House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) recently announced their intention to bring a bill to the House floor before the August recess to provide a 10-year extension of the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify program, formerly known as the Basic Pilot Project. The program is set to expire on November 1, 2008 absent congressional action.

The program has been available for some time and is currently voluntary for the private sector but mandatory for federal agencies. The system requires individuals to supply their employers with photo identification and a Social Security number. The employer can directly insert the information online and get an immediate response to verify the employee's working status. In June, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council published a proposed rule to require most federal contractors and subcontractors to participate in the E-Verify system. Read more about the proposed rule here.

Members of Congress have been split on their support of a straight extension of the current program. Many lawmakers would like to make the system to be mandatory, others would like to replace it with a different mandatory system and some would like to address the program within comprehensive immigration reform legislation that would create a temporary guest worker program.

The most pressing issue at this point for lawmakers is the amount of time on the 2008 legislative calendar. Congress is in session for a few weeks in July and September prior to recessing for the November elections.

The NSBA has concerns as to how efficiently the system performs and what the aggregate impact would be on the small-business community. NSBA is taking part in a small business E-Verify roundtable on July 17th to discuss the FAR Council proposed rule and other issues with other small business stakeholders and the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy.