BUSH ADMINISTRATION PROPOSES CONTRACTING RULES
This article is provided by your state association and ANLA as a Lighthouse Program partner benefit.
The Bush Administration has proposed sweeping new rules that would affect virtually all federal contractors and many subcontractors doing business with the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. If adopted in current form, the proposed rule would require as a matter of contract each federal contractor and a potentially large subset of federal subcontractors to use the Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify system to check employees' work authorization. Comments on the proposed rule are due by August 11, 2008.
By mandating extensive use of the E-Verify electronic work authorization document verification system for new hires and current employees, without the reforms ensuring access to legal labor, the proposed regulations have the potential to adversely impact nursery and landscape contractors and subcontractors with the federal government.
Much about the proposed rule is unclear. However, the fundamental requirements are sweeping in potential scope. The proposed rule would apply to every federal contract, except for certain grants and cooperative agreements, which are issued after the date the final version of the regulations goes into effect. With few exceptions, each new contract would include a clause that requires each contractor to use E-Verify to verify the employment authorization of all new employees, whether or not those employees work on the contract in question, as well as all employees hired after November 6, 1986 who work on the contract in question. The new requirement would also touch existing indefinite delivery/indefinite time contracts if substantial performance remains. The only exceptions are contracts for commercial off-the-shelf items, except for bulk agricultural and other products; contracts below a micro-purchase threshold; or do not involve any work in the United States.
Subcontractors providing commercial services or construction would also be required to use E-verify if the contract exceeds $ 3,000 and includes work in the United States. Subcontractors of the prime contractor would be required to include the clause requiring E-verify in their subcontracts. Ultimately, the requirement would flow down to every tier of subcontractor providing "services or construction."
The proposed regulation is sweeping and leaves many questions unanswered. By requiring the use of E-Verify by subcontractors of subcontractors of subcontractors and so on, this rule has the potential to affect every sector of the economy. The American Nursery & Landscape Association is preparing a detailed analysis of the proposed regulations and will focus on their impact upon nursery and landscape producers and those with whom they commonly do business. For a copy of the rules, click here.
