JEFFERSON CITY — Bills affecting immigrants in Missouri remain alive with a week left in the session, and one bill has already been sent to the governor.
House Bill 2366, sponsored by Rep. Jeff Vernetti, R-Camdenton, passed with limited opposition. Once signed, it would hold employers and contractors accountable for hiring undocumented workers and would give the state stronger enforcement powers.
Current Missouri law protects contractors who use subcontractors that employ illegal immigrants, but under this bill, general contractors could be held liable if a subcontractor hires an unauthorized immigrant — if the general contractor knew about it.
Vernetti said he proposed this legislation because there are contractors across the state that are not following the law as it relates to hiring immigrants without proper documentation, which has been hard to combat due to no enforcement ability.
“The biggest thing is you have firms paying people in cash — they’re stacking illegal immigrants in a hotel, eight and 10 people in a room, they’re paying in cash — so they’re not paying workman’s comp, they don’t have insurance on them, they’re obviously not paying any payroll tax, either to the state or to anybody, and they’re able to undercut those that are doing it right,” Vernetti said.
The attorney general would have much stronger enforcement powers against suspected violations under this bill’s framework. If a violation or suspected violation occurs, the attorney general can file an injunction to stop the practice, impose monetary penalties up to 10 times the wages paid to unauthorized workers and ask the court to suspend licenses or permits.
Currently, the attorney general has 72 complaints about a firm “doing it wrong,” Vernetti said.
There is little the attorney general can do about these complaints under current law. Under this bill, however, the attorney general has subpoena power to pursue these investigations.
“This is not about putting people in jail, necessarily,” Vernetti said. “This is just about, ‘Okay, you’re doing it wrong, you can continue working, but you have to do X, Y, Z, and here’s your fine.’”
Sarah Berry, a witness who testified during a committee hearing, said this legislation would create a state-level enforcement regime for federal immigration law.
“Missouri cannot turn employers into immigration police,” she said. “Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility, not a state one.”
Vernetti said the initial language of the bill had concerns because he didn’t want to put any more burden on the contractors.
“We fixed all of that language to make sure subcontractors weren’t the responsibility of the contractors,” Vernetti said. “Once they sign an affidavit or a contract, the contractor’s responsibility is done. If the subcontractor continues to break the law, then they can go immediately after that (subcontractor) and not impact the contractor itself.”
He added that if the contractor knowingly hires a subcontractor engaging in illegal practices, this bill would hold the contractor liable.
“It’s taking jobs away from folks, and there’s nothing wrong with hiring folks that are not of this country, but there’s just ways to do it,” Vernetti said.
The bill received only six “no” votes in the House. Rep. Wick Thomas, D-Kansas City, was one of them.
“I am always going to stand up for my immigrant and refugee neighbors, with the ICE presence in Kansas City, the talks of a mega-detention facility and just the violence from federal agents,” Thomas said. “There is no bill targeting immigrants or refugees that I am willing to support in this moment.”
House Bill 2481
House Bill 2481, sponsored by Rep. Jamie Ray Gragg, R-Ozark, would tighten eligibility rules for MO HealthNet and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
Under current Missouri law, people are eligible for SNAP if they live in Missouri, have or have applied for a Social Security number, do not make more than the current income limit or do not own more than $3,000 in assets.
The bill would prohibit individuals who are not U.S. citizens or nationals from receiving assistance through SNAP or through MO HealthNet, unless those individuals meet federal definitions of both an “eligible alien” and “qualified alien.”
The bill would also require the Missouri director of social services to request a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that authorizes the state to operate SNAP in a manner prioritizing healthy foods.
One of the most substantial parts of the legislation is that a database match or electronic database verification is not sufficient to prove eligibility. Applicants must document proof of United States citizenship, United States national status or alien status eligible for such public benefits.
Gragg proposed this legislation primarily to overhaul the SNAP program and restore it to its original intention, he said.
“It is now where it’s no longer a supplemental nutritional assistance program, it’s now your whole entire food budget, and you can buy things that are not nutritious. … It doesn’t reflect any original purpose anymore,” Gragg said.
Applicants who cannot provide the documentary proof required under this bill can sign an affidavit under oath attesting to either United States citizenship or classification by the United States as an alien lawfully admitted. People who use this option can receive temporary benefits for 90 days, or the minimum time period defined by federal law.
The bill would require the MO HealthNet Division, which is the Medicaid program in Missouri, to include a field for citizenship or immigration status on all eligibility applications. It requires all hospitals, clinics and other qualified entities to conduct presumptive eligibility determinations.
