DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A bill designed to deter businesses from hiring illegal immigrants appears dead after a House panel opted not to vote on the proposal.  Members of a House labor subcommittee decided to take no action Monday on the bill, which established punishments for businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. The measure had been sponsored by 27 Republican lawmakers.

Under the proposal, an employer in violation could have lost its business license and been forced to fire all illegal immigrant workers. Iowa contractors and businesses would have joined 27 other states that run employee documents through a federal electronic verification system. Subcommittee chairman Rep. Greg Forristall, of Macedonia, declined to hold a vote on the measure, saying he feared it would be costly for state and local governments to enforce.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports three recent arrests. Early this (Tuesday) morning, 39-year old James Donald Uhlmann, Jr., of Red Oak, was arrested for Possession of Marijuana. Ulhmann, Jr. was taken into custody at around 12:30-a.m. A few minutes later, 26-year old Jennifer Rose Nelson, of Red Oak, was arrested for Gathering where controlled substances are used. Both suspects were transported to the Montgomery County Corrections facility, where they were being held on $1,000 bond each. Officers with the Red Oak Police Department assisted in conducting the arrests.

And, Monday afternoon, 30-year old George Allen Alfred Wesbrook the 3rd, of Red Oak, was arrested in the east 100 block of Coolbaugh Street in Red Oak. Wesbrook was charged with being in violation of a No Contact Order. Wesbrook was arrested again later that same evening by Red Oak Police, for Driving While Suspended in the vicinity of North 7th and east Reed Streets, in Red Oak. He was subsequently released on a citation bond amounting to $566.