Over the past few months, several policies have advanced, and now several are completed or nearing completion.
On November 19, the Senate Finance Committee advanced Julie Callahan’s nomination to serve as the Chief Agricultural Negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The Committee voted 17-10 in support. Callahan’s nomination now awaits a vote before the full Senate; a favorable vote would complete the confirmation process.
On November 20, the House Committee on Natural Resources passed H.R. 4776, the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act in a bipartisan 25-18 vote. The bill would amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) to streamline the federal permitting process and circumscribe the power of the court system when judging the environmental impact of major federal actions. ASTA publicly supported the bill and engaged with offices of several Committee members to advocate for the legislation.
The bill now awaits a vote before the full House. The Senate must also pass the bill, and the President sign it before it becomes law. To learn more about the SPEED Act, click here.
Additionally, in October, the Department of Labor (DOL) submitted a new rule to alter the methodology used to calculate the Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs), affecting the minimum hourly wage employers must pay temporary nonimmigrant workers under the H-2A visa classification. The Department is required to adjust the AEWRs annually based on labor statistics. Previously, DOL used the Department of Agriculture’s Farm Labor survey to make those alterations; under the new rule, it will now use state-level wage data obtained in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics instead.
The new methodology accounts for the mandatory free housing that farmers provide to H-2A workers in its calculations, resulting in, according to DOL, $2.4 billion annually in savings for producers. The top five states for H-2A employment will likely experience 24 percent average wage relief, and the AEWR is expected to fall below the state minimum wage in 21 states.
To learn more about the new rule, click here.
Read more from the ASTA here.