After a concerted effort to amend or stall the E-Verify bill, the measure passed 46-24 and now awaits signatures.

SB251, sponsored by Republicans Sen. Chris Buttars and Rep. Chris Herrod, requires businesses with 15 or more employees to participate in an electronic verification system when considering a new hire, to determine if the applicant is legally in the United States.

While sponsors touted participation as voluntary, businesses who do not use such a system can be held liable if they hire undocumented immigrants.

"It's a federal program," Herrod said of the E-Verify system, "and can be used to show they tried to comply with the law. It helps a business say they did all they could" -- in a court of law.

Rep. Mark Wheatley, D-Murray, said E-Verify opens the door for human error, such as an applicant's poor handwriting or an employer's transposing of Social Security digits. And for people with nontraditional or ethnic names, that margin for error widens.

Wheatley also warned that the Social Security Administration is overloaded with work already, and this would compound that problem.

Herrod countered that verification programs help fight identity theft and catch criminals.

"This is not just a bill that has to do with immigration," Herrod said. "This caught the king of child porn when he came to Utah."

But it also sounds the alarm in error at times, kicking legitimate applicants out of the job pool.

"The only flag I received in my office was a lady who had not switched her maiden name to her married name on her Social Security [card]," said Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, a supporter and user of the E-Verify system.

House Minority Leader David Litvack unsuccessfully tried to raise the required threshold from 15 to 251 employees, and Rep. Johnny Anderson, R-Taylorsville, failed at his attempt to delete the portion that mandates use of a status verification system for new hires starting July 1.

"That basically guts the bill," Herrod said in opposition.

But Anderson countered that his amendment simply removed the "nonsense" from an otherwise good bill.

Rep. Steve Mascaro, R-West Jordan, recommended interim study of the issue.

Ultimately the controversial measure emerged intact.

With its passage, small businesses that use E-Verify can register with the state Department of Commerce. In July, that agency will start publishing the list of participating businesses online.

cmckitrick@sltrib.com