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The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced January 3 that the 33,000 H-2B cap for the second half of the fiscal year has been reached. USCIS will not process any petitions for new H-2B workers received after January 2. USCIS will, however, continue to process petitions to extend the stay of H-2B workers currently in the United States or allow them to change employers. Click here to view the USCIS press release.

PLANET is continuing to lobby Congress to immediately reinstate the H-2B returning worker exemption. It is essential that you continue to reach out to your senators and member of Congress in Washington, D.C. and in their local offices. Please send the updated "Save Our Small and Seasonal Business" letter from our Web site. Also take the time to again call your legislators through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 225-3121 and try to visit with them at their district offices next week before they return to Washington.

If you have questions or need assistance, please contact Tom Delaney, PLANET director of government affairs, at (770) 925-7113 or tomdelaney@landcarenetwork.org.

 

Issue: The September 30 deadline for returning workers has passed.
September 30 passed without the returning-worker exemption being extended by Congress. The passage of this date suggests the need for continued pressure on our legislators to quickly pass the "Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act" (S. 988, H.R. 1843). In the past, the exemption was made retroactive because it was not signed into law before the end of the fiscal year. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is prepared to deal with a retroactive returning-worker exemption that would allow our members to hire H-2B workers who have participated in the program during the past three years. On August 2, USCIS urged employers to designate returning workers on their petitions for fiscal 2008, so that it can implement the returning-worker exemption when it is passed by Congress.

Issue: The 33,000 first half of the cap was reached on September 27, 2007. It was reached on November 28 in 2006 and on December 15 in 2005. Now the question is how early can the second cap be reached for the second 33,000 visas? Last year, the cap for the second half of the fiscal year was reached on March 16, even before the April 1 beginning date of the second-half fiscal-time period.

Issue: Congress's goal is to adjourn around Thanksgiving, but the session could extend into December. If legislation is not passed and signed into law between now and the end of the year, we will have to wait until the next session of Congress for relief. Waiting so long would make it extremely difficult for landscape contractors to get their workers in time for the start of the spring season.

Issue: The Sanders Bill was introduced as expected. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) recently introduced legislation that contains provisions that would make the H-2B program unworkable for employers. It is unlikely that this bill will pass, but it makes it harder to argue that the "Save Our Small and Seasonal Business Act" has no opposition. A group of labor unions are now seen as opposing legislation supported by the H-2B user community and instead are supporting an unreasonable bill of their own.

The labor unions' efforts should only bolster our own efforts to pass the "Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act." We need to continue to push for additional cosponsors of the legislation and ask our supporters to work to get the bill passed and signed into law quickly.

Your help is needed. You are in a unique position; you hold the key to influence Congress. As a resident of your state, you are unique to your senators, and, by living and working in a district, you are unique to a U.S. representative. Use your power and call their Washington, D.C. offices. Ask your employees, suppliers, and customers to call, and ask for senators and representatives to cosponsor the bills. Ask those that are already cosponsors to ask others in their Congressional delegation to cosponsor the legislation and push for its quick passage.

H-2B ADVOCACY CHECKLIST

• Send letters to your senators and member of Congress.
• Call your senators and member of Congress at (202) 225-3121 and tell them why the H-2B returning-worker exemption is essential to your business.
• Visit with your elected officials at local events or in their district offices. Bring other area employers, your employees, and your suppliers.
• Encourage your employees and suppliers to write and call their senators and member of Congress.
• Send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper highlighting the importance of the H-2B program to your business and your community.
• Contact other users of the H-2B program in your state (ask PLANET for a list) and ask them to do the same things. This year, it will take extra effort on your part to get cosponsors of the legislation and to get it passed.

All of the materials you need to do everything on this checklist can be found in the PLANET
H-2B toolkit at: http://www.landcarenetwork.org/cms/legislation/h2b.html.

 

Don’t just assume that the H-2B repeat-worker exemption will be extended before it expires on September 30, 2007. The fate of the exemption is in doubt. Will Congress extend this needed fix to the cap crisis? If an extension is enacted, will it occur too late to help your business? The answers to these questions in large part depend on your actions and those of other H-2B program users, customers, and employees.

Unfortunately, far too many users of the H-2B program are not doing what is needed to inspire Congress to fix this dire situation immediately. Every company in the green industry, whether or not it uses the program, needs to motivate its employees, other companies, and suppliers to act NOW. Without a massive push from constituents like you, the start of the fiscal year will pass without Congress extending the H-2B repeat-worker exemption, essentially shutting down the program. The green industry needs Congress to pass the Save our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act of 2007 (Senate Bill 988 and House Bill 1843).

Did you think getting workers in the spring was tough this year? Without the repeat-worker exemption, there will be upwards of 140,000 less workers nationwide among industries that use the H-2B program. What will happen due to the increased enforcement actions against employers with undocumented workers? Will even more companies turn to the already overburdened H-2B program? Without the repeat-worker exemption, the arbitrary 66,000 cap (33,000 for each half of the fiscal year) will likely be met before you can even apply for workers.

