Conservatively Speaking

Most hypocritical bill

Posted by Mary Lazich on April 20, 2010

Legislation

Senate Bill 600 (SB 600) is the most blatantly hypocritical bill that I have seen before the state Legislature this session.  There have been a lot of bills by Democrats that are supposed to do one thing, and pretty much do something else. But, SB 600 takes the cake. 

SB 600, before the state Senate Small Business Committee that I serve as a member, would impose penalties on businesses that hire illegal immigrants; however, the bill fails to address state government payment for services provided to illegal immigrants.  

The bill says companies may not employ illegal immigrants. Seemingly, that would be a dastardly thing. However, the bill says illegal immigrants are welcome to stay in Wisconsin without employment. Hello, what is it that people blackballed from Wisconsin employment, but invited to live in the state do for a living?

SB 600 penalizes companies that hire illegal immigrants. Under the bill, a company that hires an illegal immigrant would be ineligible to: 

• receive income or franchise tax credits or property tax exemptions;
• enter into contracts with the state or local governments for work on public works or building, or for providing supplies or services; and
• receive any grants or loans from a local governmental unit. 

The ineligibility would last for seven years.

 It was coincident that there were news stories Wednesday’s, the same day as the SB 600 public hearing, about an Arizona Law clamping down on illegal immigrants. The Wall Street Journal reports:

“Arizona lawmakers passed one of the toughest pieces of immigration-enforcement legislation in the country, which would make it a violation of state law to be in the U.S. without proper documentation. It would also grant police the power to stop and verify the immigration status of anyone they suspect of being illegal. Under the measure, passed by Arizona's lower house, after being passed earlier by the state Senate, foreign nationals are required to carry proof of legal residency.”  

I inquired of the author of SB 600, state Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) testifying in favor of his bill whether he would consider looking at the Arizona law and amend his bill to include the Arizona law.  Senator Hanson insisted that he only wants to get at those bad companies hiring illegals.  I asked Senator Hanson the question, how does Wisconsin pay the bills for the social services, health care etc., for illegal immigrants?  Senator Hansen repeated that the goal of his bill was to get at the bad companies hiring illegals. 

I suggested that if the state was serious about the problem, Senator Hansen’s bill should be amended to include provisions similar to what Arizona has approved.  Naturally, if the threat of penalties stops businesses from hiring illegal immigrants, we want to avoid a scenario of illegal immigrants living in Wisconsin, draining our resources and social services. Senator Hanson emphatically stated that the only thing he wants his bill to do is get after the companies hiring illegals.

Senator Hansen made it clear he was not receptive, emphatically and repeatedly stating that his bill goes after bad companies and that he would not support any changes. Hansen’s reaction exemplifies the anti-business sentiment and government social program spending that has plagued this legislative session. An unwillingness to consider toughening the legislation to provide security of illegal immigrants is hypocrisy suggesting proponents of the bill lack serious motivation to aggressively attack the serious problem of government spending.

SB 600 is scheduled for a committee vote Wednesday, April 21, 2010.  I hope Senator Hanson will agree to an amendment; otherwise I will be voting no.