Employer sanctions backers express doubt about law

Backers of an initiative to punish companies that knowingly hire undocumented workers intend to keep gathering signatures despite the new employer sanctions law.

Don Goldwater, who chairs the Legal Arizona Workers initiative drive, said Monday that many of those involved in the campaign simply don’t believe the measure signed into law last week ever will take effect.

Goldwater pointed out that Gov. Janet Napolitano already has said she wants some changes in the law. In fact the governor is pushing for a special session before the end of the year.

Napolitano said she wants to exempt hospitals, nursing homes, power plants and other essential services from the risk of being shut down, even temporarily, even if it turns out that the operators did knowingly hire someone not in this country legally.

But Goldwater said initiative backers fear something more sinister.

“They’re very concerned that the start of the next legislative session, if not sooner, that the Legislature will convene to basically gut this program,” he said. “People aren’t ready to let this thing go. They don’t have a lot of trust in the Legislature or the governor’s office to uphold the bill.”

The sentiment to keep gathering signatures is shared by Rep. Russell Pearce, the Mesa Republican who crafted the measure signed by Napolitano.

But he said the problem is not limited to legislators who may have second thoughts in the face of business interest lobbying.

He also noted that both the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and some legislative Democrats have vowed to try to have the new law overturned even before it takes effect.

The initiative actually is stricter than the new law: It would require a judge to permanently revoke any state licenses a business has to operate in Arizona after just one conviction of knowingly hiring an undocumented worker.

By contrast, the legislation says a judge may — but is not required to — suspend a business license for a first offense of knowingly employing someone not authorized to be in this country. Only on a second offense within three years would a license be revoked.

Pearce said this optional punishment means there is no need for the kind of exemption that Napolitano wants.

Only if a company is convicted of an intentional violation would a judge be required to suspend a license for at least 10 days.

Pearce said any company that checks job applicants through a federal database has a built-in defense against getting convicted.

“Nobody who tries to follow the law is at risk,” he said.

Backers need 153,365 valid signatures on petitions by July 3 to put the measure on the 2008 ballot.