Texas State Senator Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown) recently filed SB 23, a bill that would put into statute Governor Rick Perry’s executive order mandating E-Verify for all state contractors and force all state contracts to include a paragraph specifying that they must participate in the program. There’s a good faith exemption, in case the contractor receives inaccurate information from the E-Verify system (false confirmations that later come to light). SB 23 adds an enforcement mechanism that Governor Perry’s executive order lacked. Under the proposed law, a contractor’s failure to use E-Verify would bar them from receiving state contracts for five years and make the state comptroller responsible for enforcement. The legislature already mandated E-Verify for state agencies and universities.  

SB 23 won’t much affect Texas because it probably won’t be enforced. Nebraska mandates E-Verify for all public contractors, but a 2011 Nebraska report found that only 23 percent of registered state contractors were even enrolled in the system. If Texas is as uninterested in enforcing E-Verify as Nebraska, then the results will be similar.    

The real damage from SB 23 is that it brings Texas one step close to universally mandated E-Verify and all of its systematic problems. E-Verify is a government run system that is free for the user if you exclude the taxes, time, and money spent on maintaining it, using it, and resolving any identification problems that arise. E-Verify also doesn’t work well, as accuracy rates are poor, there are many ways for illegal workers to obtain SSNs from deceased Americans to fool the system, and many employers in states where the system is mandated don’t bother to use it at all. Furthermore, E-Verify doesn’t dim the job magnet. E-Verify is an expensive system that doesn’t work.

SB 23 is a stepping stone toward universal mandated E-Verify in Texas and all of the problems it creates. For that reason alone, SB 23 is a rotten deal for Texans. 

Special thanks to Scott Platton for his help in researching this blog post.