And when the discussion turned to how the law will affect businesses with multiple locations, House Speaker Jim Weiers conceded the language approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor earlier this year needs some work.
“This is about as clear as mud,” he said. “We need to figure out a way that it’s not as clear as mud, that it’s crystal clear.”
One committee member says a lot of the problems and concerns from business owners could have been prevented had lawmakers made a sincere effort to work with the business community prior to passing the law. But, Jason LeVecke said, politics seemed to drive the legislation.
“The only regret is we didn’t do this beforehand,” the fast food restaurateur said. “I think a majority of the Legislature had their arms twisted because of the threat of a ballot initiative and were not told the truth about what [the law] would do.”
But Rep. Russell Pearce, who sponsored the employer sanctions legislation earlier this year, says he and other lawmakers met often with business representatives informally to discuss the law. He says any dissatisfaction now is just a case of sour grapes.
“We’ve been having meetings with the business community for six years on this issue,” he said. “Many aren’t happy because they didn’t get their way. They want amnesty.”
Pearce, R-18, says he included “reasonable” changes to the legislation that were raised by those in the business community that were willing to work with him.
“It’s disappointing they think they have the right to break the law…if they can make a profit,” he said.
When the law was passed earlier this year, Weiers says, the idea of a committee to examine the effects the legislation would have on businesses — in this case, the Ad Hoc Committee on Business Owners and Work Site Enforcement, which is comprised largely of business owners and representatives — wasn’t even on the radar screen. After six months of legislative back-and-forth, he said, the bill seemed to be complete.
“We didn’t intend on having this,” he said. “We thought, as we put out the bill, it was as close to finished as we could probably get.”
But, after the committee’s first meeting, Weiers says he can see how some mechanisms in the law are confusing.
“I think it certainly warrants and merits looking at this thing a little bit harder,” he said. “There are some issues at this point that certainly do need to get taken care of.”
The committee’s work was largely focused on determining how the law punishes violators who have multiple locations. As written, the law says the licenses eligible for suspension or revocation are “all licenses held by the employer and that are necessary to operate the employer’s business” at the site the illegal worker was employed.
But some licenses permit work at multiple sites. Because there is no way to carve out a suspension for one site and not another that are authorized by the same license, such a suspension could potentially affect multiple locations of a business.
LeVecke says the committee’s discussion about the effects the law has on multi-site businesses validates what he and other critics of the legislation have been saying since the legislative session.
“Now we have legitimacy for what some of us who have been called crazy have been saying,” he said. “What we were saying all along was right — it will shut down multiple locations of a business.”
One of the committee members, former lawmaker Doug Quelland, said he was glad the committee was discussing the issues, even if its decisions aren’t binding.
“Quite frankly, I’m in favor of any suggestion we come up with…because we need legislators to look at this, and look at this hard,” he said.
A spokesman for Weiers said the committee’s recommendations will be considered for possible legislation when the Legislature convenes in January.
LeVecke says lawmakers will be open to making changes to the law after the committee finishes discussing the potential problems, but he is realistic about the political ramifications of such an action.
“The politics isn’t going away,” he said. “It will take some bravery for some people to get out there and speak about how bad [the law] is.”
The next meeting, possibly as soon as next week, will focus on the complaint process and an employer’s liability if an independent contractor hires illegal workers. Weiers said he expects the committee to meet at least once more after that.