Clark County commissioners on Tuesday voted to increase the number of public contracts that require bidders to prove they have signed up with a federal database that allows them to check the citizenship of their workers.
As of Nov. 1, companies bidding on county contracts worth $25,000 or more will have to show they’ve entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Homeland Security, which administers the federal E-Verify database.
Making E-Verify a requirement for contracts that trigger the sealed bid process means the county has taken the toughest stance locally on trying to ensure no public dollars are going to companies that employ illegal aliens.
In the sealed bid process, the county has to advertise and go with the lowest bid that meets county requirements.
Lack of controversy
The city of Vancouver uses E-Verify for contracts worth $500,000 or more. The city of Washougal uses it for contracts worth $100,000 or more.
When Washougal’s policy took effect in February, city councils in Ridgefield and Camas discussed using E-Verify but decided to wait and see how well it works elsewhere.
The proposal has not been controversial; no one offered testimony about it during a public hearing earlier this month.
The free service matches a worker’s Social Security number to the assigned name and citizenship status.
Companies that sign up for E-Verify can terminate the agreement with the Department of Homeland Security at any time, so the county will keep updated files on companies that bid on county work.
The policy would be applied to contracts for professional services, client services, public works and maintenance, the same classifications used by the federal government.
In September 2009, county commissioners decided to test E-Verify and use it for contracts worth $1 million or more.
General Services Director Mark McCauley said the E-Verify system was used on 14 contracts.
With the threshold at $25,000, McCauley said he estimated E-Verify will be a requirement of 268 contracts a year.
Change to program
The federal government has made a change to how E-Verify works on non-federal contracts since the county first started using it.
Companies that sign up for E-Verify receive a login name and password and can check the status of employees.
It used to be that a company could check every employee. Now, unless the company has a federal contract, only workers hired after the company signs up with the Department of Homeland Security can be checked.
Mike Westerman, the county’s purchasing manager, told commissioners earlier this month when they were discussing E-Verify that it will take a decade or longer of using E-Verify before the county can really be certain that no illegal aliens are on the payroll at companies that receive public contracts.
Stephanie Rice: 360-735-4508 or stephanie.rice@columbian.com.
