Some who voted for sanctions seek rollback

By Howard Fischer

CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES

PHOENIX — Some state lawmakers who backed Arizona's new employer sanctions law last year now are pushing to dilute some of its provisions.

Rep. Bill Konopnicki, R-Safford, prime sponsor of the rollback, wants the law altered so a firm cannot lose its license to do business for having an undocumented worker on the payroll unless the worker was hired after the law took effect Jan. 1.

He said it's not fair to punish employers who had no opportunity to verify the legal status of new workers through the federal government's E-Verify database program, as required by the sanctions law.

Further, Konopnicki wants to require prosecutors to prove "regular, repeated and intentional actions" of illegal hiring before a license could be suspended or revoked. Companies would not be penalized for "isolated, sporadic or accidental acts."

Konopnicki's bills also would limit the types of licenses a judge could take away, a move Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, who crafted the original measure, said could exempt more than half of Arizona businesses from any type of punishment.

And even in those cases left, a company would be subject to license suspension or revocation only if guilt was proved "beyond a reasonable doubt," the same standard that applies for criminal convictions.