Thread: Speaker Sexton Spares House Members from Rule 53 Vote on E-Verify Legislation

Speaker Sexton Spares House Members from Rule 53 Vote on E-Verify Legislation

March 23, 2021 Laura Baigert




During the House floor session Monday evening, Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville), by his ruling, spared his members from a Rule 53 vote regarding the proposed E-Verify legislation.


Rep. Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) invoked the Rule 53 provision from the House Permanent Rules of Order for the 112th General Assembly, which is the process of recalling a bill from committee. If a Rule 53 effort is successful, the subject bill would be scheduled directly to the House floor for a vote, bypassing the committee process that killed the bill.


Griffey’s HB 0801 lowers the threshold for Tennessee businesses required to use E-Verify for their employees from the current 50 down to 6 employees.


At the hands of five Republicans, the House Banking and Consumer Affairs Committee killed the bill on March 10, with 0 Ayes, 6 No and 1 Present and not voting, The Tennessee Star reported.


Griffey submitted the necessary paperwork to invoke Rule 53 about a week later which set the stage for the matter to be taken up by the full House during Monday night’s regularly scheduled floor session.




The vote, which was only procedural in nature, would need the support of a two-thirds majority of the House membership to allow for HB 0801 to be scheduled for a vote on the legislation.


Once the 26 bills on the regular calendar were taken up, the House then moved to unfinished business.


It was during that portion of the meeting that Griffey was recognized by Sexton and made the Rule 53 motion to recall HB 0801 from the subcommittee.

He began to explain the purpose of his motion as addressing a crisis at the border that is creating an existential threat to jobs and wages, before Sexton cut him off for addressing the legislation and not the motion.

The House Parliamentarian, at the request of Sexton, said that the debate had to be limited to whether or not the bill should be recalled, with the merits of the bill not being up for debate.

Griffey referenced Mason’s Rules of Order, under which the House operates in the absence of other specific House rules, and said he is allowed to address the purpose of the motion.

At that point, it was apparent that tensions were rising.

The Parliamentarian then read to Griffey from the Mason’s manual that it is not in order to address the merits of a proposal in such cases and that debate must be confined strictly to the purpose of the motion.

Griffey responded that he was trying to address the purpose of the motion that would give every member of the House the opportunity to vote as to whether their constituents support E-Verify, or the Chamber of Commerce and the NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business).

At that point, Sexton asked Griffey if he had made a motion, to which Griffey responded in the affirmative.


Sexton said, “We have a motion. No second.”

After slamming the gavel, Sexton ruled, “Dies.”

With Sexton’s ruling, House members were spared from having to go on the record with their vote on Rule 53, which could have been construed as their position on the merits of the bill.


The video of the unfinished business portion of the House floor session of Monday, March 22 can be watched here.
—
Laura Baigert is a senior reporter at The Tennessee Star.

https://tennesseestar.com/2021/03/23...y-legislation/

Bill Summary

This bill requires certain employers to utilize an e-verification program in hiring; removes immunity for an employer's reliance on other forms of verification; makes other related changes, as follows:

(1) Employment of illegal aliens. Present law prohibits a person from knowingly employing, recruiting or referring for a fee for employment an illegal alien. This bill:

(A) Makes the present law provisions that govern the employment of illegal aliens applicable to governmental entities, in addition to the persons to whom they apply under present law, which is individuals, corporations, partnerships, associations, and other legal entities;

(B) Creates a rebuttable presumption that a person has not violated the prohibition with respect to a particular employee if a person verified that the employee was eligible to work through the E-Verify program prior to the employee performing work. This presumption will replace present law provisions whereby a person who takes certain action or is presented with documentation with regard to the hiring of a particular person is deemed not to have violated the prohibition. "E-Verify program" or "E-Verify" means the federal electronic employment verification service provided by the United States department of homeland security or any successor program designated by the federal government for verification by employers of the work eligibility of new employees; and

(C) Deletes the present law provisions governing the filing of a complaint with the department of labor and workforce development if any state or local governmental agency, officer, employee or entity has reason to believe that a violation of the prohibition of employing an illegal alien has occurred; however, there are similar provisions under the Tennessee Lawful Employment Act;

(2) Tennessee Lawful Employment Act. This bill:

