Legal Workforce Act
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 508.
Legal Workforce Act - (Sec. 2) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require an employer to attest, during the specified verification period for recruiting or hiring, and under penalty of perjury, that the employer has verified that an individual is not an unauthorized alien by:
obtaining and recording the individual's Social Security account number or a Department of Homeland Services (DHS)-established identification or authorization number, and
examining specified documents that establish such individual's identity and employment authorization.
Authorizes DHS to prohibit or restrict the use of documents it finds unreliable.
Requires an individual to attest, under penalty of perjury, that he or she is a U.S. citizen or national, a lawful permanent resident, or an alien authorized to work in the United States.
Requires an employer to:
retain a copy of the verification form for a specified period of time and make it available for inspection by DHS, the Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices, or the Department of Labor;
record notices of confirmation or nonconfirmation of a person's identity or work eligibility; and
notify an individual for whom a tentative nonconfirmation of identity or work eligibility has been received.
Makes a nonconfirmation final if the person does not contest the nonconfirmation within a specified time period.
Authorizes an employer who has received a final nonconfirmation for an individual to terminate or decline to recruit that individual. Requires an employer who does not terminate such employment or recruitment to notify DHS. Makes failure to notify or to continue employment a violation of the prohibition on unlawful employment of aliens.
Establishes a phased-in employment eligibility verification system (EEVS) participation deadline (6-24 months) for employers based upon the number of employees. Requires agricultural employer participation within 24 months.
Authorizes an employer to condition a job offer based upon E-Verify confirmation.
Requires employers to verify the work eligibility of aliens (phased-in over 6-24 months) with temporary work authorization within three business days after the date on which their work authorization expires.
The summary continues for 30 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House amended, Part I" stage on December 16, 2014. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on December 16, 2014: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 508.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
LAMAR SMITH (R-TX) introduced it on April 26, 2013, and 33 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 32 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 26, 2013, 4885 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4286 days ago, on December 16, 2014.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers