Thread: Immigrant-worker measure approved by Louisiana Senate

Immigrant-worker measure approved by Louisiana Senate

Published: Wednesday, May 18, 2011, 8:45 PM Updated: Wednesday, May 18, 2011, 8:49 PM

By Ed Anderson, The Times-Picayune

Private companies bidding on contracts with state agencies would have to verify they don't employ illegal immigrants, or face being barred from state work for a maximum of three years under a bill passed Wednesday by the Louisiana Senate.

Senators revised then approved, 35-1, Senate Bill 66 by Sen. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, sending the measure to the House Committee on Labor and Industry. The lone vote against the bill was cast by Sen. Jack Donahue, R-Covington, a building contractor.

The bill started out to apply to contracts with all public entities in -- from school boards and police juries to fire districts -- but now applies only to contracts bid out by state agencies.

Riser's bill says that a private employer cannot bid or hold a state agency contract unless the firm submits an affidavit saying it has checked the status of employees to be hired for the project, and they are legally in the United States.

The checks would come through the "E-Verify Program" set up and operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Riser's bill also would require the employer to continue to monitor the hiring of workers during the life of project. The costs of the monitoring must be borne by the entity holding the contract.

Riser said if a company doesn't properly verify the status of its employees or submits a false affidavit, the state agency can cancel the contract and prohibit the firm from seeking state work for up to three years.

When the state agency terminates the contact for a violation, Riser said, the agency must pay for the work the company has performed.

If the company appeals the termination, and a court decides the state agency acted improperly, the firm would be able to recover its attorneys' fees and court costs from the agency.

Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge, tried to amend the bill to have it apply to contracts entered into or bids submitted after Jan. 1, 2014, two years later than Riser's original version, but Riser strenuously objected -- and the amendment was withdrawn.

"I find it hard to believe that contractors can't comply with it by 2012," Riser said. "I don't think public money should be spent on someone who does not have a legal purpose in this state or a legal purpose in the United States."

www.nola.com

This is a great start Louisiana. Get it to the House and on to the Governor. Then really think hard but short about a full-fledged Arizona type immigration bill.

GO LOUISIANA! GO REPUBLICANS! GO STATES!!

After Katrina, the French Quarter was overrun by taco trucks and workers strait from Mexico who absconded after they got here. You can thank the contractors who were making a fast buck.

Dixie