(A) Expands employers subject to the requirements of the Act to include public contractors and public subcontractors with at least six employees. Under present law, employers subject to the Act are governmental entities and private employers (meaning any person who is required by federal law to report remuneration paid to at least six employees. This bill specifies that "employer" does not include farmers. Present law defines "governmental entity" as this state or any political subdivision which exercises governmental powers under the laws of this state and uses tax revenues. This bill redefines "governmental entity" to mean this state, any agency, office, body, institution, component, or other instrumentality of this state, or any political subdivision of this state, including, but not limited to, any county, municipality, city, town, consolidated city-county, school district, public school system, utility district, regional governance district, special district, watershed district, soil conservation district, port authority, airport authority, housing authority, development authority, or development agency;

(B) Requires employers to use the E-Verify program to verify the work eligibility of an employee prior to the employee providing labor or services and maintain documentation of any results generated by the E-Verify program. Under present law, only private employers with 50 or more employees are required to enroll in the E-Verify program;

(C) Clarifies that an employer will not be deemed to be in violation if the employer has requested, but not yet received, assistance from the office of employment verification in regard to the E-Verify program;

(D) Clarifies that the department will investigate compliance with the Act and revises the provisions governing investigations. This bill specifies that the department, as part of an investigation, will request that the federal government verify the work eligibility status of any employee or non-employee named in a complaint or believed to have violated the Act, and the department must rely upon such verification. The department will not independently make a final determination as to whether an employee or non-employee is an illegal alien. This bill requires the department, upon finding a violation, to notify the United States immigration and customs enforcement agency of the identity of the person in violation and each illegal alien involved, including, but not limited to, the physical address at which an illegal alien resides, if known; notify the local law enforcement agency of the jurisdiction in which the violation occurred and in which the illegal alien resides; notify the appropriate official making declarations pursuant to the present law provisions governing public contracts of a violation; order the person in violation to terminate the employment of all illegal aliens and take any other remedial action deemed necessary by the department to ensure compliance with the Act; order the appropriate agency, regulatory board, local government, or governmental entity to revoke, suspend, or deny all applicable licenses held by the person in violation that are necessary for the person to operate business at the specific location at which an illegal alien performed work. If a license is not necessary to operate the person's business at the location, but is necessary to generally operate the business, then all licenses held by the person at the person's primary place of business must be revoked, suspended, or denied. The department will also take the following actions: for a first violation, order license revocation, suspension, or denial until the person shows, to the satisfaction of the department, that the person is no longer in violation; or for a second or subsequent violation occurring within a three-year period, order license revocation, suspension, or denial for one year;

(E) Revises the present law provisions governing the assessment of penalties for a violation. Under present law, the commissioner assesses the following civil penalties: $500 for a first violation; 1,000 for a second violation; or $2,500 for a third or subsequent violation. In addition to these civil penalties, the commissioner also assesses the following civil penalties: for a first violation, $500 for each employee or non-employee not verified; for a second violation, $1,000 for each employee or non-employee not verified; or for a third or subsequent violation, $2,500 for each employee or non-employee not verified. Also, the commissioner assesses a monetary penalty of $500 for any employer that knowingly violates the Act and additional penalties $500 per day for each day that such violation continues to exist, beginning 45 days after the notice and initial order is received by the employer. This bill revises the penalty provisions to instead provide that the commissioner will assess the following civil fines against the person in violation:

(i) $500 for a first violation plus $500 for each additional illegal alien employed and each employee or non-employee misclassified or not verified;

(ii) $1,000 for a second violation plus $1,000 for each additional illegal alien employed and each employee or non-employee misclassified or not verified; and

(iii) $2,500 for a third or subsequent violation plus $2,500 for each additional illegal alien employed and each employee or non-employee misclassified or not verified; and

(F) Authorizes a person in violation to submit to the department evidence of remedial action and compliance. Upon receipt of the evidence, the department will issue a warning in lieu of all penalties for a first violation that the department determines was not committed knowingly. If a violator fails to submit evidence of remedial action, the department must assess a penalty of $500 per day for each day that a violation continues to exist after expiration of the remedial period. Additionally, the department may apply to a circuit or chancery court for a judicial order directing a person to comply with the final administrative order;

(3) Other provisions. This bill:

(A) Provides that a person registered with and using the E-Verify program must not be held civilly liable in a cause of action for: unlawful hiring of an illegal alien if the information obtained from the E-Verify program indicated that the work eligibility status was not that of an illegal alien; or refusal to hire if the information obtained from the E-Verify program indicated that the person's work eligibility status was that of an illegal alien. An employer who in good faith registers with and uses the E-Verify program will be considered to have complied with present law hiring practices requirements and may not be held liable for any damages. The employee will be immune from a legal cause of action brought for the use of and reliance upon incorrect information obtained as a result of an isolated, sporadic, or accidental technical or procedural failure, when determining final action on work eligibility status; and

