E-Verify bill clears second Senate committee without carveout for agriculture industry

Photo by Alison Updyke.

An E-Verify bill cleared its second Senate committee with stronger requirements than when it arrived.

The Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee advanced a bill (SB 664) that would require employers in Florida to check workers’ employment eligibility in the U.S. using a federal database.

Perhaps more notably, the Committee disposed of an exemption for agriculture employers. Sen. Tom Lee, the bill’s sponsor, hopes the bill gets stronger from here.

“Before Sine Die, I hope we will have a bill stronger than the one in front of us,” the Thonotosassa Republican said.

And while the agriculture carve-out has disappeared for now, Lee told News Service of Florida after the Committee hearing he’s still frustrated at amendments getting added during committee stops.

That includes language allowing development of an alternative employee verification process to E-Verify for employers to use. There’s also language to require businesses in Florida not using the system to keep documentation on new employees available for three years.

Under the current version of the bill, employers would be able to certify under the penalty of perjury that they are not hiring undocumented immigrants.

“It pretty much guts the bill,” he said. “All (employers) would have to do is certify that they believe in their heart that they’ve got a system that is equally as effective. But who knows what is in their heart?”

Indeed, Lee went so far as to say if the bill as written gets approved by the Legislature that Gov. Ron DeSantis should veto the bill.

“I think he’ll veto it,” Lee said. “I would tell him to veto it. I think it makes a mockery of our efforts to try to create an E-Verify system in Florida.”

At the same time, the bill has demonstrated the rare ability to unify big business interests and more liberal immigration groups. Businesses worry about jobs and their bottom line, while immigration groups worry about access to those jobs.

A letter from the American Business Immigration Coalition said the database has been shown to have a 12% error rate. And a study released last week by FWS.us predicts Florida likely will lose 253,500 jobs, $10.7 billion in earnings and $1.25 billion in state and local tax revenue.

Lee questioned the accuracy of those numbers. But moreover, he said this bill wasn’t about immigration or the promotion of capitalism. Rather, it’s about the rule of law and a system that treats all fairly, including immigrants.

“We have exploited the people who come to this country,” Lee argued. “We know they are seeking a better life, and we know the magnet is a better job. But then we push them underground. They live in shadows in fear of deportation because they know they are not here legally, and they will work for pennies on the dollar what we will pay to ordinary Americans.”

Opponents, though, noted the unified opposition to putting requirements that can hurt employees and threaten living conditions for workers.

Sen. Victor Torres, a Kissimmee Democrat, proposed several amendments that were all shot down. But he noted even President Donald Trump‘s administration chose not to include E-Verify requirements nationwide in its budget.

“Many businesses are having difficulty finding workers to fill the jobs that are currently vacant. This bill would further limit their employment choices, which could be disastrous to our state economy,” Torres said.

On the other hand, Committee Chair Joe Gruters said he wished the bill went further.

“I hope to include all public and private employers,” he said.

The legislation in its current form still exempts companies with fewer than 150 employees.

Gruters voted against the amendment loosening E-Verify requirements. He also pressed the Republican Party of Florida earlier this year to adopt a resolution in favor of E-Verify requirements for all Florida employers.

And anti-immigration groups spoke up in favor of as strict requirements as possible. The group Floridians for E-Verify Now presented anecdotal evidence immigrants entering the country illegally are more likely to commit violent crimes.

“Mandatory E-Verify for all Florida employers would stop illegal aliens from coming here and, over time, cause the illegal aliens already here to leave,” said Robert Windham, speaking for that group.

Debate over E-Verify language has become one of the most divisive issues this Legislative Session, pitting a priority for DeSantis against skittish leadership in the House and Senate.

Debate has thus far centered on potential carve-outs for industries that have traditionally hired a significant number of undocumented workers.

Lee’s bill advanced through the Senate Judiciary Committee only after an amendment passed that would exempt agriculture and businesses with fewer than 150 employees.

But just over 24 hours before the bill was set to appear in Commerce and Tourism, Lee filed an amendment that removed most of that language, including releasing agriculture employers from requirements.

After the initial carve-out passed, Speaker Josè Oliva made clear he wants a clean E-Verify bill, if one can pass the House.

Notably, the House version of the bill, sponsored by Rep. Cord Byrd, was presented as a compromise pre-Session. That bill (HB 1265) focuses on E-Verify requirements for public employers.

The legislation has yet to move.

___

Reporting by News Service of Florida was used in this report.