Gilbert: Stimulus Jobs for Citizens Only
We talked last night about what our local representatives are presenting during the session that focuses on economic recovery. Today comes word that Delegate Todd Gilbert has introduced a bill that not only focuses on the economy but keeps up his long term fight on illegal immigration:
“President-elect Obama has told us that his stimulus package is intended to put millions of Americans back to work. I’m sure that Governor Kaine is working with the new administration to secure many billions of dollars for Virginia to help us improve our infrastructure. If federal money comes pouring into Virginia, it is imperative that the General Assembly ensures that we are indeed creating jobs for our citizens and not countless thousands of illegal aliens,” Gilbert said in a prepared statement.
Gilbert’s House budget amendment to Governor Kaine’s budget would make certain that anyone receiving even one dollar of the federal stimulus construction funding will have had his or her citizen and legal residency status confirmed utilizing “E-Verify”, a computer database operated jointly by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. As of yesterday, January 15, 2009, all federal government contractors and subcontractors who receive direct federal money are already required to verify the legal status of their employees using this system. Delegate Gilbert believes those same requirements should apply when the state spends federal dollars on these upcoming state projects.
Bravo, Delegate Gilbert. This is the sort of innovation and vigilance we need on this issue: if the federal government is going to be weak on it, the states have the responsibility to push for action through measures like this.
