Kansas Immigration Proposals Foundering

Legislators in Kansas are wrangling over immigration measures.

Jeannine Koranda of the Eagle reports:

Legislators declared illegal-immigration reform one of their top priorities at the beginning of the session. But as they head back for a final few days this week, a compromise bill is foundering.

The measure, significantly scaled back from earlier proposals, rankles lawmakers from both parties. Some Republicans say it doesn’t do enough to go after illegal immigrants. Some Democrats say it doesn’t punish the employers who hire them.

Both the House and Senate began the year with aggressive proposals that attempted to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving public benefits or in-state tuition or casting a ballot. They also included strict penalties for employers who knowingly hired illegal immigrants. Those proposals have been pared dramatically.

The conferees’ proposed bill cut House language to require employers to check potential employees’ immigration status through a federal database called E-Verify.

It would drop a Senate-approved provision to penalize labor unions for collecting dues from illegal immigrant workers.

Jeff Glendening, vice president of political affairs for the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, said his group was happy with the compromise bill, given that it does not mandate E-verify and would not call for any business to lose its license.

The misclassification penalties were a big deal for Democrats, Loganbill said.

“We have a lot of employers that are less than honest in this state and they are getting away with some wrongdoing,” she said. Click here for the whole story.

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