NWAOnline’s Legislative Coverage

Rep. Bill Sample, R-Hot Springs, filed a the second part of a planned three-part package of immigration bills Thursday. This one, House Bill 1929, doesn’t address illegal immigration directly. It would fine any employer who pays workers in cash who also fails to withhold money for income taxes. The civil penalty would be equal to three times the amount that should have been withheld.

Sample’s earlier bill, HB 1860, would require the state to stop issuing driver’s licenses that would last longer than the documentation that proves the recipient is in the country legally. For instance, the state couldn’t issue a four-year driver’s license to somebody whose visa expires in six months. The deadline on the license would have to be the same.

The third bill Sample will file has not been revealed yet.

These bills will replace HB 1093, a comprehensive illegal immigration bill that’s been stuck in the House Judiciary Committee since January.