Bill would mandate E-verify participation

by Katy Ruth Camp
krcamp@mdjonline.com
February 25, 2010 01:00 AM

ATLANTA - State representatives continue to introduce legislation aimed at decreasing jobs given to those in the country illegally.

State Rep. Bobby Reese (R-Sugar Hill) on Tuesday filed the Georgia Employer and Worker Protection of Act of 2010, also known as House Bill 1259. If passed, the bill would require all Georgia businesses to sign an affidavit agreeing to participate in the federal citizenship verification program E-Verify in order to obtain a business license or occupational tax certificate. Currently, only public entities such as municipalities and state agencies are required to participate in E-Verify per 2006's Senate Bill 529.

"I think it's pretty obvious to everyone that illegal workers are getting jobs in the private sector," Reese said. "Get your house painted and look at who shows up. The bill is still a work in progress and is changing, but something like this is critical as we find out Georgia is No. 1 in the country for illegal residents. We're finally number one in something, but that certainly isn't what we want. So something has to be done to make sure we protect these jobs for those who are legal residents, especially in this economy."

Since representatives are still working on changes to the bill, Reese would not speak about specifics, such as consequences for not following the law, if passed.

"We need teeth in this bill and to hold people accountable for their actions, we know that," he said. "And that is something I would certainly like to see. But we have to be careful because the program is not perfect and I don't want these two-man or under 10 employees businesses (to) face huge fines or have their business license revoked if they unknowingly make a mistake. For companies that size, it would cripple them.

"Maybe we can set up a Web site that anyone who is found to be doing this is published there for all of the public to see. Or have an employee limit. We're working on it."

Rep. Don Parsons (R-Marietta) is one of the five co-signers of HB 1259. Another is Rep. Rick Austin (R-Demorest), who presented a bill two weeks ago that proposes severe consequences for public entities that knowingly employ illegal workers. In Austin's bill, a local government who knowingly employs someone who is in the country illegally would lose its qualifying local government funds for a year. This includes all state funding and matching. If a state agency knowingly employs illegal workers, it would lose 10 percent of the state-funded budget the next year.

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from the website of The Dustin Inman Society
http://thedustininmansociety.org/blog/?p=3031