Update on Calif. Anti-Employment Verification Legislation - Fax the Governor


Help Stop California Anti-Employment Verification Legislation – Call Senate Today, Fax the Governor

This is a special note for NumbersUSA members in California.

Dear California Friends,

The California State Senate may take up a bill (AB 2076) as early as Monday, August 18 that would prohibit the State of California from participating in E-Verify, or any other electronic employment verification system, unless required by federal law. The bill also would prohibit the state and its local governments from requiring any employer to use an electronic employment verification system, unless required by federal law. The bill has already passed the California Assembly and a State Senate Committee.

NumbersUSA understands that many Republicans will oppose the measure while all Democrats are expected to support it. Nonetheless, we ask that all Senate members be contacted and asked to oppose AB 2076. We have provided talking points below. If you do not know who your State Senator is, please click here and use the zip code locator. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html

You also can use this district map to find your Senator.
http://www.sen.ca.gov/~newsen/senators/districtmaps.HTP

We have posted a fax in your Action Buffet to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger that asks him to veto AB 2076 if it reaches his desk. Please click here to send him that fax.

Talking Points

* Please oppose AB 2076, a bill that prohibits the state from using E-Verify to check whether new hires are eligible to work in the U.S., and prohibits the state as well as local governments from requiring any employer to use E-Verify. There are no longer any valid excuses for allowing government or businesses to continue to hire illegal workers, not when there are so many Americans struggling to find work.

* State general fund spending has increased 34 percent since fiscal year 2003. K-12 education spending, which increased 46 percent during this period, and Health and Human Services spending, which increased 29 percent, is responsible for the lion’s share of the increase. Illegal immigration is driving spending in these areas and busting the state budget. With budget discussions near total meltdown now, it would be completely irresponsible for the Senate to pass AB 2076, a bill that would make it harder to shut down the illegal-alien job magnet. When fewer illegal aliens reside in California, our expenditures will go down. That’s why you need to oppose AB 2076.

* The country is moving closer to implementing workplace verification systems that will help employers hire a legal workforce, protect American workers from unfair labor competition, discourage illegal immigration, and end exploitative labor practices. Don't take California down the opposite path by voting for AB 2076.

* All Federal agencies and Congress use the E-Verify system and every federal contractor will be using it shortly. About 70,000 employers throughout the country use E-Verify, including 5,669 in California. About 1,000 new businesses sign up for the program every week. Eleven states require their government contractors to use E-Verify and many more state and local governments are passing laws to discourage illegal labor and immigration practices. Don't support legislation that bucks the trend in the rest of the nation. Oppose AB 2076!

* E-Verify has been used by employers for over 12 years. In that time, it has been studied multiple times by Congress, universities, and even the Social Security Administration. Every report has found E-Verify to be easy, reliable and effective. Employers who use E-Verify must run every applicant through the system. Everyone is treated equally. Don't let your constituents down by voting for AB 2076.

* 99.5% of legal workers with no problems in their Social Security Administration records are accurately authorized under E-Verify. Those that have inaccuracies are given instructions on how to clear up their records with SSA and time to do so. The bottom line is that those eligible to work in the U.S. will not lose their job. E-Verify protects legal workers from unfair hiring practices, protects employers from discriminatory lawsuits, and helps clean up SSA's database. Do the right thing by opposing AB 2076.

* The nice thing about E-Verify is nobody is automatically ruled out for work authorization. Everybody has a chance and time to prove that they are ultimately work authorized. If a person is not work authorized, it's not discrimination if you don't continue to employ them. That's complying with the law. Please oppose AB 2076!


THANK YOU.


Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-558-3160

Email at:
http://gov.ca.gov/interact#contact