Congressman Jak Bergman, a new Republican Member from Michigan, introduced HR 1627 on Monday. Other cosponsors of the bill include: Reps. Keating (D-MA), Meehan (R-PA), Comstock (R-VA), Weber (R-TX), Stewart (R-UT) and Pingree (D-ME). A copy of the bill can be found here.  Representatives of the H-2B Workforce Coalition met with Bergman's staff on March 21. The bill is basically an authorizing bill that uses that same statutory language as the FY 2017 appropriations bill. It would be, if passed and signed into law, a one-time fix for fiscal year 2017. It would not likely be moved in the House as a stand-alone bill and would need to be attached to other legislation. We are pleased that Congressman Bergman has taken this initiative on behalf of his constituents who use the H-2B program.

Thank you to those who reached out to your elected officials about the H-2B letters that Representatives Harris and Tillis were spearheading. A third letter was sent last week to the Department of Homeland Security by Senators Collins (R-ME) and King (I-ME).

Please take some time to thank your representatives for signing the letters. In Colorado, that includes Representatives Jared Polis, Ken Buck, Mike Coffman, and Scott Tipton for signing the Harris Letter; and Senators Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner for signing the Tillis letter. Urge them to continue to ask their party leaders to pass H-2B cap relief quickly as part of appropriations or any other appropriate legislation.