June 21, 2012 -

After telling citrus growers last week he wouldn't push an E-Verify proposal in the Legislature, Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday said such a system is needed nationally for employers to check workers' immigration status. "We've got to have a national E-Verify program because I don't want to put Florida businesses at a competitive disadvantage,'' Scott said after speaking to a Tallahassee Rotary Club. Scott's 2010 campaign platform targeted illegal immigration and included a promise to require Florida employers to use E-Verify. But business officials have raised concerns about that idea, at least in part because employers in other states are not required to use the system. Florida lawmakers have considered requiring E-Verify but have not passed such a plan.