E-Verify, the popular federal program for sniffing out illegal immigrants in the workforce, got a reprieve from the U.S. Senate on Wednesday.
The Senate voted 62-38 for a bill that keeps E-Verify going at current spending levels through Oct. 31 while Congress works to hammer out a 2010 budget. The program would have expired Wednesday if the Senate had not acted.
Huntsville is making most city contractors enroll in E-Verify starting Jan. 1. The free program allows businesses to electronically verify the employment status of their workers through the Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, has been a vocal champion of E-Verify but voted against the spending bill because it dramatically boosts Congress' own budget, spokesman Stephen Boyd said.
Among other things, the bill adds $500,000 for new congressional postcards and $4 million for leadership consultants, Boyd said today.
"Sen. Sessions is not going to support that sort of congressional largesse, especially in the midst of an economic recession that has state and local governments across the country tightening their belts," he said.