TAG: government affairs

Government Affairs: Congress defers action on H-2B program until after midterm elections

October 2, 2018By

The H-2B returning-worker provision and some modest H-2B reforms did not make it into the fiscal year 2019 federal appropriations bills, as business advocates had hoped. Appropriations bills, except DHS The House and Senate sent several appropriations bills to President Trump’s desk for signature, encompassing most of the federal bureaucracy. However, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) appropriation, in which... read more

Government Affairs: Will the H-2B returning-worker provision be approved by Congress this fall?

September 4, 2018By

This summer, the landscape contracting industry has faced what may be the tightest labor market in its history. With the economy running at full tilt, the unemployment rate at near all-time lows and a labor market that eschews working outside in an ever-hotter climate, many landscape contractors are making hard decisions about whether they can even stay in business. Getting... read more

Government Affairs: The state of immigration, H-2B reform in Congress

July 3, 2018By

  For a moment in mid-June it seemed like the stars might be aligning for getting the returning-worker exemption reinstated in the H-2B visa program. If reinstated, the returning-worker exemption would not count those workers who had been granted visas within the past two seasons against the 66,000 statutory cap. This move would effectively double the number of visas available... read more

Government Affairs: Louisiana bill could halt professional certifications by private organizations

May 2, 2018By

A bill recently introduced in the Louisiana House of Representatives could bring a halt to the use of private professional certifications in that state. Certifications that are offered by trade associations and other private organizations by groups such as the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute (ICPI) would be outlawed. If the bill passes, the risks to certification programs could eventually expand beyond... read more

Government Affairs: The H-2B guest-worker program gets potential one-year increase

April 3, 2018By

  Taking advantage of the “must-pass” omnibus federal spending bill for fiscal year 2018-2019, advocates for the H-2B guest-worker visa program managed to get an extension of the authority for the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security to increase the 66,000 statutory cap on H-2B visas. This provision is like one that was included in last year’s spending bill. Increase not... read more

Government Affairs: What’s all the fuss over 2,4-D and dicamba?

March 2, 2018By

The herbicides 2,4-D and dicamba have been around for a long time. Both have been go-to herbicides in the fight against weeds, both in production agriculture and landscape maintenance. But their growing use by production agriculture is causing concern due to the tendency of both 2,4-D and dicamba to volatilize and cause collateral damage to nearby crops in nontargeted fields.... read more

Next Page »