Thread: LA: Illegal immigrant bill changed in Senate, ratified by Ho

Illegal immigrant bill changed in Senate, ratified by House

Published: Wednesday, June 22, 2011, 2:23 PM Updated: Wednesday, June 22, 2011, 3:04 PM

By Ed Anderson, The Times-Picayune

BATON ROUGE -- Legislation that would increase the fines but reduce the chances of a business losing its license to operate if it hires illegal immigrants cleared the Senate on Wednesday and won approval by the House two hours later.

Senators voted 29-0 for the amended House Bill 646 by Rep. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge. Talbot said that he will ask the House to "begrudgingly concur" with the Senate changes as the session draws to a close Thursday.

"We are not finished with immigration reform," he said. "There will be a slew of them (bills)" next year."

The amended measure, approved by the House 89-0, would require businesses to use a federal employee verification system known as "E-Verify" to check the status of workers.

If the company does not use the system, it must keep on file copies of employees' photo identifications and one other document that shows the workers are in the country legally.

Failure to do so could result in fines or the loss of a local or state-issued permit to operate for chronic offenders.

Sen. Danny Martiny, R-Kenner, who handled Talbot's bill on the floor, tacked on amendments that would exempt the suspension of licenses for hospitals, nursing homes, and other health-care facilities licensed by the state Department of Health and Hospitals.

Martiny said that violations of health-care laws and regulations are handled by the state health agency now, and bringing another one in to review violations is not needed.

Martiny also handled an amendment by Sen. Conrad Appel, R-Metairie, to increase the fines for the violations but eliminate the suspension of a license for a second offense.

As the bill heads back to the House, an employer found in violation the first time would face a fine of $500 per illegal worker, up from $250 in existing law.

On a second offense, the fines would be $1,000 per illegal immigrant instead of $500 in existing law. Appel's amendment deleted a provision that would have called for the suspension of the employers' permit or license for up to 10 days. Talbot's original bill called for the loss of a license for not less than 10 days for a second violation.

On third and later offenses, Appel's amendment would increase the per-illegal- immigrant fine from $1,000 in existing law to $2,500 and retain language that calls for the company to lose its permit or license to operate for not less than 30 days or more than six months.

Talbot's original bill called for an indefinite loss of a permit or license for third and subsequent violations.
The bill places the state Workforce Commission in charge of enforcement.

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/ ... t_402.html

Sen. Danny Martiny, R-Kenner, who handled Talbot's bill on the floor, tacked on amendments that would exempt the suspension of licenses for hospitals, nursing homes, and other health-care facilities licensed by the state Department of Health and Hospitals.

Really?????? American citizens need and have, and will do those jobs!

The Senate did a great job of RATifying a strong House E-Verify Bill.