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| SENATOR DeKRUIF STATEMENT ON VETO OF BIPARTISAN E-VERIFY BILL | ||||||||||
(ST. PAUL) – Governor Mark Dayton rejected efforts Tuesday by lawmakers to verify employment eligibility of all newly hired employees in the legislative, executive and judicial branches by using the federal E-Verify program. The measure (HF 1976) passed with bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.
Since it can take between three and four months for the federal government to validate employment eligibility through the federally required I-9 form, there is a significant period in which state employers would be training illegal workers and, in some cases, granting access to sensitive information. The E-Verify system uses a free website managed by the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security to check the individual’s status in mere minutes.
Chief author Al DeKruif (R-Elysian) gave the following statement in response to the Governor’s veto:
“I am disappointed with the Governor’s veto today – rejecting a common sense, bipartisan measure to ensure our employees are eligible to work in the U.S. In our role as stewards of the taxpayer dollar, we should consider what methods and resources we have available to limit waste. By using the existing e-verify system, we can determine an employee’s eligibility prior to spending taxpayer dollars on costly training.
““Republicans and Democrats came together to pass this bill, protecting taxpayers and streamlining the identification process to determine employee eligibility. I had hoped the Governor could set aside his veto pen and work with us to get something good done for Minnesota.”
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