Hiring law must be free of flaws - By Glenn Hamer

Hiring law must be free of flaws

Jul. 14, 2007 12:00 AM

"Despite the courageous efforts of Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, Congress was
unable to enact immigration reform this year. The unfortunate result is that
state governments feel they should address the issue.





Last week, Arizona was among the first to impose strict regulatory
requirements on businesses meant to curtail the hiring of illegal workers.


The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry has long believed, and federal
law requires, that employers who knowingly hire illegal workers should be
punished. However, we oppose legislation that burdens legitimate business,
increases government regulation and makes Arizona a less desirable place to do
business.


In Gov. Janet Napolitano's signing letter she points out several flaws and
omissions in the bill. The Arizona chamber shares her concerns and the
admonition that "we must not harm legitimate Arizona employers and employees as
we seek to curb illegal employment practices."


The governor also notes the new law does not protect critical
infrastructure. Vital services, like hospital emergency care, could be shut down
if someone in human resources makes a mistake. A business with multiple
locations could have to shut down its entire operation because of an infraction
at only one location.


The governor also says that enforcement of the new law is underfunded and
that it does not protect legal workers from discrimination.


Most troubling is the mandate that all businesses use the federal Basic
Pilot Program by Jan. 1. Basic Pilot is a flawed program that is not ready for
prime time. It has a significant error rate at 4 percent, according to a
congressional audit conducted last year. It does nothing to prevent identity
theft and has trouble verifying Hispanic surnames.


A Department of Homeland Security official said it is "impossible" to
accommodate the tenfold use increase in such a short time.


Additionally, the new regulations will increase the cost of doing
legitimate business in Arizona. When the cost of doing business goes up,
Arizona's competitive advantage goes down.


The governor has expressed an interest in holding a special session to
address the law's trouble spots. We encourage her to do so.


This would allow legislators to improve certain provisions of the
bill.Ultimately, we cannot let our federal delegates off the hook. There are a
number of actions the federal government must take before Arizona's law can take
effect.


It is important that kinks in the Basic Pilot Program be worked out to meet
the coming demand. This requires sufficient resources to bring the program up to
speed. These fixes will make Arizona's law more workable, but we can't stop
there.


The only real solution to our immigration crisis is to have uniform,
comprehensive reform at the federal level."

- Glenn Hamer, Phoenix

The writer is president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Glenn is the past Executive Director of the Arizona Republican Party.