(B) This bill prohibits governmental entities, public contractors, and public subcontractors from entering into a contract with one another unless each party to the contract registers with and uses the E-Verify program to verify the work eligibility status of all new employees. A governmental entity, public contractor, or public subcontractor that has actual evidence that a person with which it is contracting has knowingly violated this section must require the person to remedy the violation within 60 days. If a contractor or subcontractor does not remedy the violation within 60 days, the governmental entity may terminate the contract. This bill authorizes a governmental entity, public contractor, or public subcontractor to file an action with a circuit or chancery court to challenge a termination under this bill. Upon the initial termination of a contract, the person or entity terminating the contract may withhold up to 10 percent of the total amount due and owing at the time of termination based upon a first violation of this section. Upon a second or subsequent violation, the person or entity terminating the contract may withhold up to 20 percent of the total amount due and owing at the time of termination.

https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/Bil...lNumber=HB0801

House Republicans Kill Bill Requiring More Fair Use of E-Verify by Tennessee Employers

March 14, 2021 Laura Baigert




A bill that would create greater fairness amongst Tennessee employers as to the required use of the E-verify system was killed by five Republicans in the House Banking and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee, even as thousands of illegal immigrants surge the southern border.


HB 0801, sponsored by Rep. Bruce Griffey (R-Paris), would require employers in the state with six or more employees to utilize the federal government’s E-verify system in hiring future employees. Griffey’s bill lowered the threshold from the current law, which requires e-verification for employers with 50 or more employees.


Griffey requested a roll call vote on his proposed legislation, which resulted in Republican Representatives Clark Boyd (R-Lebanon), Rush Bricken (R-Tullahoma), Kirk Haston (R-Lobelville) and Kevin Vaughn (R-Collierville) voting no along with Democrat Representatives Karen Camper (D-Memphis) and Jason Powell (D-Nashville). Republican Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) was recorded as present and not voting.

In the absence of Chairman Dennis Powers (R-Jacksboro), Vaughn assumed the position and Rep. Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby) was also absent.

Griffey recognized that there is opposition to his proposal, the argument being that it is going to cost employers additional time, money and resources to comply.


E-verify, Griffey pointed out, can be used for free by going directly to the federal website. While it can be cumbersome, Griffey admitted, when he did it, it only took him three to four hours to go through the set-up process, which is a one-time event.


E-verify confirms the identity and employment eligibility of employees by electronically matching information provided on the Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 completed by the employee with Social Security and Department of Homeland Security records.


Anyone smart enough to own a business, Griffey contended, could certainly get set up with the E-verify system.


Alternatively, a third-party vendor could do the work for the employer, said Griffey, at a cost of about $150 per year or around $3 per employee.

Griffey also pointed out that employers already have to maintain all the records and documentation related to the completion of the I-9 Form.

The proposed legislation would have the added benefit of protecting employers, Griffey said, through a safe harbor provision that gives the presumption that the employer has not engaged in any illegal conduct if they use E-verify.


Griffey said the expanded use of E-verify would be more fair to employers who comply with E-verify relative to those who don’t comply and, instead, turn a blind eye in hiring illegals.


It would be “a huge deterrent,” said Griffey, to illegals who try to work under the radar.


FAIR – the Federation for American Immigration Reform – agrees with Griffey.


FAIR includes strong employer penalties as its number four of their “7 Principles of True Comprehensive Immigration Reform.”


In fact, FAIR says that employers hiring these workers “are the magnet that attracts illegal entry into the U.S.”


FAIR goes even further in their assessment of the often ignored negative impact employers contribute when hiring illegals.


“These employers are complicit in the illegal alien cartel activity of smuggling, trafficking, harboring, and employing and must be punished.”


FAIR recommends harsh punishment for offenders.


“We must reform the current system by enforcing employer sanctions and fully punishing employers who break the laws of this country. These punishments will be fines, jailing for repeat offenders, and loss of corporate charters.”


In concluding the presentation of his bill, Griffey said, “I think it’s time we protect Tennessee workers, people who are here legally, people who have gone through the process to get verified, so that everybody is on the same playing field.”


