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PHOENIX — Gov. Janet Napolitano signed her approval Thursday to changes in the state's new employer-sanctions law.

But this gubernatorial endorsement of the Legislature's tidying up of the controversial regulations won't be the last word.

The measure is designed to address some of the complaints companies had with the original statute approved last year allowing a judge to suspend or revoke any business licenses of firms that knowingly employ undocumented workers.

For example, the new law says no penalty can be imposed if the employee already was on the payroll Jan. 1, when the statute took effect.

It also provides some new protections from prosecution to companies that take additional steps when screening prospective workers. And it says a hiring violation at one location of a firm shuts down only that location, not the entire corporation.

But attorney Andrew Pacheco said he still believes the measure is too onerous. And unless lawmakers make further changes, he intends to pursue his effort to get an initiative on the November ballot that would weaken the penalty.

Pacheco's decision resulted in Don Goldwater, former Republican gubernatorial candidate, saying he does not intend to give up on his efforts for another initiative that is stricter than what lawmakers approved.

But he said he would have dropped it if he were sure that what Napolitano just signed would remain the law.

The problem, said Goldwater, is he does not want Pacheco's measure, which he labeled "employer amnesty," to be the only one on the November ballot.

"If it passes, it overrides this law," he said. Goldwater said he intends to keep gathering signatures, so voters have a choice.

Pacheco said he believes some of what is in the law is unnecessarily harsh. For example, he doesn't want to accept anonymous violation complaints, which are now allowed.

Some business owners have complained that could allow a competitor or disgruntled employee to trigger an investigation that could be time-consuming and costly, even if no violation is found. But Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, architect of the original law, said there is a valid place for anonymous complaints.

Pacheco's measure also wants to soften the language to make sure a company doesn't get shut down because of the decision of a single person.

Goldwater's petition, by contrast, is at the other extreme.

Under his proposal, a single conviction for hiring an undocumented worker would revoke all of a company's state licenses. Under the law approved by the Legislature, a judge may suspend a company's license for up to 10 days for a first-time knowing violation of the law. It takes a second violation in three years to put the company out of business.