Pearce starts naming names in sanctions feud
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... s0828.html
Pearce starts naming names in sanctions feud
Aug. 28, 2006 12:00 AM
Rep. Russell Pearce warned his colleagues that he would "name names" if his plan to sanction employers of undocumented immigrants did not pass the Legislature. His plan was killed during the closing hours of the session. But Pearce didn't name names to reporters.
Until now.
In response to an e-mail I sent him last week, Pearce spooled out a list of fellow Republicans who blocked what he had called "the most critical piece" of the immigration bills going through the Legislature. Pearce had also said lawmakers who didn't vote for his plan "ought to be removed from office."
Pearce's list includes Sen. Barbara Leff, Sen. Jake Flake and outgoing Senate President Ken Bennett. In the House, Pearce blamed Rep. Bill Konopnicki, Tom O'Halleran and Russ Jones, although Pearce later e-mailed and asked that Jones be removed from the list.
He also said House Speaker Jim Weiers "could have done more" to push the plan.
Employer sanctions had been part of a multifaceted immigration bill, partly crafted by Pearce, that was sent to Gov. Janet Napolitano. She vetoed it.
Pearce then tried to take pieces of that large bill and put them on the November ballot. He succeeded with several parts, including a measure that would deny in-state tuition to people here illegally.
But the portion he prized - one that would have stripped the license of any business that knowingly hired illegal workers - was killed.
Leff and Flake, Pearce wrote, "worked hard to stop it from going to the voters."
Bennett "could have brought (the bill) to the floor for a vote and refused to do that, a Promise I thought we had," Pearce wrote.
And Konopnicki and O'Halleran stopped it from getting support in the House "and were rewarded by the Chambers for doing so," Pearce wrote.
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce gave both Konopnicki and Jones their State Representative of the Year award.
Konopnicki said he worked to keep employer sanctions from the ballot because it was a complicated issue, and any problems that cropped up would have been hard to correct. Voter-approved initiatives require a three-quarters majority of legislators to change and must advance the intent of the original bill.
Konopnicki also said the plan Pearce wanted to put before voters was flawed.
"Russell Pearce is a well-intentioned individual. But he doesn't have any business experience. He's only worked for the government," said Konopnicki, who runs fast-food franchises and radio stations. "His idea on employer sanctions is totally and completely ridiculous."
Konopnicki had worked with Pearce on writing a different version of an employer sanctions bill, but Konopnicki admitted that was largely toothless.
Pearce said next session he will introduce legislation that would require businesses to verify the Social Security numbers of their new hires, an idea that went nowhere when pushed by Democrat Sen. Bill Brotherton.
Pearce, in his e-mails, also blamed Democratic legislators and "this Pro Illegal alien Governor."
But his list, and his vitriol, shows that it wasn't the Democrats who kept Pearce's plan from moving forward. It was Republicans.
"I take my Oath of office to uphold the law and the Constitution," Pearce wrote, "(not) my Party when they refuse to do what is right."
Reach Ruelas at (602) 444-8473 or richard.ruelas@arizonarepublic.com.
Re: Pearce starts naming names in sanctions feud
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian503a
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0828ruelas0828.html
"Russell Pearce is a well-intentioned individual. But he doesn't have any business experience. He's only worked for the government," said Konopnicki, who runs fast-food franchises and radio stations. "His idea on employer sanctions is totally and completely ridiculous."
Konopnicki had worked with Pearce on writing a different version of an employer sanctions bill, but Konopnicki admitted that was largely toothless.
Pearce said next session he will introduce legislation that would require businesses to verify the Social Security numbers of their new hires, an idea that went nowhere when pushed by Democrat Sen. Bill Brotherton.
He doesn't have any business experience which really leaves him clueless on how to thwart The Constitution and really screw people over while lining his own pockets and his cronies.
Trouble
