By John Haughey | The Center Square
Gov. Ron DeSantis wanted the Florida Legislature to send him a mandatory E-Verify bill to sign into law.
DeSantis got an E-Verify bill, but not the one he wanted. In fact, the “watered down” measure sent to the governor’s desk may not be the bill anyone wanted.
Nevertheless, the Senate on Thursday approved a compromise employment-verification bill that requires employers verify new hires’ immigration status but does not include the enforcement provision the House stripped from the measure.
Rep. Cord Byrd, R-Neptune Beach, in a strike-all amendment, replaced Senate Bill 664 – adopted in a 22-18 vote by the Senate on Monday – with language from his employee-verification measure, House Bill 1265.
The House on Wednesday passed the amended SB 664 in a 73-45 vote and kicked it back to the Senate, which endorsed the measure Thursday night in a 23-17 tally.
The bill going to DeSantis’ desk does not include the enforcement “teeth” sponsor Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, said he installed with the governor’s blessing.
Lee’s SB 664 authorized the state’s Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) to audit employers for employment-verification compliance and to relay suspicions about businesses hiring undocumented workers to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.
The enforcement provision drew heat from House Speaker José Oliva, R-Hialeah, who said turning businesses into a “policing arm” for federal immigration laws “doesn’t say, ‘America.’ ”
Byrd replaced the provision with language that allows the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), the attorney general or state attorneys to demand employment records to verify compliance.
“This has been a long journey,” Lee said, resigned to adopting a “watered-down” bill. “And I appreciated the full-throated support of Gov. DeSantis.”
SB 664 requires public entities and their contractors to use E-Verify while private employers have the option of keeping a three-year record of applicants’ form I-9, a statement of a legal eligibility to work in the U.S.
The employment-verification measures are vigorously opposed by Republican-aligned interests, including the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association (FFVA), tourism, industry and retail interests, as well as by advocacy and church groups.
Removing the DEO enforcement provision assuaged some resistance.
While he believes employment eligibility verification is a federal responsibility and the state should not take on the responsibility, Tony Argiz, chairman and CEO of accounting firm Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra, was grateful the House “removed the most egregious provisions from the Senate proposal.”
Some opponents will lobby DeSantis to veto the bill.
“This is not the type of legislation we need at a time when Florida is only just starting to see the devastation our economy is about to face because of the coronavirus pandemic,” DiMare Fresh Chairman and CEO Paul DiMare said in a statement. “The agricultural sector has already been experiencing extreme labor scarcity, and with this health emergency, industries like tourism and hospitality – the bread and butter of our economy – are going to be hit especially hard.”
“Unemployment is at record lows,” MBF Healthcare Partners Chairman Mike Fernandez said. “Florida businesses are struggling to find qualified workers who are the backbone of this success, and we don’t need a few Tallahassee politicians throwing yet another obstacle in their way.”
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the Fraternity of Hispanic Councils & Evangelical Entities of Florida (FRACEEV), the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops and Florida Council of Churches are among religious groups that oppose E-Verify.
“Now more than ever, employers need workforce solutions, not obstacles to growth and inefficient tools like E-Verify,” FRACEEV said.
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