A key Republican lawmaker who is pushing to require all Florida employers to do federal immigration background checks on new hires said his bill has become a "mockery" of what the proposal should be.

Sen. Tom Lee, R-Thonotosassa, wants his proposal to require all public and private employers in the state to use E-Verify, a federal program that checks the legal eligibility of new workers.

But "in the spirit of compromise," he asked the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee on Tuesday to revise his bill (SB 664) to allow public and private employers to use a system that is "substantially equivalent" to E-Verify to be in compliance with the proposed law.