Idaho House Committee Advances E-Verify Bill for Government Contractors, Local Rep Harris Plays Key Role

An Idaho House committee moved forward this week with legislation that would require state and local governments — along with large government contractors — to verify the work authorization status of their employees through the federal E-Verify system, with a Lewiston lawmaker playing a central role in the bill’s progression.

The Idaho House Business Committee voted Friday to advance Senate Bill 1247 to “general orders,” a procedural step that allows the full Idaho House of Representatives to consider and vote on potential amendments before the bill moves further through the legislative process. Lewiston Republican Rep. Kyle Harris made the motion to send the bill to general orders, signaling that Idaho lawmakers from the Lewis-Clark Valley are engaged in the ongoing statewide debate over workforce verification requirements.

What the Bill Would Require

Senate Bill 1247 targets two groups: all state and local government bodies in Idaho, and private companies that contract with government entities. To fall under the bill’s requirements, a contracting company would need to have 150 or more employees and hold government contracts valued at $100,000 or more.

E-Verify is a federal electronic system administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that allows employers to confirm whether newly hired employees are legally authorized to work in the United States. Participation in the system is currently voluntary for most Idaho employers.

Rep. Josh Wheeler, R-Ammon, who presented the bill to the committee, described it as an “incremental step along the E-Verify path,” acknowledging that the Idaho Legislature has been wrestling with multiple workforce verification proposals throughout the current session. Wheeler said the bill was designed specifically to focus on larger employers — those most likely to already have human resources departments capable of managing the administrative requirements that E-Verify compliance would bring.

“These are the companies 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 told committee members during the hearing.

A Broader Push on Unauthorized Worker Hiring

Senate Bill 1247 is not the only immigration-related workforce legislation under consideration in Boise this session. Idaho state lawmakers have introduced several bills aimed at cracking down on the hiring of workers who are not authorized to work in the United States. One proposal would require all private employers in Idaho — regardless of size — to use E-Verify. Another bill would establish a new misdemeanor criminal charge for any employer found to have knowingly hired unauthorized workers.

The broader package of proposals has drawn significant pushback from industries across Idaho that rely heavily on immigrant labor, including the dairy farming, construction, and service sectors. Representatives from those industries have urged lawmakers to be cautious about implementing universal mandates that could create labor shortages, increase compliance costs, and disrupt supply chains already strained by workforce challenges.

SB 1247, by contrast, has been positioned as a more targeted approach — limiting its scope to government entities and large contractors rather than the private sector as a whole. Supporters argue that taxpayer-funded operations and the businesses that directly serve them should be held to a higher standard of compliance with federal immigration law.

During the committee hearing, Nampa Republican Rep. Brent Crane proposed a possible amendment that would make the bill’s employee threshold decrease incrementally over time, gradually expanding the number of private contractors that would be subject to the E-Verify requirement. That suggestion is among the amendments that could be considered now that the bill has been sent to general orders.

What Comes Next

With Senate Bill 1247 advancing to general orders, the full Idaho House of Representatives will have the opportunity to debate and vote on potential amendments to the legislation. The threshold for which contractors must comply — currently set at companies with 150 or more employees holding contracts of $100,000 or more — could be adjusted as part of that amendment process.

If the bill passes the House with or without amendments and is signed into law, Idaho state and local governments, as well as qualifying government contractors, would be required to implement E-Verify as part of their hiring practices. How quickly those requirements would take effect and how enforcement would be handled remain details to be worked out as the legislation continues through the process.

Nez Perce County residents and local businesses that hold government contracts should monitor the bill’s progress, as any final version of the law would apply to qualifying contractors across all Idaho counties, including those in the Lewis-Clark Valley. For the latest statewide coverage on Idaho labor and immigration policy, visit Idaho News and the Idaho News Network.