03/03/2008
Federal and State Government Update
Federal government raises fines for immigration violations
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will increase fines for employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers, beginning March 27. The penalties are severe. For example, the maximum fine per employee will be $16,000, meaning that an employer who hires 10 illegal immigrants could be fined as much as $160,000.
Another rule will require federal contractors to use the E-verify program, which until now has been a voluntary program that employers could use to check the immigration status of new hires
Employers should be careful they comply with all immigration laws and regulations. For more information regarding your rights and duties as an employer, visit the DHS Web site.
Virginia Supreme Court overturns Northern Virginia Transportation Authority taxes
The Virginia Supreme Court has overturned the provisions of the 2007 legislation (House Bill 3202) that allowed the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority to impose taxes and fees to pay for projects in Northern Virginia. In its ruling, the court criticized the legislature for attempting to give taxing powers to the unelected members of the regional authorities.
The ruling eliminated roughly $500 million in regional transportation funding. The Legislature must now find another way to fund transportation projects in Northern Virginia and come up with a plan to refund the taxes already collected. The ruling did not affect the statewide portion of the funding package, which comes to more than $500 million a year.
House and Senate leaders have joined Gov. Tim Kaine in calling for lawmakers to rebuild the transportation plan before the General Assembly adjourns on Saturday. If legislators are unable to find a solution in time, they would have to return for a special session later in the year. Stay tuned for more information.
NFIB Virginia victory: Members help protect Virginia's right-to-work law
Small businesses played a big roll in defeating a plan to let construction companies and unions to enter alternative dispute resolution in worker's compensation cases. Senate Bill 161 would have undermined Virginia's longstanding right-to-work law. Nonunion employees would feel compelled to join the union in order to get equal representation from the union delegate during mediation. The bill was supported by the AFL-CIO. Calls from NFIB/Virginia members helped crush the bill.
Virginia gets top grade in performance: Government Performance Project gives Virginia "A-"overall score
Gov. Kaine today announced that Virginia has again received the top score in the Government Performance Project's "Grading the States 2008" report, the nation's only comprehensive, independent analysis of how well each state performs in serving the public.
In the first such rating in three years, Virginia achieved an overall grade of A- for performance. Two other states -- Utah and Washington -- received an A- grade, and the national average was B-. Virginia also received an A- ranking in the previous "Grading the States" assessment in 2005.
Read the Government Performance Project's press release. To access the entire report, including Virginia's report card, please visit the Government Performance Project Web site. The GPP's information for Virginia is available here.
Useful links
Virginia General AssemblyWho's My LegislatorOffice of the Governor Office of the Lieutenant GovernorOffice of the Attorney General
Sincerely,
Julia Ciarlo Hammond
NFIB/Virginia State Director