If any agency administering public benefits cannot determine an applicant’s lawful presence after authorized verification, the agency has to suspend those benefits and refer the case to the Department of Homeland Security for investigation.
Gragg added the eligibility portion of the bill because it seemed like an all-encompassing portion of the SNAP process, he said.
“When you renew your car, you always have to bring the proper documentation, when you go to the airport, when you fly, you always have to bring (proper documentation), when you have to do things, you always have to bring the right documentation,” Gragg said.
When discussing the amendment to the bill creating new requirements for Medicaid on the floor, Rep. Pattie Mansur, D-Jackson, noted there are already laws in place at the federal level that do not allow noncitizens to qualify for Medicaid unless they have a qualified immigration status.
“We already have guidelines, both at the federal government level and at the state level, that spell out very clearly what noncitizens can qualify and not,” Mansur said. “This amendment is in fact superfluous, and I encourage people to vote it down.
The amendment was adopted with a vote of 91-46.
Also on the House floor were questions on whether people without proper documentation even have access to public benefits. Rep. Barry Hovis, R-Whitewater, noted a case of SNAP fraud he discovered when working in law enforcement in Cape Girardeau.
“Democrats always say, ‘Oh, we’re trying to take money away from the poor people,’” Hovis said. “When I was up on the floor, I said, ‘Look, we’re not talking about the people that really need these, this money, to help them. We’re talking about the people that are stealing, that are involved in fraud.’”
Hovis added that because the bill would require certain things to be checked, he hopes it will help with the fraud aspects of SNAP.
In a committee hearing for the bill, witness Michael Dreyer testified that this legislation operates under the false premise that Missouri’s public benefit systems are overrun with illegal immigrants.
“In reality, federal law already strictly limits immigrant eligibility for these programs,” Dreyer said. “These bills do not close a loophole. They build a wall of paperwork and bureaucracy that will hurt U.S. citizens’ children, the elderly and people with disabilities who need help the most.”
Vernetti acknowledged that if immigrants have trouble accessing proper paperwork, it is a separate problem that needs to be addressed.
The bill was passed by the House 95-44. It had a Senate committee hearing on April 29.
House Bill 2412
Another piece of legislation, House Bill 2412, sponsored by Rep. Ben Keathley, R-Chesterfield, would prohibit money transfer companies from initiating a foreign money transfer unless they have verified the sender is not an “unauthorized alien” as defined in federal law.
Currently, companies that allow individuals to send money overseas do not have to verify immigration status.
Senders would become verified under the Missouri Division of Finance, and money transmitter licensees would be required to keep records of verification, report compliance twice a year, and hold records for three years.
Keathley proposed this legislation to ensure that Missouri is not inadvertently incentivizing illegal immigration, he said.
“It really is insulting to people who come here to be productive, law abiding and want to be Americans, to watch other people jump ahead of them … not just with the ability to do it, but also do so with the approval of our governing structures and laws,” Keathley said.
Keathley said one of the most difficult parts of creating this legislation was tracking the frequency of foreign money transfers from illegal aliens.
Companies that perform foreign remittance transfers do not track legal status, so it is unknown what amount of money leaves Missouri to other countries from illegal aliens, he said.
“If we can figure out the number, then let’s put the mechanisms in place to start figuring it out,” Keathley said. “If it’s a problem with documentation, then we should have a law regarding that documentation.”
Keathley also emphasized that enforcement isn’t against the person wiring, but is on the financial institution. If a company sends money without verification, it would pay a fine equal to 25% of the transfer amount, which would then be used for public school funding in Missouri.
State Treasurer Vivek Malek helped develop this legislation. Keathley said Malek was instrumental in helping determine how the transfer process works through different agencies, and how much foreign remittance Missouri actually does.
Gabby Eissner, advocacy strategist at the Migrant and Immigrant Community Action Project, testified in a committee hearing that HB 2412 targets immigrants and families that need to support their loved ones, extracting hard-earned pay from a group of mostly low-income workers who already pay taxes.
“Not only will HB 2412 impact immigrants, it will impact all Missourians,” Eissner said. “It will require everyone to verify their immigration status before sending a payment, a process that was once quick and easy will become bureaucratic and onerous.”
The legislation was referred to the House Rules Committee on March 25 and has not been addressed since. With full House and Senate action required by May 15, the bill’s prospects seem dim.
