BOISE — The Idaho House of Representatives is moving forward with a bill that would require state and local governments, along with large government contractors, to use the federal E-Verify employment authorization system — though lawmakers are considering amendments before the measure reaches a full floor vote.
The House Business Committee advanced Senate Bill 1247 on Friday, voting to send the legislation to “general orders,” a procedural step that allows the full Idaho House to propose and vote on amendments to the bill. The move signals that while there is broad support for the concept, some members want to refine the details before it moves further through the legislative process.
What the Bill Would Require
As currently written, Senate Bill 1247 would mandate the use of E-Verify — a federal online database that allows employers to confirm whether a newly hired worker is legally authorized to work in the United States — for all Idaho state and local government agencies. The requirement would also extend to private companies that contract with government entities, provided those companies employ at least 150 workers and hold contracts valued at $100,000 or more.
Rep. Josh Wheeler, a Republican from Ammon, presented the bill to the committee and described it as a measured, targeted approach to expanding E-Verify use in Idaho. Wheeler said the bill was specifically designed to apply to businesses that are “the most likely to have existing HR departments with the capacity to handle some of the administrative burdens that the E-Verify system may impose on them.”
Wheeler framed the legislation as part of a broader, ongoing conversation at the Idaho Statehouse about cracking down on the employment of workers who are in the country without legal authorization. “This takes an incremental step along the E-Verify path, which has been part of our conversation this year,” Wheeler told committee members.
E-Verify is a voluntary program at the federal level for most private employers, though a number of states have enacted their own requirements mandating its use in various employment sectors.
Broader Legislative Push on Unauthorized Employment
Senate Bill 1247 is one of several pieces of legislation introduced this session in the Idaho Legislature aimed at limiting the employment of unauthorized workers. Other proposals working through the process this year include a bill that would mandate E-Verify use for all private employers in Idaho — regardless of size or government contracts — and a separate measure that would create a new misdemeanor criminal charge for employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers.
Those broader proposals have drawn significant resistance from Idaho industries that rely heavily on immigrant labor. Representatives from the dairy farming, construction, and service sectors have testified against universal E-Verify mandates, raising concerns about workforce shortages and the operational challenges of implementing the system across businesses of all sizes.
The more limited scope of SB 1247 — focusing on government and large government contractors rather than all private employers — appears to reflect an effort by bill supporters to find common ground and advance the principle of E-Verify requirements while avoiding the most controversial elements of broader mandates.
During Friday’s committee meeting, Rep. Brent Crane, a Republican from Nampa, suggested the bill could be strengthened through an amendment that would gradually lower the employee threshold over time. Under Crane’s concept, the 150-employee minimum that currently triggers the requirement would decrease incrementally in future years, eventually bringing more companies under the E-Verify mandate. The suggestion was not adopted in committee, but the bill’s referral to general orders means that amendment and others like it could be offered when the full House takes up the measure.
It was Rep. Kyle Harris, a Republican from Lewiston in north-central Idaho, who made the motion to send the bill to general orders, setting the stage for the amendment process.
What Comes Next
Senate Bill 1247 will now move to the full Idaho House of Representatives for consideration under general orders. At that stage, any member of the House may propose amendments to the bill before it advances toward a final floor vote. If the House passes an amended version, the bill would need to return to the Idaho Senate for concurrence on any changes before it could be sent to Gov. Brad Little for his signature.
For Latah County residents, agricultural producers, and businesses that work with local government entities, the outcome of this legislation — and any amendments added during the general orders process — will be worth watching closely in the coming weeks as the Idaho legislative session continues. For broader statewide coverage of the Idaho Legislature and immigration policy developments, readers can follow reporting at Idaho News and the Idaho News Network.