Smooth Talk

Want to meet with your local lawmaker to influence their support of H-2B, but don’t know quite just how to express your concerns?

Hank Lavery, owner, Millennium Pool Service, Burke, Va., and founder of Bethesda, Md.-based Save Small Business (www.savesmallbusiness.org), a group aimed at gathering support for H-2B reform, has talked about this issue for years, particularly since the H-2B cap was first reached in 2004. He offers his advice to contractors who want to support the Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act of 2006 (H.R. 4740/S. 2284), but are nervous about stating their views professionally and accurately. Following are some talking points he suggests.
 
“Non-agricultural employers who need to hire foreign workers on a seasonal basis have no alternative but to go through the H-2B visa program, a complex and convoluted process that works effectively to ensure that there are no available U.S. workers. No U.S. employer would go through the great expense and time commitment involved in the H-2B visa process if there were U.S. workers available to meet seasonal hiring needs.
 
In both 2004 and 2005, small and seasonal employers across America faced disaster when the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that that the 66,000 H-2B visa cap had been met. Any H-2B visa petitions filed after the cap date were returned to petitioning employers. For two years in a row, seasonal employers throughout the United States were left with no option for hiring desperately needed workers during their busy spring, summer and/or fall seasons. This hit communities through America with particular ferocity and suffered severe economic consequences. In 2004 there was no help, but in 2005 Congress acted quickly, passing the Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act of 2005 (SOS Act).
 
The SOS Act provides a fix through fiscal year 2006, which ends Sept. 30, and exempts workers from the cap who were in H-2B visa status in any of the three previous years. It also prescribes harsh penalties for employers who try to cheat the system. The solution crafted by Congress is fair, bipartisan and effective, supported by a distinguished group of republicans and democrats spanning the entire political specter. It passed both the Senate and House with overwhelming majorities. However, with the end of fiscal year 2006 looming, Congress must act again to extend the SOS Act for another three years.
 
America’s communities require Congressional action as quickly as possible:

• The “Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act of 2006” (H.R.4740 and S.2284) will extend the SOS Act through fiscal year 2009.
• The bill strikes a great balance by temporarily extending the solution to the H-2B crisis while at the same time adding to America’s security needs and protecting U.S. workers from unfair competition. It retroactively reduces from the H-2B cap repeat temporary seasonal workers who held H-2B status anytime in the past three years. Since many employers bring their H-2B temporary workforce back each year, this will help keep businesses from a total meltdown this year. The bill also sets stiff penalties for employers who flaunt the rules.
• As Congress debates various “comprehensive” immigration and border security bills, the SOS 2006 Bill does nothing to adversely affect potential solutions that Congress may reach. This Bill is aimed SOLELY at ensuring that small business employers can continue to participate in the ONLY legal program they can access to meet their employment needs when there is a shortage of U.S. workers.
• America’s small and seasonal businesses need each representative and senator to co-sponsor H.R.4740/S. 2284 – with sufficient co-sponsors Congress will put the bill on the House and Senate calendars for consideration.”