Immigration bills return in Arizona Senate

PHOENIX - Versions of two bills the Arizona Senate rejected last year as it changed course on illegal immigration issues have been reintroduced for possible consideration this year.

One bill would require the state to collect data from school districts showing how many students are illegal immigrants. The other would require hospitals to report to the state the costs of treating uninsured illegal immigrants.

Hospitals also would be required to notify immigration authorities if patients without insurance cannot provide proof of legal status. There is no equivalent notification requirement in the school bill, though critics have said such measures would deter illegal immigrants from seeking services.

Both bills are sponsored by Sen. Steve Smith, a Maricopa Republican who said they're intended to collect data on the costs of illegal immigration, "a major fiscal problem of this state."

He acknowledged that the hospital bill's notification requirement could lead to deportations. "But that's not the impetus of the bill," he said Tuesday.

Versions of both measures were among five illegal immigration measures the Senate rejected last March in a dramatic floor session. Business groups had urged state lawmakers to take a timeout on immigration issues amid controversy over the state's 2010 enactment of an enforcement law known as SB1070.

A federal judge has blocked enforcement of SB1070's most contentious sections, such as a requirement that police, while enforcing other laws, question people's immigration status if officers suspect they are in the country illegally.

Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Smith's new bills would still impose mandates that would be burdensome distractions for schools and hospitals.

"These bills were a bad idea last year, and they're still a bad idea this year," Hamer said.

This year's version of the school data bill omits a provision to withhold funding of districts that don't cooperate. Smith said he made that change to try to garner more support for the measure.

Other immigration-related legislation introduced this session includes a Democratic bill to repeal SB1070 and a Republican bill to modify the state's separate law that sanctions employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

The bill to modify the employer sanctions law would strengthen a legal protection for employers who use a federal system to check the status of new hires. The chief sponsor is Sen. Jerry Lewis, who defeated fellow Mesa Republican Russell Pearce in a November recall election.

Pearce was the chief sponsor of SB1070 and the employer sanctions law.