H2B Legislation Gains New Support

Members of the H2B Workforce Coalition, co-sponsored by the American Nursery and Landscape Association and the National Restaurant Association, are fighting for H2B visa reform. Small businesses could suffer greatly if a cap is enforced on the amount of visas allotted to seasonal workers.
Photo courtesy of www.usvisamanuals.com

The recent H2B Fly-in visit to Washington, D.C., which was attended by more than100 members of the H2B Workforce Coalition, gained new co-sponsorship support from several senators and congressmen. The fly-in was an effort to seek reform of the H2B program, which provides work visas to temporary seasonal workers. As it stands, the program limits those visas to 66,00 per season, which threatens many small businesses, including landscape firms, with a shortage of labor for this year. Members of the coalition are lobbying to pass the Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act (S352 and HR793), which would exempt workers who had participated in the H2B program over the past three years from being counted toward the new visa limit. After one day of over 150 Senate and House office visits, the coalition gained the support from Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Herbert Kohl (D-WI), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Ted Stevens (R-AK) and Congressmen Candice Miller (R-MI), Todd Platts (R-PA), Ron Paul (R-TX), Albert Wynn (D-MD), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), and Joe Schwarz (R-MI). Nearly 35 percent of the participants were American Nursery and Landscape Association and/or Professional Landcare Network members.