Thread: Arizona Service-Worker Law Stirs Debate

Arizona service-worker law stirs debate

By Alia Beard Rau
May. 20, 2011
The Arizona Republic

Real-estate agents, cosmetologists, teachers and tens of thousands of restaurant employees and workers soon will have to hand over a photo ID and proof they are in the country legally in order to get the government-issued license, certificate or permit required to do their jobs.

Lawmakers say the new state law, which goes into effect July 20, will further deter illegal immigrants from coming to Arizona to obtain work and prevent identity theft.

Business leaders say it's a solution in search of a problem that will only add to the cost of government and impede business.

The new law applies to any individual who "provides a service" to another person and needs a license or other government-issued document to perform that service.

The focus is on restaurant employees and workers seeking a food-service-worker card.

Food-service-worker cards are required for any employee or volunteer who handles, prepares, serves, sells or gives away food for human consumption. Applicants must pass a food-safety test, which Maricopa County offers online and at various locations. Individuals then must go to a county location to get the actual card, which includes a photo. They must be renewed every three years.

Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, proposed the new law. He said when he went to get his own card for volunteer work serving food, he was handed a photo-ID card without having to prove he was who he said he was.

"How do you know I'm not a friend taking the test for John Kavanagh?" he said. "And how do you know I'm not in the country illegally?"

He said he was told that he didn't have to show proof of citizenship because it was for a card, not a license. State law already requires proof of legal status to get a driver's license in Arizona.

Kavanagh said there are several reasons the law was needed.

"First, it deters illegal immigration because it makes it difficult, if not impossible, for them to work in the food-service industry," he said. "Secondly, it prevents identity theft. Before, anybody could come in, claim they were anybody and get a government photo-ID card."

The third benefit, he said, is that assuring the individuals taking the test are the same people named on the card will help assure food safety in Arizona restaurants.

The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona Restaurant Association oppose the new law. Representatives of both groups said it will further slow down a process they have been trying to streamline by helping Maricopa County offer the testing online. They had hoped to set up a program in which workers could complete the entire process online.

"We're a very frenetic industry when it comes to the type of work we do and the restaurant environment," Arizona Restaurant Association President and CEO Steve Chucri said. "Any time we can streamline that process and make it more efficient, there are two winners: the restaurant and the guests."

He said 100,000 people a year get a food-service-worker card in Maricopa County alone. He said there has not been a problem with individuals trying to use their card as some sort of official proof of legal status.

"I don't see how the TSA at Sky Harbor is going to ask for someone's food-handler card as a form of identification," he said. "To require someone to go down and show identification in order to get this card, I think is borderline running a fool's errand."

Chucri also said this likely won't do much to deter illegal immigrants from seeking work. He said E-Verify, a federal system that employers use to check employees' legal status, already does that.

"I don't see that it's going to achieve the goals that it set out to," he said. "And you're going to cost the government more money because they'll have to keep facilities open to check IDs."

Kavanagh said he doesn't believe the new requirement will slow the process in any noticeable way.

"Anybody can walk into any number of Health Department testing sites Monday to Friday all day and get that card," he said. "I don't think this slows down restaurants."

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/ ... r-law.html

If the Chamber of Commerce opposes it you know it would be a good law and would protect the American worker and his/her jobs....

Im all for it then...

Real-estate agents, cosmetologists, teachers and tens of thousands of restaurant employees and workers soon will have to hand over a photo ID and proof they are in the country legally in order to get the government-issued license, certificate or permit required to do their jobs.

I see nothing “debatableâ€

"Real-estate agents, cosmetologists, teachers and tens of thousands of restaurant employees and workers soon will have to hand over a photo ID and proof they are in the country legally in order to get the government-issued license, certificate or permit required to do their jobs."

This is great.... Baby steps toward a greater goal. Our goal and not the Laraza, Maldef goal.. Wonder why Arizona unemployment is going down.
Tourism up, businesses moving here? Lots of work but victory is sweet!