take effect until this summer. Ten percent were undecided.

"Most people have been supportive of SB81, and there was some opposition, but a lot of groups have asked for a stronger law," said Rep. Brad Dee, R-Ogden. "But SB81 is a reasonable compromise."

Sen. Luz Robles, D-Salt Lake City, though, hopes the implementation date is pushed
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back.

"It's a matter of practicality, budget and constitutionality," she said. Robles points to the bill's $1.8 million price tag in a tight budget year and a current court case over Oklahoma's law, which served as a model for several of the Utah provisions.

Other groups are taking a different approach. During testimony heard late this fall, the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce proposed a statewide guest worker program, which would allow companies to hire workers from other countries if no American wanted the job and the workers passed background checks. A special tax on the workers would fund their health care.

The idea resonated with Utah's registered voters, with 51 percent supporting such a program while 38 percent opposed it and 11 percent were undecided.

"This is something that we can do now that will address solutions and address fundamental problems in our immigration system," Wesley Smith, policy director for the chamber, told lawmakers in December. "There are folks here that want to work and contribute. If that's the case, we can resolve a lot of issues by allowing that to take place."

smcfarland@sltrib.com

http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_11558747?source=rss