Only Legal Workers Get Hired

Rep. John Galloway, (D-Bucks) says, these bills are about saving Pennsylvania jobs, by penalizing unscrupulous contractors who hire and abuse illegal workers, we can level the playing field for honest contractors who do the right thing and hire American workers and those legally authorized to work here."

Two bills designed to ensure only legal workers get hired for construction and landscaping jobs in the state passed the House on June 9 and are now in the state Senate for consideration. House bills 1502 and 1503, sponsored by Rep. John Galloway, (D-Bucks), would require contractors and subcontractors in the state to verify the employment eligibility of their employees using the federal E-Verify system.

Galloway said ''the main reason we're doing it is because the federal government won't do it for us and we're not waiting anymore.'' The bills are receiving bi-partisan support in the House, but the administration of Gov. Ed Rendell has ''serious concerns'' with them. Rendell spokesman Gary Tuma said Friday the administration is ''concerned about potential flaws'' with the bills. "The commonwealth takes enforcement of labor laws very seriously, and we understand the concern that some employers are unfairly cheating workers by paying less than minimum wage or overtime when it is due," he said. "Unfortunately, this bill does not solve fundamental issues of fairness it seeks to address."

One of the potential issues with the legislation is that it would require employers to use ''E-Verify,'' a system operated by the federal Department of Homeland Security, Tuma said. Research by Congress has shown that E-Verify mistakenly labels documented workers as ''undocumented'' at least 15% of the time.

Sen. John Gordner, R-Columbia, who chairs the Senate Labor and Industry Committee, said Friday he also has concerns with the E-Verify system. Gordner said that, in the past, there have been concerns on the ''completeness'' of the E-Verify system. ''If it works 100 percent correctly, then it seems like a good system,'' he said. Gordner said a hearing in his committee would be necessary to learn about the effectiveness of the E-Verify system.

The Pennsylvania Builders Association [PBA] is opposed to the bills. PBA Governmental Affairs Director Lou Biacchi said Friday the association is against the legislation because it ''is targeted at the construction industry when the issue of illegal immigration is a problem throughout the economy. We believe it should be comprehensive in scope,'' he said. ''There are many illegal immigrants in the agricultural industry, there are many in the mini-market sector of the economy, and there are many in the nail-polishing industry. The bottom line,'' Biacchi said, ''is immigration is a federal issue. The federal government needs to address it.''

Source Pennsylvania Landscape & Nursery Association