REPORT: MANDATORY E-VERIFY COULD DESTROY FLORIDA S ECONOMY

Transcription

1 REPORT: MANDATORY E-VERIFY COULD DESTROY FLORIDA S ECONOMY By Linda Fleener For more information RShi@americanbic.biz Wendi@impacfund.org LFleener@americanbic.biz Florida s Constitutional Revision Commission is considering a radical change to Florida s Constitution: A mandatory E-Verify ballot measure that could jeopardize over 1 million Florida jobs, cost Florida employers $4.7 billion, and place an unfunded Constitutional mandate on every business and employer in the state - a stealth tax. Executive Summary The Florida Constitution Revision Commission is considering Proposal 29, which would constitutionally require all Florida employers to use the E-Verify process to verify immigration status and employment eligibility of employees. Proposal 29 is an attack on Florida s businesses, employers, and workers that would have devastating consequences for Florida s economy. Proposal 29 is an unfunded mandate that will cost employers money and time while reducing their workforce, and giving them nothing in return. E-Verify is a notoriously broken system, and could result in job delays or losses for 1,173,360 LEGAL Floridians and cost employers as much as $4.7 billion. 1,173,360 job losses is equivalent to the entire population of Jacksonville AND Orlando losing their jobs at the same time. Nearly 50 percent of workers erroneously flagged by E-Verify lose a partial or full work day to resolve the error for Florida employers, this would mean over 4.6 million lost hours of work. Small business owners and farmers would be excessively burdened by Proposal 29, with crippling first-year E-Verify costs for small business owners ranging from $1,254 to $24,422. Most small businesses do not have dedicated human resources staff and would have to choose between spending hours going through 168-1,148 pages of paperwork and training personnel to use E-Verify and track verification records, or spending thousands of dollars to hire a dedicated human resources professional. Farmers who already struggle to recruit workers would be forced to contend with an even smaller work pool amidst a 3.9 percent unemployment rate, driving up food prices for Florida s families. Further, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, on-farm jobs support 3.1 upstream and downstream jobs in the U.S., many of which pay middle-class wages and employ native-born workers. For every farm worker who loses his or her job due to E-Verify error, 3 more jobs could be lost. Proposal 29 is tax on businesses and consumers because it requires them to divert time away from the day-to-day operation of their business and could lead to the loss of valuable employees, resulting in a real world bottom-line impact and higher food costs. Key Findings 1,173,360 legal Florida workers could face job delays or lose their jobs due to E-Verify errors. Florida employers stand to lose $4.7 billion. Mandatory E-Verify does not stop unauthorized employment. Mandatory E-Verify disproportionally burdens Florida s small business owners and farmers with thousands of dollars in startup costs, workforce disruption, and lost hours of work. Legal foreign-born workers - including naturalized U.S. citizens - are over 13 times more likely to receive a false disqualification under E-Verify. For more information RShi@americanbic.biz Wendi@impacfund.org LFleener@americanbic.biz

