Farm Workforce Modernization Act Reintroduced Pt 2
I’m Bob Larson. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act has been reintroduced in the House of Representatives, which aims to bring meaningful reforms to the H-2A ag workforce visa program.
The bill is sponsored by California Democrat Zoe Lofgren and Sunnyside Republican Dan Newhouse, who says there have been a few updates to the bill that passed the House in 2019 …
NEWHOUSE … “One of those things, and most important one, in 2019 we froze the adverse wage at that level, and of course that’s almost two years ago now, and so we had to bring that up to date. But, essentially, it’s the same bill, and that’s the way the House rules are.”
Newhouse says they hope it gets through the house before the end of the month …
NEWHOUSE … “If we can reintroduce the bill and bring it to the floor before the first of April, it can move forward for a vote without having to go through the committee process. After April first, then it has to start all over again.”
Once in the Senate, Newhouse says there will be some tweaking …
NEWHOUSE … “Just so you know, that’s a good thing, I believe, strategically because the bill was not going to get any better in the House, frankly, at least from my perspective. With the Democrats in the majority, we got this about as good as we could.”
Listen tomorrow for more on the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.
