Don’t Make Small Business do the State’s Work

ACTION ALERT!!!

Don’t Make Small Business do the State’s Work

This week the S.C. House will make an extremely important decision for every small business in the state.  Without any public hearings or thorough discussion of alternative solutions, the Senate voted to mandate that our small businesses not be allowed to use a driver’s license or other state document to determine citizenship when hiring a worker.  Instead the Senate mandated that only the federal E-Verify internet-based system can be used in the future.

Now it is up to the House to protect possibly up to 1/3 of the state’s small businesses (according to the FCC) from either purchasing broadband in order to hire a worker or find the nearest state One-Stop Workforce Center to borrow a computer with broadband access when hiring a worker.  The the small business owner will have to read the 82-page user manual and hope not to make a mistake.

“The E-Verify process has changed multiple times just in the short time that we’ve been using it.  I can imagine that businesses who rarely hire employees would basically have to have new training in the system each time they have to use it.  It would be a pain.”
—Erlinda McCoy, HR Manger, Boykin Contractors, West Columbia

While we do not oppose S.20, immigration reform, the bill can be passed without the late amendment that places an unnecessary regulatory burden on small businesses with the possibility of revoking the business license of those not cooperating.  If the state wants to assist the federal government in verifying citizenship, it should do the work itself instead of mandating the burden be put on small businesses.  Let the state use E-Verify when issuing driver’s licenses or other state approved documents to be used during the hiring process. 

Call or email your House member today.  You can find a list of all House members along with contact information by clicking here.  You can also call the House Clerk’s Office at 803-734-2403 and ask to be connected to your Representative.

Ask your House member to vote against mandating all businesses to use E-Verify.  Tell them that it is an unnecessary burden on small businesses.  Feel free to use any of the above information. 

Thank you for your support.

Frank Knapp, Jr.

President & CEO