Senate Passes H-2B Bill with Overwhelming Majority Vote

Supporters of H-2B reform have a reason to celebrate today as they’ve overcome yet another hurdle to bringing reform to the temporary worker program. The Save Our Small & Seasonal Businesses Act of 2005, sponsored by Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski, was passed on Tuesday by a vote of 94 to six and also was granted cloture by a vote of 83 to 17. The cloture vote ends debate over the bill, which was amended to the Emergency Supplemental spending bill.

“The passage of this bill in the Senate is a wonderful thing and it’s really the work of thousands of people around this country who were adamant in getting the message out about the importance of this bill,” says Don Moores, an attorney specializing in immigration and nationality law at the Law Offices of Donald Mooers, Bethesda, Md. Mooers has offered his time and talents to the H-2B Workforce Coalition, comprised of state and national associations representing a number of industries that use H-2B and have been affected by the visa cap.

Green industry members of the coalition vocalized their excitement about the bill’s passage as well. “We’re extremely excited that the bill was passed in the senate – especially by such a landslide,” says Maria Candler, vice president of James River Grounds Management, Glen Allen, Va., and secretary/treasurer of the Professional Landcare Network. “I had heard that we definitely had the 60 votes we needed to pass the bill, as well as some padding, but to see the number of ‘yea’ votes in the 90s is amazing. It means that the Coailtion worked and the grassroots effort worked. We have a lot of people patting each other on the back today and keeping up the energy that helped us get this far.”

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? As it stands, the House of Representatives already has passed its appropriations bill, which includes provisions for immigration but does not include the Mikulski amendment. The Senate will likely take several more days to approve its appropriations bill with the Mikulski amendment attached. Upon approval of the Senate version, selected members of each branch of government will meet to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.

“As a group, the Members of Congress participating in the conference can choose to keep, modify or drop the Mikulski amendment, so we still have work to do,” Candler says. “Once the conference report is finalized, it will be voted on again by the House and the Senate and, if approved, will go to the President for a signature. We certainly want to make sure that final version includes the Mikulski amendment, so its time to focus our efforts on the House and get our representatives to support the bill.”

Mooers agrees. “We currently have 80 cosponsors in the House, which is a wonderful number, but our first order of business now is to increase that support,” he says. “Also, once we learn the identities of the conferees who will be discussing the bill in conference, we’ll be working to encourage House members to work with those individuals to ensure that the Mikulski amendment is included in the final bill.”

Once again, then, it’s back to the communication lines for H-2B supporters who are encouraged to phone, fax and write their Members of Congress and voice support for the bill. Candler says in a perfect world, the Mikulski amendment would make it through conference unflawed, though creating that reality means working with the House of Representatives to gain their support. Moreover, Candler says its time for the H-2B Workforce Coalition to begin developing concepts on how to put the amendment’s provisions into action once the bill becomes law.

“It’s important to be optimistic and see this bill through to the President’s signature, but the devil is in the details,” she says. “In the next weeks, we need to put energy into the logistics of how the bill will work when it goes into law. Because so many people are in need of H-2B workers for this season – in our industry and others – we don’t want to waste time after the bill is passed to decide how to put it into action.”

Upon becoming law, the Save our Small & Seasonal Businesses Act would fall to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly Immigration & Naturalization Service) for rulemaking. Candler says the Coalition’s suggestions on putting the law into practice will likely be heard by rulemakers, though USCIS has final approval.

Visit Lawn & Landscape Online frequently for additional updates on the H-2B issue and legislation, as well as for reactions from industry professionals about the proceedings.