The cheap labor lobby and CoC are at it again.
----
Columbia Business Times
Main immigration bill loses support
by Randy McConnell

February 22,2008

Rep. Vicki Schneider anticipated few troubles when she introduced legislation that would require Missouri employers to use a free online federal database designed to detect illegal immigrants.

Schneider, a Republican from St. Charles, had the support of Gov. Matt Blunt and the understanding that Republican core voters are particularly passionate about the subject of illegal immigration.

House Speaker Rod Jetton signed on as the lead co-sponsor after Schneider arranged for him to meet with Kris Koback, the University of Missouri- Kansas City law professor who drafted the bill and who had worked for former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft as an immigration adviser.

House officials expected the Schneider bill to become a major vehicle for the effort to crack down on illegal immigration, which Jetton and Senate President Pro Tem Mike Gibbons both highlighted as a major issue during speeches at the start of the session. The House special committee on immigration scheduled early hearings on House Bill 1736.

But just over a month into the legislative session, Schneider's bill is in trouble, and the head of a House immigration committee is looking for an alternative but said time is running short.

All of the state's major business lobbies— Associated Industries of Missouri, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the National Federation of Business-Missouri—are firmly united to scuttle the legislation, and Jetton's views have changed.

[b]“The speaker is backtracking,â€