2 MANDATORY E-VERIFY COULD DESTROY FLORIDA S ECONOMY 1) E-VERIFY ERRORS COULD RESULT IN JOB DELAYS OR LOSSES FOR 1,173,360 U.S. CITIZENS AND LEGAL FLORIDIANS AND COULD COST FLORIDA EMPLOYERS $4.7 BILLION Employers that audit their own E-Verify data report have reported E-Verify error rates as high as 12 percent, meaning that: 1 1,173,360 Floridians could face job delays or lose their jobs due to E-Verify error. 2 Replacing workers erroneously disqualified by E-Verify would cost Florida employers approximately $4.7 billion 3 Foreign-born workers - including naturalized U.S. citizens - are over 13 times more likely to receive a false disqualification under E-Verify. 4 In a time of massive privacy and cybersecurity concerns, the E-Verify database is susceptible to misuse and filled with errors. 2) MANDATORY E-VERIFY DOES NOT STOP UNAUTHORIZED EMPLOYMENT In the first year after Arizona implemented mandatory E-Verify, income tax collection dropped 13 percent while sales taxes dropped by only 2.5 percent for food and 6.8 percent for clothing - workers weren t paying income taxes, but were still earning money to spend, meaning that the underground economy was growing. 5 Even in states where E-Verify is mandatory, the average compliance rate is only around 50%. 6 3) MANDATORY E-VERIFY WILL HURT FLORIDA S SMALL BUSINESSES OWNERS Florida s 404,951 small business employers account for 76 percent of the state s employers. E-Verify is filled with hidden costs to small business owners: The average first-year cost to a small business to run E- Verify is $1,254 to $24,422, including costs due to: 7 Hiring a human resource professional to enroll employees in E-Verify Retaining legal counsel to review the 17-page E-Verify Memorandum-of-Understanding (MOU) Paying employees for time to learn the E-Verify system via the 131-page E-Verify user manual and to review existing Form I-9 s Purchasing high-speed internet and computer equipment, which E-Verify requires but many farmers and small business owners do not currently possess Using E-Verify requires employers to go through every single Form I-9, the E-Verify user manual, and MOU - forcing employers to go through 148 new pages of paperwork 8 in addition to reviewing 20-1,000 pages of Form I-9s percent of legal workers erroneously disqualified by E-Verify lose a partial or full day of work correcting the errors - for Florida employers, this would mean 4.6 million lost hours of work. 10 With Florida s unemployment rate at 3.9 percent as of February 2018, business owners are already struggling to recruit and retain workers needed for the most basic day-to-day operations. 4) MANDATORY E-VERIFY WILL HURT FLORIDA S FARMERS On-farm jobs support 3.1 off-farm jobs in the U.S., many of which pay middle-class wages and employ native-born workers. For every farm worker who loses his or her job due to E-Verify error, 3 more jobs could be lost. 11 Farmers could lose already limited planting and harvesting time due to thousands of rurally-located farm workers having to travel hours to the nearest Social Security Administration office to correct E-Verify errors. ECONOMIC IMPACT OF IMMIGRANTS IN FLORIDA 12 4,237,561 immigrants live in Florida percent of Florida s total population 2.5 million immigrants are employed percent of Florida s workforce Immigrant-owned companies employ 506,778 Florida residents Florida s immigrants pay $7.5 billion in state & local taxes and $18.8 billion in federal taxes annually Florida s immigrants wield $83.8 billion in annual spending power ,778,000 employed Floridians x.12 = 1,173, ,173,360 false disqualifications x $4,000 average cost to replace worker = $4,693,440, ,173,360 false disqualifications x.495 x 8 hour workday = 4,646,505.6 hours

3 ABIC Key Leaders John Rowe Chairman Emeritus, Exelon Corporation William C. Kunkler, III Executive Vice President, CC Industries Mike Fernandez Chairman, MBF Healthcare Partners Carole and Gordon Segal Co-founders, Crate and Barrel Paul DiMare President, DiMare Distribution Lester Crown Chairman, Henry Crown & Company Mike Kaplan President & CEO, Aspen Skiing Company James Crown President and CEO, Henry Crown & Company Penny Pritzker Founder & Chairman, PSP Capital Former Secretary of Commerce Allan Bense Chairman, GAC Contractors Former Speaker of the House State of Florida Former Chairman, FL Chamber of Commerce Chairman, Florida State University Cesar Alvarez Chairman, Greenberg Traurig Glenn Tilton Former Chairman, United Airlines Sam Scott Former Chairman, Ingredion Incorporated Josh Hoyt Executive Director, National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) Raul Raymundo CEO, The Resurrection Project Norman Braman Chairman and CEO, Braman Motor Cars Mellody Hobson President, Ariel Investments, LLC

4 IMPAC Fund Key Leaders Cesar Alvarez Chairman, Greenberg Traurig Allan Bense Chairman, GAC Contractors Former Speaker of the House State of Florida Former Chairman, FL Chamber of Commerce Chairman, Florida State University Mike Fernandez Chairman, MBF Healthcare Partners Dr. Eduardo Padrón President, Miami Dade College Ambassador Paul Cejas Chairman PLC Investments Bruce Berkowitz Chief Investment Officer Fairholme Capital Management Ana Navarro CNN Political Commentator Tony Argiz Chairman & CEO, MBAF Mario Murgado Chairman & CEO Brickell Motors Alan Potamkin Co-CEO Potamkin Companies Richard Fain Chairman and CEO Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Maria Rodriguez Executive Director, Florida Immigrant Coalition Hilarie Bass President Elect, American Bar Association Jose Mas CEO, Mas Tec, Inc. David Lawrence Chair, The Children's Movement of Florida Aida Levitan Chairperson, U.S. Century Bank Board of Directors; President, The Levitan Group; President, ArtesMiami

5 ABOUT ABIC The American Business Immigration Coalition promotes sensible immigration reform that supports the economy of the United States, provides American companies with both the highskilled and low-skilled talent they need, and allows the integration of immigrants into our economy as consumers, workers, entrepreneurs and citizens. For more information, please visit ABOUT IMPAC FUND The IMPAC Fund focuses on family unity and works towards protecting the individual rights of immigrants. IMPAC brings together business and civic leaders in Florida who support policies and practices that recognize the important contributions that immigrants make to our economy and our communities. For more information, please visit REBECCA SHI WENDI ADLESON LINDA FLEENER