Action needed to #SaveH2B 11/18/20 Email
Written by John McMahon   
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 02:15 PM
H-2B visa program

Your Help is Needed to #SaveH2B 

Requested Action:

House and Senate leaders are working to finalize a Fiscal 2021 spending package before the current temporary spending bill or continuing resolution expires on December 11. If your Senators and Representative support to the H-2B program, please reach out to them about the need to include H-2B cap relief any FY 21 spending package. If your Senators and Representatives are opposed to the H-2B program, you do not need to do anything. We are hoping to rally our supporters to help get cap relief over the finish line.  A list of known H-2B supporters is attached.  Please see if your elected officials are on this list and if so, please take the following steps:

  • Call your two Senators and your Representative (Colorado legislative contact list). Send an email to your elected officials using the link below set up by the National Association of Landscape Professionals.
    • Ask them to reach out to their party leadership in support of the H-2B language in the House Appropriations Committee-passed Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill that gives the Department of Homeland Security the flexibility to raise the H-2B cap if seasonal business cannot find US workers to bill temporary jobs and to support the H-2B operational provisions in the Senate draft Department of Labor appropriations bill. 
    • These provisions have been included in current law for the past several years.
    • They will provide flexibility for the Administration to address the cap should it be needed.  It is important to provide DHS with the flexibility to address the cap as the economy begins to recover and to ensure that essential businesses are able to remain operational this fall and winter. 
    • You can reach your Senators or Representative by calling 202-225-3121 and asking to be connected to his or her office.  Once connected, ask to speak or leave a message for the staff person who handles H-2B issues.  Many Congressional staffers are working at home due to the pandemic but will receive your message if they are not free to speak.
  • SEND AN EMAIL TO YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS using this link set up by the National Association of Landscape Professionals.

Background:

The federal government is currently operating under a temporary spending bill, or continuing resolution, that runs through Dec. 11.  Lawmakers hope to reach an agreement on a package to fund the federal government before the 11th.

The Senate version of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill does not address the H-2B cap.  The House Appropriations Committee-passed version of the DHS funding bill includes the language in current law that gives DHS the ability to increase that cap by up to about 69,000 visas if it determines that the needs of seasonal businesses cannot be met with American workers.  

The Senate version of the Department of Labor (DOL) FY 21 funding bill includes the following provisions of current law:

  • Provides for staggered crossing for seafood workers;
  • Allows for the use of private wage surveys;
  • Prohibits DOL from enforcing the corresponding employment and ¾ guarantee provisions of its regulations; and
  • Provides for a maximum of a 10-month season (as opposed to the 9 months provided in regulation).

These provisions are not included in the DOL funding bill passed by the House of Representatives. 

The H-2B Workforce Coalition is continuing to advocate for all of these provisions to be included in any final spending bill.  We appreciate you weighing in with your elected officials if they support the program.

Thanks for your continued help to #saveH2B.

Your H-2B Workforce Coalition Co-Chairs,

Laurie Flanagan, representing AmericanHort and the National Association of Landscape Professionals
Gregg Hartley, representing the Outdoor Amusement Business Association 
Brian Crawford, American Hotel and Lodging Association