U.S. REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS TO HOST BRIEFING ON THE IMPACT OF EMPLOYER VERIFICATION LAWS ON ARIZONA BUSINESSES

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has invited business leaders from across Arizona to brief Congress on the impact of employer verification laws.

The briefing will be held that at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30 in room B-318 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

The Tucson lawmaker wants her colleagues and key committee staff to hear directly from the Arizona business community about the problems they have encountered with the federal government's Employment Eligibility Verification Program. Known as E-Verify, the federal program allows employers to confirm the legal status of employees.

The attendees at tomorrow's briefing include: Jack Camper and Paul Parisi of the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce; Mary Ann Miller and Catherine Mayorga of the Tempe Chamber of Commerce; and Suzanne Taylor of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Several Arizona business organizations, including the Tucson, Marana and Sierra Vista chambers of commerce, support an alternative to E-Verify called the New Employer Verification Act. Co-sponsored by Giffords, the act:

1. Ensures a legal workforce by replacing the I-9 screening process with an Electronic Employee Verification System, or "EEVS." This system would rely on the use of fewer, more secure identity documents and would be built upon the new hire reporting process already existing in each state. This reporting process is used by 90 percent of employers and was put in place a dozen years ago to track down dead beat dads.
2. Safeguards workers' identity with a voluntary system that would use the latest technology to authenticate and protect a worker's identity.  Private sector contractors, certified by the federal government, would authenticate the identity of employees by utilizing existing background-check and document screening tools and then safeguard the identity through a biometric identifier, such as a finger print or eye scan. The private sector provider would then verify work authorization in EEVS. 
3. Protects Social Security by preventing wages earned through future unauthorized work from being used to determine benefits.

The New Employer Verification Act has been endorsed by numerous national business groups, including the National Association of Homebuilders; National Association of Manufacturers; Society for Human Resource Management; National Federation of Independent Businesses; American Council on International Personnel; College and University Professional Association for Human Resources; HR Policy Association; National Franchise Association; and the International Public Management Association for Human Resources.