Last night, members of the public and organizers of the initiative petition for a bill that would require businesses in the city to use the federal E-Verify system to check employment eligibility or face penalties, took issue with the wording of ballot language for the proposed bill planned to go before voters Feb. 7.
Springfield City Council must approve one of three versions of the ballot language,
available for viewing here, before Nov. 29 in order to get the measure in front of voters by the February election date.
On Sept. 6, a split council did not approve the initiative petition, thereby obligating itself to put the employment measure before voters.
Ozarks Minutemen petition organizers Joe Wilson and Jerry Long said that failing to include the word “businesses” in the two most recent versions of the ballot was misleading to voters. In the Substitute 1 and Substitute 2 versions, the definition of businesses has been spelled out, which Wilson and Long said could lead voters to believe that residents who wanted to hire someone to mow their lawn would have to use the E-Verify system.
Councilwoman Cindy Rushefsky took issue with their criticism of the more detailed drafts.
“Doesn’t the misleading part of the ballot come from your initiative petition?” Rushefsky said, adding that the newer versions pull from the group’s own definition of businesses.
Long and Wilson acknowledged that their group’s petition had flaws, including asking the city to include penalties against businesses who don’t use E-Verify, which the city’s legal staff has said it doesn’t believe it has the authority to enforce. But now that the measure is heading to voters, Wilson wants the ballot language to be clear.
Assistant City Attorney Marianne Banks said the city is obligated to accurately summarize the petition that registered voters signed, regardless of whether the document has flaws or is enforceable.
Council is expected to vote on the three versions of the ballot language, and approve one, at its Nov. 28 meeting.
For more on this story, read the Oct. 21 Springfield Business Journal print edition.[[In-content Ad]]