What can you do to prevent this dire scenario from becoming reality?
It can be as simple as getting on the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) Web site and visiting the Legislative Action Center, entering your name and address, and downloading three pre-addressed letters to your two senators and U.S. representative onto your letterhead, and then e-mailing and faxing them. Next, fax copies to PLANET, who will hand carry them to your legislators’ offices. Also, call five other green industry companies and suppliers, and prompt them to send letters, and make phone calls and appointments with their legislators. Lastly, ask all your employees to do this as well — their voices as voters or constituents count just as much as yours.

H-2B Week is August 20–24
Employers are urged to meet with, call, and write their senators and representatives August 20–24, 2007, while they are home from Washington, D.C., to urge them to support the Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act of 2007 (S. 988 in the Senate and H.R. 1843 in the House of Representatives).

It is absolutely critical that members of Congress hear how important the H-2B program is from their constituents. Congress is in recess for August, and members will be available to meet in their local offices during that time.

The H-2B Workforce Coalition has designated August 20–24 as "H-2B Week," when employers throughout the country from many industries will contact their members of Congress by meeting with them, attending town hall meetings, calling, and faxing to urge them to support H-2B program relief.

H-2B Fly-in scheduled for September 6
A fly-in to Washington, D.C., has been scheduled for Thursday, September 6, 2007, to provide an opportunity for employers to meet with their representatives and senators and urge them to pass legislation to provide relief to the H-2B visa program.

Save Small Business (SSB) is hosting the fly-in. Participants do not need to register and must make their own flight and lodging reservations. SSB has asked that participants make their own appointments with their representatives and senators prior to arriving in Washington.

Please encourage your employees, customers, and other green industry companies to contact their legislators immediately with information about how losing this valuable labor resource will adversely affect businesses and the entire U.S. economy.

If you have questions or suggestions on other ways that your company can help in this area, please contact Tom Delaney, director of government affairs, at (770) 925-7113 or tomdelaney@landcarenetwork.org.

 

July 27, 2007 - At a recent state meeting with H-2B users, the attendees were shocked to find out that the deadline for the returning-worker exemption will expire on September 30, 2007. After that date, all H-2B workers will be considered new workers and subject to the cap. There will only be 33,000 new visas for the first part of the federal fiscal year starting October 1, 2007, through March 31, 2008.

PLANET and the meeting organizers were just as shocked to think any user of the H-2B program was not aware of this fact. The pending deadline has occurred several years in a row. Due to everyone’s extensive lobbying, we have been able to get legislation enacted to exempt repeat workers from the cap. The passage of this legislation, however, has been accompanied by anxiety because the exemption was passed only after the cap for the first half of the year was reached. Many landscape contractors had already applied for their workers at the time the cap was reached, and had to resubmit their applications for the second half of the fiscal year.

YOUR ACTION IS REQUIRED NOW. I know that if everyone using the program both contacts their legislators and compels other users to contact their legislators, we could get enough votes to extend the returning-worker exemption and save your business once again. If we do not have the needed grassroots activity, the Congress will disregard the importance of passing this legislation and fail to act.

Our allies in both the House and Senate are looking for opportunities to get the “Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act of 2007” (S. 988, H.R. 1843) included in legislation that will be signed into law by President Bush, but there is not much time left to pass a bill before the start of fiscal 2008. They need our help to build support and a sense of urgency among their Congressional peers.

PLANET’s successful Legislative Day on the Hill event resulted in additional cosponsors being added to the legislation. You can go to the legislative Web site http://thomas.loc.gov and enter the bill number S. 988 to see the sponsors. When you choose to sort them by date, you can see the new ones that recently signed on.

Let’s continue the momentum we created during Legislative Day. As an employer who uses the H-2B program, we need you to do the following:

• If you attended Legislative Day, send a follow-up thank-you note to the individuals with which you met and reiterate your H-2B concerns.
• Make an appointment or go to a town hall meeting of your Senator or Member of Congress when they are home in your district during the August recess.
• Put your concerns in writing — use the PLANET Web site to send e-mails to your elected officials.
• Call your Senators and Members of Congress at (202) 225-3121 and ask to speak to the legislative assistant who handles the H-2B program. Have them relay your request for co-sponsorship to your Senator or Member of Congress.
• Organize a meeting of the users in your state through your state associations or with other local employers that use the program. PLANET can supply a list of users in your state.
• The Save Small Business group that we have been working with for years is planning the second H-2B Fly-in on Thursday, September 6, 2007, to help get more cosponsors of the H-2B legislation. If you are planning to come in for that event, please coordinate with Tom Delaney at tomdelaney@landcarenetwork.org or call (800) 395-2522.

If your company’s survival is dependent on getting your workers through the H-2B program, do not rely on someone else to do the lobbying. We will not be successful without help from each and every employer using the H-2B program. Congress must be compelled to act NOW!

 

This latest PLANET Action Alert is an example of the association’s government affairs program at work for you. PLANET’s Government Affairs Committee members and staff pursue legislative priorities and maintain vigilance over legislative issues that affect green industry professionals nationwide.

The combined efforts of PLANET’s government affairs program and the PLANET Political Action Committee make the association’s legislative initiatives even more successful.

Continued support and funding are needed for the PLANET PAC to help pass legislation needed for green industry professionals, as well as to prevent legislation that would be detrimental to the green industry.

To learn more about PLANET PAC and how you can contribute, please visit PLANET PAC or contact Tom Delaney, PLANET’s Director of Government Affairs at (770) 925-7113 or (800) 395-2522.