JOB OPPORTUNITIES TASK FORCE

Advocating better skills, jobs, and incomes

TO: Hon. Dereck E. Davis, Chair, and members of the House Economic Matters Committee

FROM: Kevin Griffin Moreno, Senior Policy Advocate

DATE:             March 16, 2006

The Job Opportunities Task Force (JOTF) is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes better jobs, skills training, and wages for low-skill low-wage workers and job seekers. One population of interest to JOTF is foreign-born workers, an increasing number of whom are settling in Maryland. JOTF opposes HB 1336 because it would drive foreign-born laborers further into underground economies, which would have a negative impact on workers, families, communities, and the labor market.

HB 1336 would prohibit a nonprofit day laborer center from referring workers without checking their immigration status. It would also ban the referral of workers to businesses with known employment violations, and would prevent a day laborer center from setting wage and benefits levels for workers.

While ostensibly protecting day laborers from exploitive employment practices, HB 1336 would in actuality hinder job prospects for workers who make significant contributions to the labor force and local economies. By barring a day laborer center from establishing appropriate rates of pay and benefits, the legislation would put more day laborers at the mercy of unscrupulous employers who could reap the benefits of laborers’ work without having to provide them fair compensation in return. By compelling a day laborer center to check workers’ immigration status, the bill would discourage day laborers from seeking assistance that can connect them with decent jobs paying decent wages. This in turn would have severe consequences on the self-sufficiency of working immigrant families.

Nonprofit day laborer centers, such as the one administered by CASA of Maryland, help to ensure that workers are treated fairly and that employers have access to a reliable workforce. The relationships these centers forge between employers and workers carry direct economic benefits to the State. HB 1336 would restrict these centers’ efforts to bring day laborers out of the shadows and into the mainstream economy.

Foreign-born workers make significant contributions to their communities and to the State. These contributions are manifested in worker productivity levels, in the filling of niche employment areas, and in the money that flows back into local economies. While few disagree that the U.S. immigration system is broken and in need of fixing, it is unfair to attempt to do so by targeting new Americans who work hard, pay sales and other taxes, and contribute strongly to Maryland’s entry-level labor force. We therefore respectfully urge an unfavorable report.