Thread: Law Demands Worker Documentation For Stimulus Dollars

Law demands worker documentation for stimulus dollars
Posted: Monday, Jun 01, 2009 - 10:53:59 pm PDT
Email this story Printer friendly version By TOM HASSLINGER
Staff writer
Otter signs order, which went into effect last week

COEUR d'ALENE -- Gov. Butch Otter signed an executive order Friday mandating all Idaho agencies prove they employ only legally documented workers if they wish to move forward with a project funded by the state's economic stimulus share.

Jon Hanian, spokesperson for Otter's office, said the Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa was expected to sign the executive order Monday, and it would be posted on the office's Web site today.

It went into effect after Otter signed it before the weekend.

"The bottom line is it's protecting the taxpayers of Idaho because they are the ones who will have to pay this money back," Hanian said Monday. "Taxpayer money should go to the benefit of taxpayers."

Idaho received around $1 billion in federal stimulus money earlier in the year.

A majority of the aid went to education and health and welfare programs, but the order's intention is aimed at the list of "shovel-ready" construction projects geared to begin across the state, said Sen. Mike Jorgenson.

Jorgenson worked with Otter on the order after the legislative season ended last month and had been leading the charge trying to change Idaho's immigration policies.

Idaho currently has no laws penalizing illegal immigration, and he plans to champion another stab at a bill requiring employers to check the legal status of every worker with E-Verify -- a free Internet service run by federal agencies -- during next year's legislative session.

"In this economy, with 53,000 people unemployed around the state, we have to eliminate the possibility of illegals getting jobs," he said. "This way we'll spend the money the way it was meant to be spent."

Or it could be another hurdle illegal workers jump.

"I don't see anything wrong with it but I don't know exactly what it means," said Dean Haagenson, CEO of Contractors Northwest, which provides general contracting, design-build and construction management services for companies.

Haagenson said the difficulty in preventing illegal workers from working is spotting forged or counterfeit documents.

"The real rub is are the documents real," he said. "There's a whole industry out there which forges them."

Idaho's population is expected to reach 1.5 million in 2010, around 5.5 percent of which will be foreign born, according to the United States Census Bureau.

The new order would fine employers up to tens of thousands of dollars for violating its conditions, in addition to cutting its stimulus funding, Jorgenson said. It also will continue evaluating ways to implement new procedures to ensure that illegal immigrants who are incarcerated in Idaho correctional facilities are deported after their sentence or as soon as possible in conformance with state law, the order states.

"The governor is taking the lead protecting Idaho citizens," Jorgenson said. "It's an outstanding move."


http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2009/0 ... news05.txt

Idaho agencies must show workers are legal if they want federal economic stimulus money
A Republican lawmaker says the order is needed to protect opportunities for jobless citizens.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: 06/03/09


Gov. Butch Otter has signed an executive order requiring state agencies to prove they are employing only legally documented workers if they want a share of the state's $1.24 billion in federal economic stimulus money.

The order also requires contractors and subcontractors on state projects to prove their employees are legal.

"The bottom line is it's protecting the taxpayers of Idaho because they are the ones who will have to pay this money back," Otter spokesman Jon Hanian told the Coeur d'Alene Press. "Taxpayer money should go to the benefit of taxpayers."

The order signed Friday applies to all state agencies, but not the Department of Education, Legislature or courts.

Most of the state's federal stimulus money is going to education and health and welfare programs.

Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, helped write the order.

"In this economy, with 53,000 people unemployed around the state, we have to eliminate the possibility of illegals getting jobs," Jorgenson said. "This way, we'll spend the money the way it was meant to be spent."

Dean Haagenson, CEO of Contractors Northwest, a contractor with offices in Coeur d'Alene and Boise, said he did not see anything wrong with the executive order, "but I don't know exactly what it means."

The difficulty in preventing illegal workers from being hired is spotting forged documents, he said.

"The real rub is are the documents real," Haagenson said. "There's a whole industry out there which forges them."

The executive order directs the state Division of Human Resources to determine that all new employees with any state agency are legal workers. It also orders state agencies to make sure only individuals who are legally in the country receive government benefits.

In addition, it directs the Department of Correction and the Commission for Pardons and Parole to make sure Idaho prisoners in this country illegally are deported after their sentences.

"The governor is taking the lead protecting Idaho citizens," Jorgenson said. "It's an outstanding move."

Jorgenson said that during next year's legislative session he plans to introduce legislation requiring employers to check the legal status of every worker using a free Internet service run by federal agencies.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdat ... 90131.html

StoryComments 01June 3, 2009 in Idaho
Otter signs order on worker documentation
State agencies must show they employ only legally documented workers to receive stimulus money

The Associated Press emailprint Tags: Butch Gov. C.L. idaho Immigration Otter stimulus
BOISE, Idaho — Gov. C.L. “Butchâ€

Lets hope they enforce it now...here in lies the problem.....we have had federal laws on the books for 23 years and they still refuse to enforce them....we will be watching!!