BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1236
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1236 (Fong)
As Amended March 31, 2011
Majority vote
LABOR & EMPLOYMENT 5-1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Swanson, Alejo, Allen, | | |
| |Furutani, Yamada | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Morrell | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : This bill establishes the Employment Acceleration Act
of 2011 to prohibit the state and a city, county, city and
county or a special district, from requiring an employer to use
an electronic employment verification system. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Prohibits, except as required by federal law, or as a
condition of receiving federal funds, the state and a city,
county, city and county, or special district, from requiring
employers to use an electronic employment verification system.
2)Prohibits the state and any city, county, city and county or
special district, from requiring employers to use the
electronic employment verification as a condition of receiving
a government contract or as a condition for maintaining a
business license.
3)Defines "electronic employment verification system" as an
employment verification system that allows employers to
electronically verify workers' employment authorization with
the federal government:
a) Excludes from this definition the I-9 Employment
Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) form or any other
employment eligibility systems that are required by federal
law.
4)Defines "employer" as an employer other than the state, a
city, county, city and county or special district.
AB 1236
Page 2
EXISTING FEDERAL LAW :
1)Establishes the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA)
to prohibit the known hiring of individuals who are not
authorized to work in the United States.
a) Establishes the Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) (Public Law 104-208,
September 30, 1996), as an amendment to the INA, to require
employers to verify the identity and eligibility of every
employee.
2)Establishes E-Verify, formerly known as the Basic Pilot
Program, a voluntary internet-based system that allows an
employer, using information reported on an employee's Form
I-9, to determine the eligibility of that employee to work in
the United States (U.S.).
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According the author, cities and municipalities in
California have recently begun passing local ordinances to
require private employers to use the E-Verify program. The
author states that such ordinances contradict the original
intent that the program be voluntary and place a financial and
administrative burden on employers.
The Basic Pilot Program is a voluntary Internet-based program
administered by the federal Department of Homeland Security
(DHS). The program allows employers to electronically verify
workers' employment eligibility by accessing information in
databases maintained by the Social Security Administration (SSA)
and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The Basic Pilot Program began operating in five states in 1997
and a sixth state in 1999. In 2003, Congress expanded the
program to all 50 states and authorized it until November 30,
2008, under the Basic Pilot Program Extension and Expansion Act
of 2003. In August 2007, DHS renamed the program "E-Verify."
Critics of the program have argued that it has been hindered by
inaccurate and outdated information in the DHS and SSA databases
and misuse of the program by employers. According to a 2010
AB 1236
Page 3
report by the United States Government Accountability Office
(GAO) on Employment Verification, identity fraud remains a
challenge for the E-Verify system because employers may not be
able to determine if an employee is presenting genuine identity
and employment eligibility documents that are borrowed or
stolen. The GAO report also notes that E-Verify cannot detect
cases in which an unscrupulous employer assists unauthorized
employees. The GAO report states that of the 97.4% of employees
who were confirmed as work authorized by E-Verify in 2009,
USICIS was unable to determine how many employees E-Verify
incorrectly confirmed as authorized.
In a letter supporting this bill, a coalition of businesses,
including the Western Growers and California Farm Bureau
Federation write that reports have raised disturbing questions
about the accuracy of the databases used by the E-Verify system
about the system's persistently high error rate. They believe
that E-Verify is not yet sufficiently reliable enough to cope
with the massive increase in usage that a usage mandate in
California would create. They assert that a creation of
patchwork of inconsistent and incompatible state and local laws
will only create needless confusion among employers.
Analysis Prepared by : Shannon McKinley / L. & E. / (916)
319-2091
FN: 0000533