Blame S.C. House for immigration-reform mess

Today's editorial helps explains how the S.C. immigration-reform bill, once on track toward smooth passage, got derailed:

Political mistake may kill immigration reform

Our representatives in the S.C. House would have us believe it's the Senate's fault that immigration reform, the legislation about which South Carolinians putatively care most, is stalled and well may fail. While senators are a mite too gleeful in citing their rules as justification for inaction, the fault for the pending crash-and-burn of immigration reform lies with the House.

Two months ago, the House pridefully passed a bill that posed no verification requirements on private employers. Now, House negotiators want a strict (and possibly illegal) foreign-worker-verification requirement for private employers included in the compromise reform bill sent to Gov. Mark Sanford.

Indeed, when House and Senate negotiators first sat down a few weeks back to reconcile their respective illegal-immigrant-crackdown bills, the Senate's measure was the stricter of the two. The original House bill focuses only on worker-verification requirements for contractors who do government work in South Carolina.

Turns out this was a huge political mistake. By rule and tradition, legislative conferees trying to resolve difference in House and Senate legislation can write compromise bills that include only provisions in one or both original bills. They can't add undebated provisions, and rightly so.

Having heard from angry constituents, House members now want to require private employers to check foreign workers' immigration status using the online E-Verify system run by the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security. And they want the Senate's requirement that employers file federal I-9 forms for foreign workers, which House negotiators regard as meaningless, removed from the bill.

Both sides have agreed to these changes. But Senate negotiators - backed by their leadership - now want the House to approve the compromise by a two-thirds vote. House conferees - backed by their leadership, angrily insist that a majority vote of the House is enough. Senate leaders are holding out for the two-thirds vote because that's what their rules require. Both sides, in short, are dug in.

We'll know next week whether the measure is headed for compromise or collapse. But if the House had gotten religion on private-employer mandates sooner, this mess wouldn't be happening.

Comments?

Comments

[beachguy(original)]

So why can't the house write a new bill with the new changes ?

[Richard L. Wolfe]

Is there any truth to the rumor that the legislature is forming a softball team and their mascot is a cockroach?

[PREFAB SPROUT]

It's all a dog and pony show anyway. If I put together 100 things that required the attention of the SC legislature, illegal immigration would be number 101. Not to mention that it's the FEDS responsibility to legislate and enforce this area.

[Nick]

Palmetto bug, Richard. Palmetto bug.

[Denney Clements]

For those who want to call legislators about this issue, here are the links to the legislative phone directories"

House phone: http://www.scstatehouse.net/html-pages/housemembers.html

House e-mail: http://www.scstatehouse.net/html-pages/houseemail.html

Senate phone: http://www.scstatehouse.net/html-pages/senatemembers.html

Senate e-mail: http://www.scstatehouse.net/html-pages/senateemail.html

Don't be shy about expressing your opinion to your elected public servants.

dc