<font color=red>UPDATED SCHEDULE</font> H-2B Supporters Will Rally for Permanent Solution

H-2B supporters are working to ensure that the date Sept. 30 no longer instills panic in those who look across the border for seasonal help.

Current legislation that exempts returning seasonal workers from counting against the cap of 66,000 is set to expire Sept. 30. H-2B supporters are encouraging legislators to see to it that there is never an expiration date again.

Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) would like to introduce legislation the week of Feb. 12 to make the H-2B repeat worker cap extension permanent. To drum up support for the measure, a fly-in to Capitol Hill is planned for Feb. 13.

The plan is for the Senate and House of Representatives to align to present identical bills in both houses, with both sponsored by legislators who can garner support, says Tom Delaney, director of legislative affairs for the Professional Landcare Network.

A bill was passed at nearly the last possible moment last year to temporarily extend the cap for returning workers. The H-2B program faces the Sept. 30 deadline again this year, but lobbyists are hoping to pass the permanent fix so H-2B users aren’t again faced with uncertainty as September nears.

“This time we’re tying to get a permanent fix so we don’t have to do this again,” Delaney says. “Hopefully the sponsors want that too.”

Chuck Twist, president of TNT Lawn & Landscape Management in Stillwater, Okla., has attended past Fly-ins and plans to be active in campaigning for the latest bill to pass.

Twist is approved for 20 H-2B workers this year. They make up the bulk of his workforce. He has three full-time, U.S.-citizen employees. Without the seasonal worker program, he’d be forced to shut down the business, he says, adding the need for H-2B workers is only increasing.

“Many companies are scared (of raids) because of all the media hype and are starting to move toward H-2B,” he says. “The program is already bursting at the seams. The H-2B program cannot accommodate all of the companies who could qualify for it and who may soon have no other choice but to get with the program.”

Meanwhile, the process may be slowed as some potential workers scramble to find a way into the program after the U.S. consulate’s office in Monterrey, Mexico, one of the main entry points for the program, announced its H-2B service is temporarily not taking on any more appointments because it is booked up.

The proposed legislation also contains a technical fix for a component of the program called the three year look-back. Currently, those who have participated in the program for three years can not be counted as a returning worker the next season. This is in effect for one season. The following year, the worker is considered a returning member of the workforce again. The legislation would eliminate this amendment.

Twist doesn’t want to see the legislation come down to the wire like it did last year.

“We can’t continue to play Russian roulette like that anymore,” he says. “We’ve got to get something passed.”

Delaney describes the rally as only the first step in the journey to getting the permanent fix passed.

“It’s a good possibility that this will be one of the biggest fly-ins, but we also want to reiterate it’s not a one-shot effort and those who can’t make it still have the ability to continue the process with phone calls and letters,” he says.

Anyone interested in participating in the Fly-In who requires more information can contact Delaney at PLANET by calling 800/395-2522 or 770/925-7113, or e-mailing him at tomdelaney@landcarenetwork.org.