Legal Workforce Act
Latest action · Jan 4, 2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJan 4, 2019
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Legal Workforce Act
This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to create an electronic employment eligibility confirmation system modeled after and to replace the E-Verify system, which allows employers and recruiters to verify the immigration status of individuals. The bill also mandates the use of such a system, where currently only some employers, such as those with federal contracts, are required to use E-Verify.
The bill specifies documents that can establish an individual's identity and employment authorization. During the period starting when a job offer is made until three business days after hiring, the individual must attest to his or her employment authorization, and the employer or recruiter must attest that it has examined the individual's required documents.
Employers shall reverify certain types of employees who were not previously verified using E-verify.
The Social Security Administration shall notify employees if their Social Security number has been used multiple times in an unusual manner. DHS shall establish programs for blocking and suspending misused numbers.
Employers that are required to use the verification system shall not be liable for any employment-related action based on a good-faith reliance on the information from the system.
The bill establishes a phased-in participation deadline for different categories of employers, including agricultural employers.
The bill increases civil penalties related to hiring individuals without work authorization. It also preempts state laws relating to hiring and employment eligibility verification, but states may use their authority of business licensing to penalize employers for failing to comply with the bill's provisions.
Cosponsors 28
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jan 4, 2019 to Jan 24, 2020; 16 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-MD | Andy Harris | Original | Jan 4, 2019 |
| R-TX | Brian Babin | Original | Jan 4, 2019 |
| R-NJ | Christopher H. Smith | Original | Jan 4, 2019 |
| R-TN | David P. Roe | Original | Jan 4, 2019 |
| R-GA | Doug Collins | Original | Jan 4, 2019 |
| R-FL | Francis Rooney | Original | Jan 4, 2019 |
| R-GA | Jody B. Hice | Original | Jan 4, 2019 |
| R-NC | Mark Meadows | Original | Jan 4, 2019 |
| R-AL | Mo Brooks | Original | Jan 4, 2019 |
| R-CA | Paul Cook | Original | Jan 4, 2019 |
| R-TX | Randy K. Weber, Sr. | Original | Jan 4, 2019 |
| R-OH | Steve Chabot | Original | Jan 4, 2019 |
| R-IA | Steve King | Original | Jan 4, 2019 |
| R-MS | Steven M. Palazzo | Original | Jan 4, 2019 |
| R-OK | Tom Cole | Original | Jan 4, 2019 |
| R-OH | Warren Davidson | Original | Jan 4, 2019 |
| R-TX | Michael C. Burgess | Jan 9, 2019 | |
| R-SC | Ralph Norman | Jan 9, 2019 | |
| R-IN | Larry Bucshon | Jan 15, 2019 | |
| R-TX | Michael Cloud | Mar 5, 2019 | |
| R-SC | Jeff Duncan | Mar 27, 2019 | |
| R-SC | Tom Rice | Mar 27, 2019 | |
| R-VA | Robert J. Wittman | Apr 10, 2019 | |
| R-AZ | Debbie Lesko | May 15, 2019 | |
| R-TX | Kenny Marchant | Aug 20, 2019 | |
| R-GA | Rick W. Allen | Sep 11, 2019 | |
| R-FL | Matt Gaetz | Jan 21, 2020 | |
| R-AZ | Paul A. Gosar | Jan 24, 2020 |
Committees 3
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Jan 4, 2019 |
| Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee | Referred Jan 4, 2019 | |
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred Jan 4, 2019 |
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Jan 4, 2019 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jan 4, 2019Introduced in House
- Jan 4, 2019Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
- Jan 4, 2019Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 165, no. 2, January 4, 2019, page H229.
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| LSB10550 | Federal Regulation of Alien Employment and Preemption over State Laws | Insight | Nov 4, 2020 |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 78 | Legal Workforce Act | Reintroduced Bill | Mar 1, 2021 |
| HR 6083 | Labor Certainty for Food Security Act of 2020 | Related bill | Mar 4, 2020 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to make mandatory and permanent requirements relating to use of an electronic employment eligibility verification system, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Legal Workforce Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Immigration.
- Administrative remedies
- Border security and unlawful immigration
- Computer security and identity theft
- Department of Homeland Security
- Employee hiring
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Federal preemption
- Foreign labor
- Fraud offenses and financial crimes
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Immigration
- Immigration status and procedures
- Internet and video services
- Internet, web applications, social media
- Licensing and registrations
- Migrant, seasonal, agricultural labor
- Personnel records
- Photography and imaging
- Public contracts and procurement
- State and local government operations
- Telephone and wireless communication
- Visas and passports
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jan 4, 2019Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
