A new proposal in Florida could soon change the way small businesses operate. A bill filed for the 2026 legislative session would require all private employers, regardless of size, to use the federal E-Verify system to confirm the eligibility of new hires to work in the U.S. Currently, only companies with 25 or more employees are required to do so.<\/p>\n
Joy Schwartz, owner of Wisteria Tea and Cafe Room in Fort Myers, expressed concern over the potential impact on small businesses.<\/p>\n
“This could put small businesses in a ‘moral dilemma,’ torn between following new rules and supporting people who come here to work,” said Schwartz.<\/p>\n
She believes the proposed law could increase costs and slow down the hiring process.<\/p>\n
Supporters of the bill, including Marco Island Rep. Yvette Benarroch, say it’s necessary to ensure businesses comply with the law.<\/p>\n
“It’s not perfect, just like anything, but it’s the reliable tool we have to make sure we are in compliance,” said Benarroch.<\/p>\n
Schwartz, as she manages her cafe, worries about the implications for her business.<\/p>\n
“I see something like this just increasing the cost of business and the cost of goods,” said Schwartz. “You’re going to have employees now that won’t fall under that specific verification process. They won’t be able to be hired, and that will result in less employees in the workplace.”<\/p>\n
If lawmakers pass the bill, the new requirements would take effect July 1, 2026. For now, small business owners hope their concerns are addressed before any final vote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new proposal in Florida could soon change the way small businesses operate. A bill filed for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,25800,28,897,45386,6652],"class_list":["post-81560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-florida","tag-fort-myers","tag-proposed-law","tag-small-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}