Two Republican senators are advancing a bill that would require every Iowa business — even businesses with just one employee — to use the federal E-verify system to check the citizenship status of prospective workers. Businesses caught “knowingly” employing an “unauthorized alien” would lose any license or permit to operate in the state

Dave Stitz, a vice president at the McAninch (MACK-uh-nitch) Corporation, says his construction firm has used the E-Verify system voluntarily for 12 years for all prospective employees.

The Iowa Association of Business and Industry raised concerns the bill might prompt a statewide hiring freeze if businesses can’t check the E-Verify system because of another federal government shutdown.