A bill that aims to clarify and expand the scope of the state’s employer sanctions law may not be amended any further, despite pleas from some lawmakers and the business community.
After agreeing to change a provision designed to punish Arizona businesses that don’t use a federal employee verification system, Rep. Russell Pearce said he is done making changes. The latest revision came about after several business groups balked at the provision earlier this month when the bill was scheduled to be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Sen. Bob Burns, a Peoria Republican who chairs the committee, and Pearce, the architect of last year’s sanctions law who has shepherded changes through the process this year, have agreed to halt the bill’s progress in order to negotiate a compromise.
Pearce wanted to get more businesses to comply with last year’s law, which required businesses to use the federal E-Verify online employee verification database, but offered no punishment for noncompliance.
This year, Pearce sought to penalize businesses that fail to enroll in the program by prohibiting them from claiming tax deductions for the salaries of employees not checked through E-Verify.
But after meeting with business groups, Pearce changed that provision to prohibit businesses not enrolled in E-Verify from securing a work contract from the state or any other political subdivision. The negotiated language was added to the bill March 25 by the Senate committee.
But that, Pearce said, is it.
“Enough’s enough,” the Mesa Republican said. “I told (Burns), ‘Nobody’s touching the bill again.’ Every time I turn around…they’re looking for a comma that they don’t like.”
Pearce’s attitude may affect the view business groups and other lawmakers take of the bill and its House counterpart – both are under Pearce’s watchful eye – when it comes time to vote on them, as it means key concerns voiced in the March 25 committee hearing likely will not be addressed.
The most pressing issue for some business groups is the manner in which complaints against businesses can be filed. Specifically, they say, the law needs to prohibit anonymous complaints and complaints based merely on the race of a business’ employees.
Todd Sanders, a lobbyist for the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, told the committee he hopes the complaint process will be examined before the bill comes up for a final vote.
Sen. Amanda Aguirre, a Yuma Democrat, said she couldn’t support the bill because it still allowed for race-based complaints, even though she voted for the creation of employer sanctions last year.
“We have to stop stereotyping,” she said. “Just because my last name is Aguirre or because I look Hispanic, then I’m going to be a target of this kind of discrimination.”
Even Burns, who has worked closely with Pearce and sponsored the Senate bill, said he still hopes there is room for some more tweaking.
“Hopefully, it’s a work in progress,” he told committee members.
But Sen. Jack Harper, a Republican from Surprise, said there doesn’t need to be any provision to preclude complaints based on race because race is a “phantom argument” in the debate.
“There is no more of a connection to race and nationality in this instance than there is in somebody making anonymous complaints to the Maricopa County Health Department about a business,” he said. “It does not mean somebody’s prejudiced because they want to uphold the laws of this country.”
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved S1374 by a 5-3 vote. The bill will be checked for constitutionality before being forwarded to the entire Senate. The House version, H2745, was approved by a voice vote in the House and is awaiting a formal vote.