Indiana Senator Pushes For Anti-Outsourcing Measure

An Indiana state senator is drafting legislation that would restrict the ability of public agencies in the state to outsource IT work to foreign countries or to use vendors whose staff in the United States consists largely of visa workers.

Jeff Drozda, a Republican from the Indiana district of Westfield, says he was "outraged" when he found out that a state agency charged with job creation in Indiana had outsourced work to Tata Consultancy Services of India. Drozda says Tata, which was hired by the state's Department of Workforce Development, has a long track record of replacing American high-tech workers with lower-paid L-1 visa immigrants.

Drozda told InformationWeek on Thursday that he's drafting legislation that would either prohibit state agencies from using offshore firms or possibly require them to set aside funds for job training for displaced state workers if they do use offshore labor. "We're giving this some serious study," he said.

Drozda also said it's particularly outrageous that the Department of Workforce Development has tapped an offshore firm, given that its mission is to "create 200,000 new high-wage, high-skill jobs" in Indiana. He hopes to introduce a bill to the Indiana Senate by Oct. 20.