Source: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/LGR/88/attachments/SF516.html?layout=false
Timestamp: 2019-05-24 23:51:19
Document Index: 335544261

Matched Legal Cases: ['§1324', '§1324', '§1324', '§1373', '§1324', '§1324', '§274']

Senate File 516 - Reprinted SENATE FILE 516 BY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY (SUCCESSOR TO SF 243) (As Amended and Passed by the Senate April 2, 2019 ) A BILL FOR An Act relating to the employment of unauthorized aliens and 1 providing penalties. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 SF 516 (4) 88 je/rn/mb
S.F. 516 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 95.1 Definitions. 1 As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise 2 requires: 3 1. “Agency” means an agency, department, board, or 4 commission of this state or a political subdivision that issues 5 a license for purposes of operating a business in this state. 6 2. “Department” means the department of workforce 7 development. 8 3. “Economic development incentive” means a grant, loan, or 9 performance-based incentive awarded by a government entity of 10 this state. “Economic development incentive” does not include a 11 tax credit or tax incentive program. 12 4. “Employ” means hiring or continuing to employ an 13 individual to perform services. 14 5. “Employee” means an individual who is paid wages by an 15 employer for service in employment in this state. “Employee” 16 does not include an independent contractor. 17 6. “Employer” means an employer, as defined in section 18 96.19, that has a license issued by an agency in this state. 19 In the case of an independent contractor, “employer” means 20 the independent contractor and does not mean the person or 21 organization that uses the contract labor. 22 7. “Employment” means the same as defined in section 96.19. 23 8. “E-verify program” means the employment verification 24 program as jointly administered by the United States department 25 of homeland security and the United States social security 26 administration or any successor program. 27 9. “Government entity” means this state or a political 28 subdivision of this state that receives and uses tax revenues. 29 10. “Independent contractor” means the same as described in 30 rules adopted by the department for purposes of administration 31 of chapter 96. 32 11. “Knowingly employ an unauthorized alien” means the 33 actions described in 8 U.S.C. §1324a, and shall be interpreted 34 consistently with 8 U.S.C. §1324a and any applicable federal 35 -1- SF 516 (4) 88 je/rn/mb 1/ 8
S.F. 516 regulations. 1 12. “License” means a permit, certificate, approval, 2 registration, charter, or similar form of authorization, other 3 than a professional license, that is required by law and that 4 is issued by an agency, allowing the licensee to do business 5 in this state. 6 13. “Unauthorized alien” means an alien who does not have 7 the legal right or authorization under federal law to work in 8 the United States as described in 8 U.S.C. §1324a(h)(3). 9 14. “Wages” means the same as defined in section 96.19. 10 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 95.2 Knowingly employing unauthorized 11 aliens. 12 1. Knowingly employing unauthorized aliens prohibited. An 13 employer shall not knowingly employ an unauthorized alien. If 14 an employer uses a contract, subcontract, or other independent 15 contractor agreement to obtain the labor of an alien in 16 this state, and the employer knowingly contracts with an 17 unauthorized alien or with a person who employs or contracts 18 with an unauthorized alien to perform the labor, the employer 19 violates this subsection. 20 2. Complaints —— court action required. A county attorney, 21 local law enforcement official, or member of the public may 22 file a complaint of a violation of subsection 1 with the 23 department. If the department determines, based on evidence 24 included with the complaint or on evidence gathered by the 25 department, that an employer has violated subsection 1, the 26 department shall bring an action against the employer in the 27 district court of the county where the unauthorized alien 28 employee is or was employed by the employer. The district 29 court shall expedite the action, including scheduling a hearing 30 at the earliest practicable date. 31 3. Court order —— first violation. On a finding of a first 32 violation as described in subsection 5, the court shall require 33 by order all of the following: 34 a. The employer shall terminate the employment of all 35 -2- SF 516 (4) 88 je/rn/mb 2/ 8
