Mikulski, Gregg Team Up in Fight For Small, Seasonal Businesses with New H2B Extension

Press Release

Mikulski, Gregg Team Up in Fight For Small, Seasonal Businesses with New H2B Extension

Provision passes committee, heads to Senate floor

Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today applauded the committee's passage of a three year extension of an H2B returning worker provision originally passed as part of her Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act. The provision, which expired on September 30, 2007, exempts returning workers who have played by the rules from counting against the 66,000 cap on visas. The amendment, co-sponsored by Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), passed as part of the emergency spending package approved today by the Appropriations Committee, which now heads 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. We're not breaking new ground here. We are simply trying to extend the guest worker provision that has expired," said Senator Mikulski. "Congress' failure to extend this provision is forcing small businesses to deal with devastating cuts to their workforce. Companies in Maryland and around the county are unable to get the H2B visas, and workers, that they need and depend on. Small and seasonal businesses are counting on us, and we are letting them down."

Senator Gregg stated, "Significant parts of New Hampshire's economy rely on seasonal workers, who become increasingly important in many of our high tourism areas during the busy summer months. Without H2B workers, some of these businesses - such as hotels, restaurants, and landscapers - will face severe labor shortages and reduced operations that impact our state's economy. Unfortunately, these employers are now largely shut out of the H2B program, and many of them are struggling to operate and provide their services and goods. Congress must act now to help. This bipartisan amendment restores a key provision in the H2B program that frees up additional visas and rewards companies and foreign workers that play by the rules."

The Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act, signed into law by President Bush in May 2005, made significant changes to the federal H2B (non-skilled seasonal worker) visa program. Among the changes, it exempted returning seasonal workers from counting against the national cap of 66,000 people. This provision, however, was not made permanent in the 2005 bill, and has to be extended each year until Senator Mikulski's proposal to make it permanent is passed into law. A last-minute, one-year extension was included as part of the 2007 Department of Defense authorization bill, but it expired on September 30, 2007.

Senator Mikulski joined Senator John Warner (R-Va.) in March 2007 to introduce a stand alone bill to extend the provision, and also included it as an amendment to the comprehensive immigration packages considered by the Senate in 2007. Unfortunately, no bill was brought up for a final vote before the provision's expiration. Senator Mikulski also attempted to include an extension, as Chairwoman of the Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee, into the fiscal year 2008 CJS spending bill. This provision, which unanimously passed the Senate, was removed in Conference with the U.S. House of Representatives.

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