COLUMBIA --- The South Carolina House voted Wednesday to remove fines of up to $10,000 per worker from a bill intended to punish businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants, changing a key provision passed earlier by the Senate.

The bill that passed 80-33 also removes employers' ability to use a new paper-based system created and audited by the state. Businesses could verify a worker's immigration status using only a federal database or state-issued identification.

Gov. Mark Sanford had criticized both provisions of the Senate bill; he said the heavy fines would supersede federal law and that the House bill "provides for a real and meaningful employment verification process."

Instead of heavy fines, the House version would suspend a company's business licenses for up to 30 days on a third offense. Businesses could be on probation for up to three years, meaning they would have to submit quarterly reports proving their compliance.

The measure returns to the Senate, which must decide whether to accept the changes. If it doesn't, the proposal will return to a conference committee for the second time this year. The Senate version passed last week broke an impasse between the chambers.

Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell said he's concerned about enforcing the House measure. On stripping the fines, he said, "I don't think lighter penalties are going to sell well over here."

Democrats opposed the legislation, calling it election-year politics on an issue that should be handled by the federal government.

"At the end of the day, there's not a thing we can do to fix the immigration problem because it's a federal problem. We can't pre-empt the federal government," said House Minority Leader Harry Ott.

The St. Matthews farmer tried unsuccessfully to revert the bill back to what the House passed earlier this year, which dealt with public agencies and businesses with public contracts, but left out private employers. He said the state could hold public contracts up to a higher standard.