Committee adds 5 percent surcharge to immigration bill

Published 2:51 pm Thursday, March 23, 2006

ATLANTA — A House committee made a last-minute change to a sweeping immigration bill by adding a proposal that would impose a 5 percent surcharge on wire transfers from illegal immigrants.

Critics immediately blasted the surcharge, which passed the House last month in a separate bill, and claimed it could prompt lawsuits from Georgia businesses as well as Hispanic groups.

It’s the latest skirmish in a battle over a Republican push to crack down on illegal immigration.

The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Chip Rogers, denies state services to adults living in the state illegally; sanctions companies that knowingly employ undocumented workers; and imposes stiff penalties on human trafficking.

Committee members worked late into Tuesday night revising the bill to add a worker verification program, which would be administered by the state Department of Labor. Another key change would phase in rules affecting public contractors over three years.

It took less than 30 minutes on Wednesday for committee members to approve those changes and tack on the surcharge, which was originally introduced by state Rep. Tom Rice, R-Peachtree Corners.

The measure passed 7-2, with the committee’s only two attending Democrats casting the no votes.

Critics of the surcharge said it will wipe out the months of work between Rogers and advocates for business, immigrant groups, anti-immigration activists and others. They argued that the business community would frown on the surcharge — which Rice said would be dedicated to funding indigent care — because it creates a dangerous taxing precedent.

“It’s a poison pill,” said state Sen. Sam Zamarripa, D-Atlanta. “It will either tank the bill or create a litigious environment.”

Rogers, who said he supported the surcharge, brushed aside legal concerns.

“If they’re going to sue, let them sue,” he said. “I can’t legislate based on fringe groups that would sue.”

The debate over denying state services to illegal immigrants has been one of the hot-button issues at the Capitol and droves of lobbyists from both sides have rallied at the Capitol.

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On the Net:

Senate Bill 529: http://www.legis.state.ga.us