Pension Reform Taking Center Stage Nationally

It looks like several states are contemplating major changes in public pension reform. Even the staunches allies of public employees are realizing that the "run-up" in benefits is now the largest threat to the current pension system. Reform efforts are being discussed by many state legislatures. I wonder how many will follow Utah's lead.

Here is a great article from the NY Times on the topic:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/business/28union.html

Enjoy,
Your Legislative Team

E-Verify Compliance (SB81-2008)

Many of you may be in receipt of a letter from the Attorney General's office regarding the implementation of SB81 from the 2008 session. This bill requires the verification of immigration status when city, town, county or special district issues an RFP for a contract.

The law stipulates that beginning July 1, 2009, a public employer may not enter into a contract for the physical performance of services within the state with a contractor unless the contractor registers and participates in the Status Verification System to verify the work eligibility status of the contractor's new employees. The bill only applies to RFP's and does not affect "sole source" work. In addition, the law DOES NOT apply to volunteer work. It should also be noted that the law DOES NOT require you to verify immigration status; but rather the bill requires the contractor who is responding to the RFP to certify that they are verifying the immigration status of their employees. Hopefully this nuance should make municipal compliance far easier.

The AG's office will be issuing a follow-up letter with additional implementation details to assist you in your compliance efforts. In addition our general counsel, David Church, is drafting a policy outline that can be utilized and should satisfy the requirements outlined in the law. As soon as it is complete, we will be sending out the information via email and will also make it available on our website.

We do anticipate the immigration discussion to continue during the 2011 legislative session, so please anticipate more changes to come. We will post regular updates and information in an effort to keep you apprised of the status of this issue.

Until Next Time...Enjoy!