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Senate committee adopts amendment requiring unions be notified when staff face immigration enforcement at schools and child-care sites
Summary
The Law and Justice Committee adopted an amendment to SB 5906 that would require early-learning providers and school districts to notify a unionized employee's collective-bargaining representative if immigration enforcement occurs on site; the committee rolled the amendment into a new proposed substitute and sent the bill on a due-pass recommendation to rules.
Senate Bill 5906, a proposal addressing data and personal safety protections in areas of public accommodation, drew attention Jan. 29 in the Law and Justice Committee when members adopted Amendment Bravo 1, which would require an early-learning provider or a school district to contact the collective-bargaining representative of a unionized employee if the worker is subject to an immigration enforcement action on site.
Maya Ayda, staff counsel, summarized the proposed substitute (Bravo) and explained Bravo 1's notification requirement for childcare and K–12 settings. Chair Dhingra described bringing the amendment because of a local example in her district: "We actually had the stage manager of one of our public schools that was picked up on his way to school here legally ... and then we were able to make sure that he got resources and the union was notified so they could get him an attorney, and he was released," she said.
Senator Sarah Holy expressed mixed views, noting the measure "anticipates attempting to plug regulatory holes that would grant access to ICE" in some settings and cautioned the change could complicate locating high-profile offenders in particular cases. Senator Fortunato said improved cooperation between state and federal authorities could address some concerns and announced he would vote no on the bill.
The committee approved Amendment Bravo 1 by voice vote, rolled the amendment into a new proposed substitute, and moved that the new substitute receive a due-pass recommendation to the rules committee. The record shows voice votes and verbal aye/nay responses; the committee did not record a roll-call tally in the public transcript.
What it does: The adopted amendment requires early-learning providers and school districts to notify a union collective-bargaining representative when a unionized employee is subject to immigration enforcement actions on campus or site, and the proposed substitute clarifies definitions and certain public-area designations in health-care or adult family home settings.
Next steps: Committee forwarded the bill (as revised) to the rules committee with a due-pass recommendation; if taken up, additional amendments and fiscal questions may be addressed on the floor.
