YAKIMA, Wash. -- In a 4-3 vote this morning, the Yakima City Council turned down a proposal to require city contractors to adhere to the E-Verify system.

Council members Rick Ensey, Dave Edler, Maureen Adkison and Kathy Coffey voted against the proposal at a study session, while Mayor Micah Cawley and councilmen Dave Ettl and Bill Lover voted in favor of it.

E-Verify is a free online system through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It checks people’s identities against several massive federal databases -- ensuring people employed by the federal government can legally work in this country.

Lakewood, a suburb of Tacoma, became the first city in Washington to adopt E-Verify last year. Yakima’s human resources department already uses a program run by the Social Security Administration.

 -- Erin Snelgrove