Florida politicians call for action after Times report on deadly road contractor

After the Tampa Bay Times published an investigation into a state road contractor that hired undocumented workers and put them at risk, Florida lawmakers of both parties are calling on the state to act.The outrage came from members of Congress plus the state Legislature. The road-building company, called Archer Western, had eight workers die from 2016 - 2023, who were undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. These repeated deaths meant the company had a fatality rate more than double the construction industry average, the Times found. The state of Florida knew about at least two of these deaths, records show, and alleged in court that Archer Western’s negligence was to blame for one them — but still kept paying the company millions in taxpayer dollars to construct highways and bridges.Republican U.S. Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Gus Bilirakis both focused their remarks on the harm done to American citizens. The most well-known example of that came in 2022, when an undocumented Archer Western employee accidentally hit and killed a Pinellas Sheriff’s deputy. The state has paid Archer Western and its partners more than $200 million since then.“This is UNACCEPTABLE,” Luna said in a written statement. “I don’t care who you are, if you hire illegals that turn around and result in the killing of Americans: you are BREAKING the law and SHOULD NOT be given contracts!”Bilirakis said he’d look more closely at how the federal investigation into Archer Western’s hiring practices is progressing. It’s being conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security along with several other federal agencies, with help from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is under state government.“Companies — especially those receiving taxpayer dollars — must be held fully accountable if they break the law by hiring individuals who are in the country illegally," Bilirakis said. “I will be reviewing the status of the federal investigations into this matter and remain firmly committed to strengthening transparency, accountability, and enforcement. The memory of Pinellas County Deputy Michael Hartwick demands nothing less.”Luna represents most of Pinellas County, while Bilirakis’ district includes most of Pasco County plus all of Citrus and Hernando counties.U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Democrat representing Tampa and other parts of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, said Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is responsible for holding contractors accountable for the risks they create for workers and the public.“Multiple OSHA violations and repeated fatalities should have disqualified this company from lucrative contracts funded by taxpayer dollars,” she said in a statement. “Gov. DeSantis and state transportation officials have failed to protect workers and ensure that taxpayer dollars are not rewarding negligence. Florida officials must end the hypocrisy of turning a blind eye to dangerous working conditions and the exploitation of vulnerable workers while claiming to stand for public safety and immigration enforcement.”Neither DeSantis’ office nor the Florida Department of Transportation responded to emails requesting comment. Previously, though, the transportation agency has said it holds all its contractors to applicable safety standards, and that Archer Western’s undocumented workers had passed a citizenship screening called E-Verify. DeSantis has also defended the company in past remarks, saying Archer Western was the victim of an “interstate fraud ring.” Archer Western officials did not respond to emailed questions for this story. The company has previously said that it deeply regrets the deaths of eight employees and that it works to ensure all safety protocols are followed.State Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, said he would request that the Florida Department of Transportation come before the Senate transportation committee, of which he is a member, to provide a briefing on this issue. That committee is next scheduled to meet Tuesday, when the department is scheduled to deliver an unrelated presentation. The chairperson of that committee, Sen. Bryan Avila, R-Hialeah, could not be reached for comment because he has been deployed as a member of the National Guard, his staff said.Jones also called the state’s actions thus far “unacceptable.”“The (transportation) department, they have the power to disqualify or to suspend contractors for safety violations,” he told the Times. “If there are repeated fatalities and citations, we need to know why that authority hasn’t been used — and pause all new contracts with this company.”State Rep. Lindsay Cross, D-St. Petersburg, who’s on the House budget committee for transportation, said the state needs to apply its “heightened emphasis on transparency and fiscal responsibility” to state agencies and the private contractors they hire.“The pattern of tragic deaths and injuries revealed in this report reinforce the need for strong government oversight that is consistent across the board,” she wrote in a text. “We owe it to the people of Florida to prioritize safety and hold our government agencies to the highest standards possible.”In contrast to these bipartisan calls for action, some prominent Florida politicians have avoided weighing in.A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Republican running for governor, declined to comment. One of his Republican opponents in that race, former state House Speaker Paul Renner, did not respond to texts and a voicemail from the Times.Florida Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, also declined to comment through a spokesperson. House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, did not respond to texts or emails to his communications staff.

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