AB 281

State procurement

Under current law, the Department of Administration, the legislature, the judiciary, and state authorities may purchase all necessary materials and contract for services. Current law also generally authorizes DOA to contract for construction work when the project cost is estimated to exceed $50,000. 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 with an employer that does not verify, by using the Federal Employment Eligibility Verification Program (E-Verify Program), that all of its employees are eligible to work in the United States or that employs an individual after the E-Verify Program identifies that the individual is not eligible to work in the United States. The 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.

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 E-Verify Program. A state government agency or local governmental unit may not offer employment to any individual who is identified under the E-Verify Program as ineligible to work in the United States.