The Iowa Senate passed a bill last week that would require all businesses in the state to use a federal program to confirm the identities of their employees.

Senate File 516 would require all businesses to use the web-based federal E-Verify program to confirm that all employees are legal to work in the United States. District 24 Senator Jerry Behn of Boone says the bill includes penalties for businesses that knowingly hire illegal employees. The penalties range from a temporary to permanent suspension of a business license as well as repayment of economic development funds.

Behn tells Raccoon Valley Radio he is an opponent of any business mandates, however, he believes the illegal immigration issue is at a heightened level. He says the program isn’t costly for businesses to use, all businesses should be using E-Verify anyway and by not using the program, those businesses that hire illegal individuals at a cheaper rate aren’t playing on an equal playing field with other businesses that hire legal individuals. He adds one other reason was after the murder of Mollie Tibbetts.

“And then after that young lady was murdered, the business that hired that individual (Cristhian Rivera, the accused) did not use E-Verify, did not find out for sure what was going on. I thought, ‘You know what, the time has come, we really need to get this rolling.’”

Behn points out E-Verify is a voluntary program that’s available to all 50 states, unless a business has a federal contract or subcontract. The bill passed with bipartisan support and is now in the House for consideration.