The Senate Appropriations Committee today approved an emergency spending package that included an amendment for a three-year extension of the H-2B program’s returning-worker exemption, which expired on September 30, 2007, according to a press release from the office of Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.).
The measure now moves to the Senate floor for consideration.
“This is not a new issue, not a new policy, not a new loophole, and not a new cap,” Mikulski says. “We're not breaking new ground here. We are simply trying to extend the guest worker provision that has expired.” Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) co-sponsored the amendment.
It’s good news, but “a baby step” for supporters of the H-2B program, says Tom Delaney, director of government affairs for the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET). PLANET members, like many in the landscape industry, have lobbied for the returning-worker exemption, which allows returning H-2B workers not to count against the cap of 66,000. Some estimate that Congress’ failure to renew this measure before the start of the fiscal year will result in eliminating 100,000-plus workers from the labor pool during 2007.
This provision for the returning-worker exemption passed in the Senate before, when, as Chairwoman of the Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee, Mikulski attempted to include an extension into the fiscal year 2008 CJS spending bill. However, the provision was removed in conference by the U.S. House of Representatives, based in part on the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ goal not to pass any immigration-related legislation piece by piece.
“The bill still has to get through the House and then, depending on a lot of things, it still may be something the president vetoes,” Delaney says of the war supplemental bill, to which the returning-worker exemption is attached.
It’s still too early to tell what specific steps H-2B supporters should take, Delaney says, other than the usual call to “contact your representatives.” As more details of the bill are unveiled, PLANET and other organizations that support H-2B, like Save Small Business, expect to provide more updates.