S.F. 516 unauthorized aliens. 1 b. (1) The employer shall be subject to a three-year 2 probationary period for the business location where the 3 unauthorized alien performed work. 4 (2) During the probationary period, the employer shall file 5 quarterly reports on the form prescribed in section 252G.3 6 with the department for each new employee who is hired by the 7 employer at the business location where the unauthorized alien 8 performed work. 9 c. The employer shall be required to file a signed sworn 10 affidavit with the department within three business days after 11 the order is issued. The affidavit shall state that the 12 employer has terminated the employment of all unauthorized 13 aliens in this state and that the employer will not knowingly 14 employ an unauthorized alien in this state. 15 (1) The court shall order the appropriate agencies to 16 suspend all licenses that are held by the employer if the 17 employer fails to file a signed sworn affidavit with the 18 department within three business days after the order is 19 issued. All licenses that are suspended shall remain suspended 20 until the employer files a signed sworn affidavit with the 21 department. Upon filing of the affidavit, the suspended 22 licenses shall be reinstated immediately by the appropriate 23 agencies. 24 (2) Licenses that are subject to suspension under this 25 paragraph “c” are all licenses that are held by the employer 26 specific to the business location where the unauthorized alien 27 performed work. If the employer does not hold a license 28 specific to the business location where the unauthorized alien 29 performed work, but a license is necessary to operate the 30 employer’s business in general, the licenses that are subject 31 to suspension under this paragraph “c” are all licenses that 32 are held by the employer at the employer’s primary place of 33 business. On receipt of the court’s order, the appropriate 34 agencies shall suspend the licenses according to the court’s 35 -3- SF 516 (4) 88 je/rn/mb 3/ 8
S.F. 516 order. The court shall send a copy of the court’s order to the 1 secretary of state and the secretary of state shall maintain 2 the copy pursuant to subsection 6. 3 (3) The court may order the appropriate agencies to suspend 4 all licenses described in this paragraph “c” that are held by 5 the employer for not more than ten business days. The court 6 shall base its decision to suspend under this subparagraph 7 on any evidence or information submitted to it during the 8 action for a violation of subsection 1 and shall consider the 9 following factors, if relevant: 10 (a) The number of unauthorized aliens employed by the 11 employer. 12 (b) Any prior misconduct by the employer. 13 (c) The degree of harm resulting from the violation. 14 (d) Whether the employer made good faith efforts to comply 15 with any applicable requirements. 16 (e) The duration of the violation. 17 (f) The role of the directors, officers, or principals of 18 the employer in the violation. 19 (g) Any other factors the court deems appropriate. 20 4. Court order —— second violation. For a second violation, 21 as described in subsection 5, the court shall order the 22 appropriate agencies to permanently revoke all licenses that 23 are held by the employer specific to the business location 24 where the unauthorized alien performed work. If the employer 25 does not hold a license specific to the business location 26 where the unauthorized alien performed work, but a license 27 is necessary to operate the employer’s business in general, 28 the court shall order the appropriate agencies to permanently 29 revoke all licenses that are held by the employer at the 30 employer’s primary place of business. On receipt of the order, 31 the appropriate agencies shall immediately revoke the licenses. 32 5. Violations defined. 33 a. A violation shall be considered a first violation by 34 an employer at a business location if the violation did not 35 -4- SF 516 (4) 88 je/rn/mb 4/ 8
S.F. 516 occur during a probationary period ordered by the court under 1 subsection 3, paragraph “b” , for that employer’s business 2 location. 3 b. A violation shall be considered a second violation by 4 an employer at a business location if the violation occurred 5 during a probationary period ordered by the court under 6 subsection 3, paragraph “b” , for that employer’s business 7 location. 8 6. Secretary of state database. The secretary of state 9 shall maintain copies of court orders that are received 10 pursuant to subsection 3, paragraph “c” , and shall maintain a 11 database of the employers and business locations found to have 12 committed a first violation of subsection 1 and make the court 13 orders available on the secretary of state’s internet site. 14 7. Federal determination creates rebuttable presumption. In 15 determining whether an employee is an unauthorized alien, the 16 court shall consider the federal government’s determination 17 of the immigration status of the employee pursuant to 8 18 U.S.C. §1373(c). The court may take judicial notice of the 19 federal government’s determination. The federal government’s 20 determination that the employee is an unauthorized alien 21 creates a rebuttable presumption of the employee’s unauthorized 22 status. The employer may present evidence that the employee 23 is not an unauthorized alien. 24 8. Good-faith compliance. For the purposes of this section, 25 an employer that establishes that it has complied in good 26 faith with the requirements of 8 U.S.C. §1324a(b) establishes 27 a conclusive affirmative defense that the employer did not 28 knowingly employ an unauthorized alien. An employer is 29 considered to have complied with the requirements of 8 U.S.C. 30 §1324a(b), notwithstanding an isolated, sporadic, or accidental 31 technical or procedural failure to meet the requirements, if 32 there is a good-faith attempt to comply with the requirements. 33 For purposes of this subsection, “good-faith attempt to comply” 34 means an employer to which all of the following apply with 35 -5- SF 516 (4) 88 je/rn/mb 5/ 8
