Ignoring an effort by U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) to essentially abolish the federal minimum wage standard, Colorado newspapers as of January 26 had published no report* on his attempt to amend the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 accordingly. In contrast, The Denver Post, the Rocky Mountain News online (in an Associated Press article), and the Denver Business Journal (online) did note Allard's separate proposed amendment to the same bill, aimed at curbing identification theft by allowing “the sharing of social security data among government agencies for immigration enforcement purposes.”

Both of Allard's amendments to the Fair Minimum Wage Act were submitted on January 23. While the ID theft-related measure, S.Amdt.169, has not yet come to a vote, the Senate on January 24 voted against (69-28) Allard's anti-federal minimum wage measure, S.Amdt.116. That amendment proposed to give states sole discretion in determining the minimum wage, stating that “an employer shall not be required to pay an employee a wage that is greater than the minimum wage provided for by the law of the State in which the employee is employed and not less than the minimum wage in effect in that State on January 1, 2007.”

Congressional Quarterly first reported Allard's minimum wage amendment on January 24, describing it as a proposal that “would have nullified the federal minimum wage increase by exempting states with a lower rate.” The following day, Bob Geiger posted a report about Allard's amendment on his weblog and on The Huffington Post website, listing all 28 Republicans who voted in favor. Geiger pointed out that Allard's amendment “would mean that workers would revert to the state-mandated minimum wage of $2.65 per hour" in Kansas.

The Colorado-based weblog Squarestate.net posted a report about Allard's attempt to nullify the federal minimum wage on January 25.

But while Allard publicized his ID-theft amendment through a January 24 press release, he apparently did not issue a public statement regarding the anti-minimum wage amendment beyond his Senate floor statement, which read in part:

Let's allow the States to have a say and decide what is right for them. They are the closest to the people. Let's give States the right and flexibility to regulate minimum wage. A one-size-fits-all unfunded Federal mandate is not the answer to protecting America's economic security.

From the AP article “Allard proposes ID theft fix in wake of Swift raids,” published in the Rocky Mountain News online on January 24:

Hoping to fix problems exposed in immigration raids last month, Sen. Wayne Allard Wednesday proposed allowing the Social Security Administration and the Homeland Security Department to share information about fraudulent Social Security numbers.

The Colorado Republican introduced the measure as an amendment to legislation to increase the minimum wage being debated by the Senate this week.

Immigration officials on Dec. 12 arrested 1,300 workers, most on immigration charges, in raids at Greeley, Colo.-based Swift & Co. meatpacking plants in Iowa, Texas, Colorado, Minnesota, Nebraska and Utah.

Some of the workers were charged with using stolen Social Security numbers. Swift had to temporarily halt operations and could lose up to $30 million as a result.

Lawmakers learned afterward that Swift had been participating in a screening program that could catch workers using fake Social Security numbers but not people using stolen identities.

Allard's measure attempts to close that loophole by allowing federal agencies to share information about Social Security numbers that are being used multiple times.

From the January 25 Denver Post news brief, “Allard targeting Social Security fraud”:

Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., introduced legislation to fix a problem he said he learned of after the immigration raids at Swift & Co.'s Greeley plant.

Allard offered an amendment to an existing bill raising the minimum wage.

Allard's amendment would require the commissioner of Social Security to provide the secretary of homeland security with information in cases where a Social Security number is used with more than one name or when there is more than one worker reporting earnings for the same name and Social Security number.

Most of those arrested in the Swift raid are accused of using stolen identities to gain their jobs.

Swift & Co. said it used the government's system for checking workers, called Basic Pilot. But that system only verifies that a Social Security number is valid, not when it's being used at more than one job site.

“I was concerned to learn that Social Security and DHS were not sharing information, and my amendment provides a legislative fix to this problem,” Allard said.

From the January 24 Denver Business Journal online article, “Allard pushes ID theft amendment”:

U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard said Wednesday that he has proposed a legislative fix to help curb identity theft.

Allard has introduced an amendment to federal minimum wage legislation currently before the U.S. Senate that would allow the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security to share information on fraudulent use of names and Social Security numbers.

Allard, a Republican from Colorado, met on Monday with U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and various senators. The group was briefed on Dec. 13 raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on Swift & Co. facilities in six states, including Colorado.

The raid exposed a ring of identity theft that involved undocumented workers using stolen Social Security numbers.

*Colorado Media Matters searched the following Colorado newspapers using the Nexis and Factiva online databases, Google, and the newspapers' websites: The Aspen Times, Cherry Creek News, the Craig Daily Press, the Daily Camera of Boulder, The Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction, the Denver Business Journal, The Denver Post, The Durango Herald, the Fort Collins Coloradoan, The Gazette of Colorado Springs, the Greeley Tribune, the Montrose Daily Press, The Pueblo Chieftain, the Rocky Mountain News, the Summit Daily News, and the Vail Daily.