SB 610

This bill makes the following changes to state procurement law and to state

government and local government employment practices:

State procurement

Under current law, the Department of Administration (DOA), other agencies

to which DOA has delegated the authority, the legislature, the judicial branch, and

authorities may purchase all necessary materials and contractual services. Current

law also generally authorizes DOA to contract for construction work when the project

cost is estimated to exceed $40,000. With some exceptions, such purchases or

contracts must be awarded to the lowest bidder.

This bill creates a new exception to the lowest-bidder award by prohibiting the

state from purchasing or contracting for materials or services, including construction

work, with an employer that does not verify, by using the Federal Employment

Eligibility Verification Program (Federal E-Verify Program), that all of its

employees are eligible to work in the United States or that employs an individual

after the Federal E-Verify Program identifies that the individual is not eligible to

work in the United States. The Federal E-Verify Program is a system operated by

the federal Department of Homeland Security and the federal Social Security

Administration that allows an employer to enroll in the system and verify that its

employees are eligible to work in the United States. If the state discovers that a

contract into which it has entered violates this prohibition, the state must terminate

the contract.

State government and local government employment practices

This bill provides that a state government agency or local governmental unit

that intends to hire an employee after the bill's effective date must verify the

individual's identity under the Federal E-Verify Program. A state government

agency or local governmental unit may not offer employment to any individual who

is identified under the Federal E-Verify Program as ineligible to work in the United

States. The bill further provides that, before July 1, 2011, each state government

agency and local governmental unit must verify the identity of all of its employees

under the Federal E-Verify Program. If a state government agency or local

governmental unit determines that an employee is identified under the Federal

E-Verify Program as ineligible to work in the United States, the local governmental

unit must discharge the employee.