What Do the Proposed Legislative Remedies Have in Common?

The remedies proposed by the legislation are quite similar. They include:

• Curbing government visas, so foreign workers won't be allowed to enter the country for training and then return home, taking a U.S. job with them.
• Taxing companies that do send jobs overseas.
• Providing tax benefits to companies that keep production and manufacturing on U.S. soil.
• Limiting state governments from doing business with companies that outsource overseas.
• Enacting data privacy laws that prevent the offshoring of Social Security and driver's license numbers, as well as confidential data such as individuals' employment or medical histories. Currently there are no U.S. laws that prohibit that data from being shipped to or accessed from other countries. However, companies are required to comply with industry-specific and state laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and California's SB1386 identity-protection law. U.S. companies must comply with those laws regardless of where the data is processed or stored.

Interestingly, the public policy remedies may have unintended consequences. Restricting legitimate use of visas may accelerate offshoring if the right skills or expertise is not available locally.