Boyd was the first to speak, saying that he thought that applying E-verify to businesses with just 7 or 8 employees put too much of a burden on small businesses. He said he would support the legislation at a level of 25 or 30 employees, as he did with Griffey’s previous effort in 2019.


Powell objected to the measure in light of the pandemic and that immigration is a federal issue that needs to be resolved through – what is often deceptively termed – “comprehensive immigration reform.”


Vaughn felt that the legislation takes out a frustration with the federal immigration policy and enforcement and transfers it to the backs of small businesses. Vaughn said it was basically deputizing small businesses as an immigration enforcement arm, despite the fact that employers are already required to do a process, just not one utilizing E-verify.


Lynn pointed out that with illegal immigration it is not doctors and lawyers who are breaking into the country to work here, but rather very poor and unskilled people. As such, Lynn expressed empathy for the poor in this country who are hurt the most by illegal immigration by having to compete for the jobs.


As a company comptroller, Lynn said she has sympathy for employers who would just have one more thing to do added to their already busy day by having to use the E-verify system. Lynn said that it is handled at her business by a third-party payroll company, for which they are paid “handsomely.”

Things got a little sticky when Camper expressed her displeasure at an earlier comment by Griffey in which he alluded to the newscasts that show the “parades of thousands that are going to flood the United States” that he thinks is due to “the Democrat President Biden’s immigration policy.”

Even The New York Times referred to the “surge of immigration from Central Americans” that had border agents encountering a migrant at the border about 78,000 times in January, which is “more than double the rate at the same time a year ago and higher than in any January in a decade.”

Camper thought it was crazy that Biden has been in office just 50 days, but “it’s his fault.” She encouraged a bipartisan effort to come up with a solution to the immigration problem and for her and Griffey to travel to Washington, D.C. together to work on it.


Camper disagreed with Griffey’s point that this would help the people at the very bottom of the wage scale who have done all the right things and said that it would hurt small businesses.


Bricken said he appreciates the general approach with Griffey’s bill, but dropping the threshold down to six employees gave him “heartburn. He asked if, before the up or down vote, Griffey would consider sending the bill to summer study so that it could stay alive.


Griffey was resolute in saying that this being the second year he carried the legislation, summer study would not be of benefit.


“We’re either going to do this or not,” concluded Griffey.


With the resulting 0 Ayes, 6 Noes and 1 Present and not voting, the bill ended up becoming a matter of “or not.”


The full text of HB 0801 can be reach here and video of HB 0801 being taken up in the House Banking and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee can be viewed here.

– – –
Laura Baigert is a senior reporter at The Tennessee Star.


https://tennesseestar.com/2021/03/14...see-employers/

We need to E-verify bank accounts, housing, welfare, food stamps, disability, social security, school, healthcare, and drivers licenses.

Stop aiding and abetting illegal aliens to live here. We need to make them self deport.

Illegal alien parents should not receive one dime of taxpayer funded benefits on behalf of a minor, whether that minor is a U.S. citizen or otherwise. Deport them with their minor children.

The Small Businesses with the Largest Increase in the Number of Employees Are Exempt from E-Verify

March 16, 2021 Laura Baigert



Tennessee small businesses that experienced the largest increases in the number of employees over the past five years are exempt from the requirement to ensure that their employees are not illegal aliens through the use of the federal government’s e-verification system.

At the federal level, E-Verify is a voluntary program.

At the state level, however, employers are required to use the E-verify program to confirm work authorization status, but only if they have 50 or more employees.

That’s a loophole Rep. Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) and Sen. John Stevens (R-Huntingdon) sought to fix through HB 0801 and SB 0902, respectively.

The proposed legislation would have made the application of the E-verify requirement more fair to all employers by reducing the threshold from 50 employees to just six. It would also serve to protect the disproportionately impacted poorest in the state who have to compete against illegal immigrants for lower-wage jobs.

Griffey’s bill was killed in its first stop last week by the House Banking and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee at the hands of five Republicans, The Tennessee Star reported.
As it turns out, the segment of small businesses in the state that is exempt from E-verify has been the fastest growing in terms of the number of employees over the past few years.
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy issues a small business profile on businesses employing fewer than 500 employees on an annual basis. The profiles include numerous pieces of data on small businesses in the state, which reflect statistics over previous years.

In SBA’s reports for 2016 to 2020, four out of five years the small businesses that had the largest gains in the number of employees were those with less than 50 employees.

Consistently over the five reports, about one million employees work for small businesses with less than 500 employees, representing more than 42 percent of Tennessee’s private workforce.

