H-2B bill hits critical mark for extension; fly-in planned

As the deadline for Congress to pass legislation before the November election nears, Green Industry company owners are taking steps to ensure H-2B visa legislation isn't lost in the shuffle.

Congress is scheduled to end its session Sept. 29, 2006, so supporters of the legal, temporary visa program are banding together for a final push to get the Save Our Small & Seasonal Business Act of 2006 (S. 2284/H.R. 4740) passed, any way they can.

If the Act does not pass, the current legislation allowing returning H-2B visa holders in, regardless of the number cap, expires in 2006.

To rally support and push for passage before the end of the month, the Save Small Business group, (which includes representatives from all industries using H-2B workers, including the Green Industry) are planning a Washington, DC, fly-in on Wed., Sept. 20., to "chase down senators, representatives and their staffs to get this bill passed," wrote Save Small Business president Hank Lavery in a letter to the group's supporters yesterday.

"If you're reading the headlines, the easiest thing to conclude is that immigration is dead until after the election," said Craig Regelbrugge, the American Nursery and Landscape Association's senior director of government relations. "But behind those headlines there's a positive, swirling dynamic."

H-2B is definitely on the front lines of action.

The Act calls for a three-year cap extension, extending the current legislation through 2009. As it's written now, the cap exemption for returning workers expires in 2006.

If the Act is passed, returning workers will continue to be exempted from the number cap placed on the H-2B visa program. This is vital because it allows new workers to enter under cap restrictions but allows returning workers to enter and not count against that cap.

According to ANLA's Regelbrugge, the most likely way for the Act to pass will be to usher it through Congress as part of a larger bill, like the many mandatory appropriations bills that must pass for Congress to operate.

"There's a continued effort to move the [H-2B cap fix] piece on an appropriations bill," Regelbrugge said. "It's a real toss-up whether the purists will say to strip it from the [appropriations] bill or the folks facing an imminent train wreck will say, 'We gotta get this done.' It will be a crap shoot to see who prevails.'"

The Save Small Business group's Sept. 20 fly-in is intended to make sure the Act prevails as part of some piece of legislation, most likely an appropriations bill.

For Green Industry employers accustomed to fighting for their share of H-2B visa workers, this is all just a case of history repeating itself.

In May 2005, President Bush signed into law a supplemental appropriations bill for Iran and Afghanistan that included an amendment passing the first Save our Small & Seasonal Businesses Act. That action exempted returning workers from the cap, but only through 2006. (Read "H-2B visa relief clears final hurdle," May 12, 2005)

Hence, the current push to extend the legislation out to 2009.

To get involved in the Sept. 20 fly-in, contact Save Small Business by e-mailing kstrumpf@savesmallbusiness.org.

RELATED ARTICLES IN 2006:
"PLANET supports H-2B extension," Feb. 17, 2006, Landscape Management Week in Review

"H-2B: Enough already?," Feb. 22, 2006, Landscape Management Week in Review

"Senate starts immigration reform debate," March 22, 2006, Landscape Management Week in Review

"Senate immigration debate heats up," April 5, 2006, Landscape Management Week in Review

"USCIS reaches H-2B cap for second half of 2006," April 7, 2006, Landscape Management Week in Review