S.F. 516 respect to an employee hired or rehired by the employer: 1 a. The employer made a bona fide attempt to meet the 2 requirements for completion of the form I-9 for the employee 3 found in 8 C.F.R. §274a.2(a)(3), as amended through January 1, 4 2019. 5 b. The employer was a participating employer in the e-verify 6 program at the time the employee was hired or rehired. 7 c. The employer can demonstrate that the employer attempted 8 to verify the employment eligibility of the employee through 9 the e-verify program. 10 9. Entrapment as affirmative defense. 11 a. It is an affirmative defense to a violation of subsection 12 1 that the employer was entrapped. To claim entrapment, the 13 employer must admit by the employer’s testimony or other 14 evidence the substantial elements of the violation. An 15 employer who asserts an entrapment defense has the burden 16 of proving all of the following by a preponderance of the 17 evidence: 18 (1) The idea of committing the violation started with law 19 enforcement officers or their agents rather than with the 20 employer. 21 (2) The law enforcement officers or their agents urged and 22 induced the employer to commit the violation. 23 b. An employer does not establish entrapment if the employer 24 was predisposed to violate subsection 1 and the law enforcement 25 officers or their agents merely provided the employer with 26 an opportunity to commit the violation. The conduct of law 27 enforcement officers and their agents may be considered in 28 determining if an employer has proven entrapment. 29 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 95.3 E-verify program —— employer 30 participation —— economic development incentives from government 31 entities. 32 1. An employer, after hiring or rehiring an employee, shall 33 verify the employment eligibility of the employee through 34 the e-verify program, shall certify to the department that 35 -6- SF 516 (4) 88 je/rn/mb 6/ 8
S.F. 516 the employer has done so, and shall keep a record of the 1 verification for the duration of the employee’s employment or 2 at least three years, whichever is longer. The certification 3 shall be considered a record under section 96.11, subsection 4 6, and rules adopted pursuant thereto, and shall be submitted 5 to the department within the time period required by rule for 6 an employer to submit the employer’s contribution and payroll 7 report. 8 2. In addition to any other requirement for an employer to 9 receive an economic development incentive from a government 10 entity, the employer shall register with and participate 11 in the e-verify program. Before receiving the economic 12 development incentive, the employer shall provide proof to the 13 government entity that the employer is registered with and 14 is participating in the e-verify program. If the government 15 entity determines that the employer is not complying with this 16 subsection, the government entity shall notify the employer 17 by certified mail of the government entity’s determination 18 of noncompliance and the employer’s right to appeal the 19 determination. On a final determination of noncompliance, 20 the employer shall repay all moneys received as an economic 21 development incentive to the government entity within thirty 22 days of the final determination. 23 3. Every three months, the secretary of state shall request 24 from the United States department of homeland security a 25 list of employers from this state that are registered with 26 the e-verify program. On receipt of the list of employers, 27 the secretary of state shall make the list available on the 28 secretary of state’s internet site. 29 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 95.4 Compliance with federal and state 30 law. 31 This chapter shall not be construed to require an employer to 32 take any action that the employer believes in good faith would 33 violate federal or state law. 34 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 95.5 Rules. 35 -7- SF 516 (4) 88 je/rn/mb 7/ 8
S.F. 516 The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to 1 carry out the department’s duties under this chapter, including 2 but not limited to processes for the filing of complaints, 3 quarterly reports, and affidavits pursuant to section 95.2 and 4 certifications pursuant to section 95.3 with the department. 5 Sec. 6. NEW SECTION . 95.6 Use of federal funds by 6 department prohibited. 7 The department shall not utilize federal funds, or personnel 8 or any other department resources for which federal funding 9 is allocated, to carry out the department’s duties under this 10 chapter. 11 Sec. 7. IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT. Section 25B.2, subsection 12 3, shall not apply to this Act. 13 -8- SF 516 (4) 88 je/rn/mb 8/ 8