Below are a few updates on the current happenings with the H2B program & grassroots action needed. Feel free to call Kristen Fefes at 303 757-5611 with questions or comments.

New H-2B Rules: Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed its version of the fiscal 2016 Department of Labor Appropriations bill. No amendments were offered to try to strike the beneficial H-2B language included in the bill. The bill includes language that would:

• Allow the use of private wage surveys, which are not allowed under the new final H-2B wage rule;
• Clearly define seasonal as ten months, as opposed to the nine months in the new interim final H-2B comprehensive rule;
• Prevent DOL from implementing the provisions of the interim final rule related to corresponding employment and the ¾ guarantee;
• Prevent DOL from implementing the new and burdensome DOL enforcement scheme in the IFR related to audit and the Certifying Officer (CO) assisted recruitment; and
• Allow for the staggered crossing of H-2B employees.

As you may know, the bill passed by House Appropriations includes a provision on staggered crossing and some helpful, but non-binding, report language related to the new rules. The H-2B Workforce Coalition, with your help, will fight to ensure that this beneficial Senate language is included in a final appropriations bill. 

Returning Worker Exemption:  The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security will take up the DHS funding bill shortly after the July 4 recess. Please use the next week to continue to weigh in strongly about the importance of including a returning worker exemption in the bill. The Senate Appropriations Committee-passed version of the bill does not include a returning worker exemption. Therefore, it is essential that the House version include the provision. During the next week, please do the following:

• Please call and write to your House Representative. Ask him or her to speak to Subcommittee Chairman Carter (R-TX) and Full Committee Chairman Rogers (R-TX) or Ranking Member Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and Full Committee Ranking Member Lowey (D-NY) about the importance of including an H-2B returning worker exemption in the DHS funding bill.
• Please continue to discuss the importance of the returning worker exemption on social media. Tweet about the need for Congress to address the H-2B Program using #saveH2B.  Direct the tweets to your two Senators and your Member of Congress, as well as Subcommittee Chairman Carter, Full Committee Chairman Rogers, Subcommittee Ranking Member Roybal-Allard and Full Committee Ranking Member Lowey.  You can find the twitter address for your Senators and Representative at the links below:
• https://twitter.com/gov/lists/us-senate/members
• https://twitter.com/verified/lists/us-congress/members

Here are some sample tweets:

• ‪@JudgeCarter ‪@RepRoybalAllard Save CO’s landscape industry. Include an H-2B returning worker exemption in the DHS funding bill #saveH2B [send separately to @RepHalRogers @NitaLowey ‪@AppropsDems @HouseAppropsGOP]
• ‪@JudgeCarter ‪@RepRoybalAllard Save seasonal businesses. Congress please include H-2B returning worker exemption in DHS funding bill #saveH2B [send separately to @RepHalRogers @NitaLowey ‪@AppropsDems @HouseAppropsGOP]
• ‪@JudgeCarter ‪@RepRoybalAllard Congress must pass an H-2B returning worker exemption so I can hire legal seasonal workers! #saveH2B [send separately to @RepHalRogers @NitaLowey ‪@AppropsDems @HouseAppropsGOP]
• Create your own tweet that tells how the cap has impacted your business and include #saveH2B.

Tweets need to be 140 characters max. What’s above may need to be adjusted by you to fit the space requirement. Send the same to two Twitter accounts at a time to fit Twitter requirements. Follow the conversation at twitter.com/hashtag/saveh2b.