Missouri Senate

Perfected

SANCTUARY

Municipalities are barred from adopting policies designed to give aliens sanctuary when they are present in violation of federal immigration laws. Those municipalities that adopt sanctuary policies shall be ineligible for any grants provided by the state.

Law enforcement officers shall report arrested individuals to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services if the officer has probable cause to believe the individual is not legally present in the United States. Those arrested for domestic violence shall not be reported until the person is convicted of domestic violence. (Section 67.307)

TAX WITHHOLDING EXEMPTIONS

Under current law, an employee is entitled to the same number of personal and dependency withholding exemptions as are allowed for federal income tax purposes. This act limits the number of personal and dependency withholding exemptions, for state income tax purposes, to not more than ten. (Section 143.191)

PUBLIC EDUCATION

Illegal aliens are barred from attending all public universities in the state with the exception of those born on or before August 28, 2008, that have completed three full semesters in a Missouri high school immediately before applying to the university. (Sections 172.360, 174.130, 175.025, 178.635, 178,780, and 178.785)

PUBLIC BENEFITS

Under federal law, unlawfully present aliens are not eligible for state or local public benefits with certain exceptions. This act reiterates federal law stating that such aliens are ineligible and the exceptions.

Applicants for benefits shall provide proof of citizenship, residency, or lawful presence in order to receive benefits. If applicants cannot provide such proof they can sign an affidavit attesting to their status and shall be eligible to receive temporary benefits until their status can be determined.

If an applicant is an alien, the applicant shall not receive benefits until lawful presence is verified by the federal government. (Section 208.009)

EMPLOYEE MISCLASSIFICATION

This act bars employers with 5 or more employees from knowingly misclassifying employees. Employers must submit federal IRS 1099-MISC forms to the Department of Revenue and penalties for failing to do so are provided. The Attorney General has the power to investigate alleged misclassifications and enforce the section. A process is established by which the Department of Labor may receive complaints and forward them to the Attorney General if they decide the complaint has merit.

The state carries the burden of proving that the employer misclassified the worker and there is a rebuttable presumption that an unauthorized alien is an employee under the act and shall be treated so if the employer cannot produce an I-9 form verifying the legal status of the worker or other forms verifying the individual is an independent contractor. Injunctions may be sought and employers shall be charged $50 per day per misclassified worker up to a maximum of $50,000 for violations. Penalties are increased for repeat offenders in an amount of $100 per day per misclassified worker up to $100,000. (Sections 285.309, 285.500, 285.503, 285.506, 285.509, 285.512, 285.515, and 285.518)

EMPLOYMENT

Employers are barred from employing unauthorized aliens. Violators are subject to the suspension of their business permits and licenses or exemptions. In order to correct the violation and have permits and licenses reinstated, the employer shall terminate the employment of the alien or request a second verification from the federal government, sign a sworn affidavit stating that the violation has ended, and submit documentation confirming the entity is enrolled in a federal work authorization program.

Violators under contract with the state shall have their contracts voided and shall be barred form contracting with the state for three years. Subsequent violations shall result in a void contract and a permanent bar from contracting with the state.

Business entities shall participate in a federal work authorization program in order to be eligible for state contracts. Public employers shall also participate in such a program.

Contractors are not liable for unauthorized aliens hired by their subcontractors if the contract binding the two parties affirmatively states that the subcontractor does not knowingly hire unauthorized aliens.

(Sections 285.525, 285.530, 285.535, and 285.540 shall become effective January 1, 2009)

OSHA TRAINING

Contractors and subcontractors who contract to work on public works projects shall provide a 10 hour Occupational Safety and Health instruction and safety program, or similar program approved by the department of labor, for their employees. All employees working on projects must have completed the course within 60 days of beginning work and shall keep evidence of completion on the worksite.

Contractors and subcontractors in violation will forfeit $2,500 plus $100 for each worker employed for each day the worker is employed without training to the public body awarding the contract.

Public bodies and contractors may withhold assessed penalties from contractors and subcontractors respectively.

This section becomes effective on August 28, 2009.

(Section 292.675)

DRIVER'S LICENSES

The Department of Revenue shall not issue any driver's license to illegal aliens nor to persons who cannot prove lawful presence. A driver's license issued to an illegal alien in another state shall not be honored by the state of Missouri and the Department of Revenue for any purpose. The state of Missouri hereby declares that granting drivers licenses to illegal aliens is repugnant to the public policy of Missouri and therefore Missouri shall not extend full faith and credit to out-of-state drivers licenses issued to illegal aliens. (Section 302.063)

BAIL

There shall be a presumption that releasing a person under any conditions set by the court, pending trial, appeal, or other proceeding, shall not reasonably assure the person's appearance if the judge reasonably believes the person is an illegal alien. If such presumption exists, the person shall be jailed until he or she provides verification of his or her lawful presence in the United States to rebut such presumption. If the person adequately proves his or her lawful presence, the judge shall review the issue of release again. However, if the person cannot prove his or her lawful presence, the person shall continue to be jailed until discharged in accordance with the law. (Section 544.470)

HARBORING

Individuals are barred from transporting or harboring any alien knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the alien has come to, entered, or remained in the U.S. in violation of the law.

Individuals are not liable for delivering the alien to a medical facility, soup kitchen, institution for crisis counseling and intervention, or short-term shelter, or for sheltering such an alien who has been the victim of abuse.(Section 577.722)

COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

The act bars government entities, political subdivisions, and government officials from interfering with any communication with the federal government regarding the citizenship or immigration status of any individual. The state shall not fund government entities, agencies, or political subdivisions that have policies that would interfere with such communications. (Section 650.681)

Sections relating to employee misclassification are subject to an emergency clause.

This act is similar to SB 1250 (2006), SB 348 (2007), SB 626 (2007), HB 1346 (2008), HB 1463 (2008), HB 1395 (2008), HB 1736 (2008), HB 2320 (2008), SB 750 (2008), SB 751 (2008), SB 1268 (2008), SB 1269 (2008), SB 929 (2008), and SB 1138 (2008).

CHRIS HOGERTY