Congressional Hearings Include H-2B Questions - The Edge from the National Association of Landscape Professionals

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Congressional Hearings Include H-2B Questions

Congressional hearings last week offered the first opportunity for members of Congress to seek answers regarding how quickly the administration is likely to act on their authority to authorize additional H-2B visas. Both the Senate and House held Appropriation Subcommittee meetings that featured testimony from the two Secretaries with jurisdictional oversight of the H-2B program. The House hearing featured DHS Secretary Kirsten Nielsen while the Senate meetingā€™s key witness was DoL Secretary Alex Acosta.

Several questions directly related to H-2B visas were posed by our Congressional supporters. Our Congressional champions admonished both Secretaries over unnecessary delays and stressed the importance to avoid the too little too late outcome of 2017. Neither Secretary was very forthcoming, but promised to follow up with additional information and to work with Congress to find a solution that works for business workforce certainty. NALP will continue to stress the importance of H-2B to the administration and will work with members of Congress, the H-2B Workforce Coalition, and members of the NALP to stress the need for short term cap-relief and long term program reform.