Also common to all five reports is that employers with fewer than 100 employees make up the largest share of small business employment.

In the 2016 report, of the 13,937 new jobs created by small business, 4,506 or 32 percent of those were in businesses with 20 to 49 employees.

In the 2017 report, of the 25,067 new jobs created by small businesses, 17,800 of those were in businesses with less than 250 employees.

In the 2018 report, of the 36,683 new jobs created by small businesses, 17,741 or 48 percent of those were in businesses with fewer than 20 employees.

In the 2019 report, of the 43,308 new jobs created by small businesses, 25,410 or nearly 59 percent of those were in businesses with fewer than 20 employees.

In the 2020 report, of the 40,374 new jobs created by small businesses, 24,370 or 60 percent of those were in businesses with fewer than 20 employees.

SBA statistics show that as of 2017 there are nearly 82,000 small businesses in Tennessee that have 1 to 19 employees.
The 50-employee threshold for the E-Verify requirement in state law does not align with SBA’s categorization of the two smallest businesses of 1 to 19 employees and 20 to 99 employees.

However, SBA’s 2020 report does show that there are hundreds of thousands of employees of businesses with 1 to 19 employees, all of whom have been excluded from the E-Verify requirement.

https://tennesseestar.com/2021/03/16...from-e-verify/
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The state of Tennessee is turning blue as RINO republicans protect businesses and groups that want illegal alien hiring shielded. A couple of legislators have taken to dramatics by crying or getting on their knees before illegal aliens.

Senator Todd Gardenhire bows down before them and Mark White cries for them. Total shills for the cheap labor industry.

George Soros funded TIRRC (per reporting) gets more attention from lawmakers than Tennessee citizens who are opposed to the hundreds of millions of dollars the state spends on illegal alien presence, the crime, the costs to schools, healthcare, jobs lost or taken.

Republicans get on committees to kill bills against illegal immigration gaining a bigger foothold in Tennessee.

The larger cities are full blown havens and protectors of those here illegally. Run by democrats, Chattanooga, Memphis, Knoxville, Nashville are liberal strongholds. Other cities are leaning that way.

Tennessee is one of the leading destinations for those fleeing their democrat run state and city disasters. That will push the state more democrat. Republicans must primary the traitors and seek “America First” candidates to lead.

Are these Tennessee republicans shielding those who use illegal alien labor?

Republican Representatives Clark Boyd (R-Lebanon), Rush Bricken (R-Tullahoma), Kirk Haston (R-Lobelville) and Kevin Vaughn (R-Collierville) voting no along with Democrat Representatives Karen Camper (D-Memphis) and Jason Powell (D-Nashville). Republican Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) was recorded as present and not voting.

In the absence of Chairman Dennis Powers (R-Jacksboro), Vaughn assumed the position and Rep. Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby) was also absent.

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeach

The state of Tennessee is turning blue as RINO republicans protect businesses and groups that want illegal alien hiring shielded. A couple of legislators have taken to dramatics by crying or getting on their knees before illegal aliens.

Senator Todd Gardenhire bows down before them and Mark White cries for them. Total shills for the cheap labor industry.

George Soros funded TIRRC (per reporting) gets more attention from lawmakers than Tennessee citizens who are opposed to the hundreds of millions of dollars the state spends on illegal alien presence, the crime, the costs to schools, healthcare, jobs lost or taken.

Republicans get on committees to kill bills against illegal immigration gaining a bigger foothold in Tennessee.

The larger cities are full blown havens and protectors of those here illegally. Run by democrats, Chattanooga, Memphis, Knoxville, Nashville are liberal strongholds. Other cities are leaning that way.

Tennessee is one of the leading destinations for those fleeing their democrat run state and city disasters. That will push the state more democrat. Republicans must primary the traitors and seek “America First” candidates to lead.

The same thing is happening in Florida. There was a bill to have all businesses in the state use e-verify. But the Republicans in the FL house and senate narrowed down the scope, so many businesses could keep their illegals.

All the metro and college towns in FL are mostly occupied by Democrats, while the counties are strongly Republican.

Exclusive – Sen. Bill Hagerty: Biden’s Open Borders Are ‘Killing Our Kids in Tennessee’ with Drugs Made with Chinese Fentanyl


https://www.alipac.us/f12/exclusive-%96-sen-bill-hagerty-biden%92s-open-borders-%91killing-our-kids-tennesse-383556/