Florida Universal E-Verify Passes House Committee” This is Something to Think About 01.20.26

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“Florida Universal E-Verify Passes House Committee”

Bill Bunkley’s “This Is Something to Think About”

Air Date Tuesday, January 20, 2026

A Florida lawmaker, Pinellas Representative Benny Jacques, has again filed a Universal E-Verify bill, HB 197, which passed out of its first committee of reference last week.

Florida law requires businesses with 25 or more employees to use the federal verification tool to determine whether a person has the legal status to work in Florida before making the hire.

If the Universal E-Verify bill is enacted into law, every business will be required to E-Verify every potential new hire, regardless of the number of total employees. Nonprofits, including churches, would also have to utilize the verification process.

The current law provides huge loopholes for illegal alien lawbreakers.

Unfortunately, it’s unclear whether the Florida Senate will take up the bill.

Bill Bunkley is a 20-year veteran Salem Media talk show host based in Tampa. The Bill Bunkley Show airs on weekdays from 3 to 5 pm across central Florida. Bill is also President of the Florida Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and the legislative consultant to the Florida Baptist State Convention (Southern Baptist Convention Churches), among other churches and entities. He has served as the legislative consultant to the Florida Baptist State Convention for the last 30 years at the state capitol in Tallahassee. By the Grace of his Lord Jesus, he is a cancer survivor diagnosed in 2018 with AML Leukemia, having successfully undergone a bone marrow transplant that same year. In 2025, he underwent successful open-heart surgery to repair a heart valve. His wife is Toni, his son is Zac, and he attends Idlewild Baptist Church.

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