PHOENIX - Business groups and police chiefs are lining up to kill two new initiative drives designed to deal on a state level with the increasing number of people who enter this country illegally.

But how much they're actually willing to raise the potentially millions of dollars to actually kill it should it make the 2008 ballot remains an open question.

One initiative would strip the legal right of any company to do business in Arizona if found to have knowingly hired an undocumented worker. Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, who helped craft the measure, said that is the best way to ensure that employers - whom he sees as the magnet driving people to cross the border illegally - obey the law.

Sheridan Bailey, owner of Iron Company Enterprises, said Tuesday he doesn't knowingly hire undocumented workers. But he said this measure could put him out of business for something as innocent as a bookkeeping error.

"This creates a minefield that I have to walk through where on strike, one misstep, is the death penalty,'' said Bailey, who also is president of Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform. He called the initiative "heavy-handed, onerous, blunt.''

But Pearce said his measure helps employers avoid trouble: All companies would have to check the legal status of new hires through the Basic Pilot Program, a federal database run by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Bailey said that program is not set up to handle the hundreds of thousands of companies in Arizona alone which would be required to verify all new employees. He also said the program has an accuracy of only 85 percent.

Pearce disputed both contentions. But it would not matter: The initiative provides a legal defense to any company that uses the federal program.

A bill with some similar provisions already has been approved by the House. But Pearce said he fears the measure may be diluted in the Senate or vetoed by Gov. Janet Napolitano.

Bailey said he has been busy organizing employers and has "no idea of what kind of money could be raised for this.''

Glenn Hamer, president of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the business community is "certainly going to oppose any sort of sanction measure that is headed for the ballot. But Hamer called it "premature'' to discuss fundraising, saying he wants to see whether backers get the necessary 153,365 signatures to put the measure on the 2008 ballot.

Chris Simcox, founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, said that won't be a problem, even predicting it can be done with just volunteers.

The second initiative, which requires the same number of signatures, would require state and local police to assist i enforcing federal immigration law and prohibit police departments from barring their officers from inquiring about the legal status of those detained. It also would make it a violation of state trespass laws for anyone who entered the country illegally to be anywhere in Arizona, whether public or private property.

Eric Edwards who lobbies for the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police, questioned the legality of the provisions. And Edwards said they would force police departments to divert resources needed to fight more serious crimes.

"If we're to address the most violent criminals, the ones who are preying on our community, chiefs need the ability to determin the appropriate use of those resources,'' he said.

But Pearce said those not here legally commit a high percentage of crime. And former Republican gubernatorial hopeful Don Goldwater, one of the leaders of the petition drives, said cutting illegal immigration will slash education, health care and prison costs, leaving more money for other priorities.