Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Democratic State Rep. John Galloway is looking to expand E-Verify requirements.
The Falls Township-based lawmaker has put forward House Bill 1881 that would “require all Pennsylvania employers in the private construction field to confirm the legal employment status of all employees through the federal E-Verify program,” according to a press release.
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“This is a natural expansion of my law from 2012 which requires all contractors bidding on any job which requires prevailing wages use E-Verify to confirm all employees are legally permitted to work in the United States,” Galloway said. “Prevailing wage rules apply to public construction jobs for state, county or other municipal agencies and public authorities and school districts.
The previous bull that passed in 2012 and was signed by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett did face some opposition from a small portion of lawmakers, some from Galloway’s own party, who felt it targeted unauthorized immigrants.
The E-Verify law allows companies to compare information provided by employees or job applicants to a national database of Social Security numbers and Department of Homeland Security records to see if a person is legally permitted to work in the United States.
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Galloway told LevittownNow.com in a 2013 interview that E-Verify requirements protect unauthorized immigrants from contractors looking to hire them for less than American workers.
The 2012 law spent years in the works before winning approval in Pennsylvania.
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“That law has been very successful and so requiring the same requirements for all construction employees is the logical next step,” Galloway said.
The state representative, whose district covers parts or all of Bristol Borough, Bristol Township, Falls Township, Middletown, Morrisville and Tullytown, said there are about 40 Democratic and Republican lawmakers who support his expansion of E-Verify requirements.
