INDIANAPOLIS - A proposal to penalize employers caught repeatedly employing illegal aliens has been weakened, but it is still alive in the Indiana General Assembly.
Originally known as the "three strikes" immigration legislation, Senate Bill 580 now is the "four strikes" bill. That's because a company would have to commit four violations of hiring illegal aliens before it could lose its license to operate in Indiana, bill author Sen. Mike Delph said.
Delph's bill passed the Senate Pensions and Labor Committee 7-0 on Wednesday. In its weakened form, the bill would apply to illegal workers who work for an employer at least 1,500 hours in one year. That's the equivalent of 37.5 hours per week, and it would exclude any part-time laborers.
Sen. Bob Deig, D-Mount Vernon, voted for the bill Wednesday but wished it were stronger, noting it would be difficult for any company to trigger the penalty provision.
"The way it looks to me, you'd have to be pretty bad to violate this law now - or really dumb," Deig said.
The original three strikes bill failed in the final hours of last year's session. Business groups and activists for the Hispanic community had opposed it. Border security advocates supported it.
Diluting the bill was the only way to get enough support to pass it out of committee to the full Senate, Deig said.
In other legislative action:
Dollars for classrooms: One of Gov. Mitch Daniels' campaign proposals, the "dollars for classrooms" bill, also was watered down. Originally, Senate Bill 525 tried to steer more funding away from administrative overhead and into classroom instruction by having schools buy supplies through joint purchasing contracts - either with the state or another local government - or face fines.
As changed Wednesday by the Senate Education Committee, however, the bill merely requires schools to get two bids on supplies and keep records of them. It does not impose fines or allow schools any more flexibility to transfer funds into classroom instruction. The diluted bill passed 11-0 and moves to the Senate floor.
Public records: The Senate Local Government Committee unanimously passed a bill to create penalties for government officials who flout the state's open records laws.
The panel amended Senate Bill 232 to decrease the original $1,000 fine to $100 for the first offense of nondisclosure of public records, and no more than $500 after that. The bill allows agencies such as school boards and county councils to provide inquiring members of the public notices of meetings online or via e-mail.
Activists have decried Indiana's lack of an enforcement method to punish officials who fail to comply with public records requests. The bill now moves to the full Senate.