Georgia’s “Arizona” Law

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, April 29, 2011
By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Good morning, Jim. The road to passage was convoluted and long for H.B. 87, but it DID pass after several trips between the House and Senate during the last three months. News about H.B. 87 prompted Arizona legislators to cheer us on, as opposition mounted against putting “teeth” in Georgia immigration laws. But on the last day of the session, both chambers of the General Assembly agreed on H.B 87 and the governor promised to sign it into law. Then, maybe Georgia will save millions on public education, like they have in Arizona. Maybe crime rates will drop; jails won’t be so full; and maybe government and business will be sure to hire American citizens again.

All that and more will happen when H.B. 87 becomes law, but road to passage was not easy here in Georgia. It bounced back and forth from House to Senate and was changed every where it went. The Senate was determined to water it down and the House was even more determined to pass a REAL enforcement bill, REALLY clamp down on employers that keep hiring illegal aliens, and demand REAL proof of citizenship before business licenses are issued or renewed.

Tension at the Capitol mounted as days went by and H.B. 87 was rewritten and amended. A restaurant association in Georgia, in its opposition to H.B. 87, claimed verification of each immigrant would cost $127. However, E-Verify is a free-of-charge online federal citizenship verification program that does NOT cost a dime to verify workers. The agriculture industry worked to kill the bill, as well, but it passed, anyway.

When H.B. 87 becomes law, verification of employee status will be required but will be incrementally phased in. Employers with 11 to 100 employees will start using E-Verify by July 2013, but businesses with larger work forces will begin to E-Verify employees in 2012. With each stage of that phase-in, burdens on American tax payers will grow lighter and unemployment numbers will go down … thanks to the tenacity of our legislators and the courage of Governor Deal to sign H.B. 87. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.