EXECUTIVE ORDER
07-13

WHEREAS, my administration has diligently cooperated with state and federal law enforcement and state and federal agencies to discover new methods of uncovering individuals employed by the State of Missouri who are not eligible for employment; and

WHEREAS, in order to ensure that all employees of the State of Missouri are eligible to work in the United States, in September 2006, I directed all state agencies to verify the authenticity of employment eligibility information provided by new employees hired by the state by using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program (SAVE program) administered by the federal government; and

WHEREAS, the State of Missouri enters into hundreds of contracts with contractors to provide services for the state; and

WHEREAS, the State of Missouri and businesses alike benefit from such contracts through increased jobs for local workers and reduced costs to the taxpayers of Missouri; and

WHEREAS, my administration has discovered, through investigations in cooperation with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, that a contractor who has conducted business with the state for a number of years employed individuals who were not eligible to work in the United States; and

WHEREAS, state contracts should be reserved for those contractors that hire only those individuals who are eligible to work in the United States and otherwise operate within the law; and

WHEREAS, the State of Missouri will not tolerate persons who contract with the state engaging in or supporting illegal activities; and

WHEREAS, the citizens of the State of Missouri deserve to know that their government is doing everything it can to ensure that any tax dollars spent on contracts go to businesses that conduct themselves honestly and within the parameters of the law.

NOW THEREFORE, I, Matt Blunt, Governor of the State of Missouri, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the State of Missouri, do hereby order as follows:

Each state agency shall audit all of the contractors doing business with the state to ensure that the current employees of those contractors are legally eligible to work within the United States. Each agency shall collect the information required to make such a determination and verify its accuracy. If the state determines that a current contractor employs any persons who are not eligible to work in the United States in violation of federal law, the contractor shall be in breach of contract and the state may lawfully terminate the contract and suspend or debar the contractor from doing business with the State of Missouri.

All future state contracts shall include a provision that allows the state to declare a breach and to cancel the contract immediately, with no penalty, if the state has reasonable cause to believe that the contractor has knowingly employed individuals who are not eligible to work in the United States in violation of federal law. All state agencies shall require every contractor who does business with the state to certify in writing that any employee of the contractor assigned to perform services under the contract is eligible to work in the Untied States.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the State of Missouri, in the City of Jefferson, on this 6th day of March, 2007.

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