WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senators Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and John Warner (R-Va.) announced they have reintroduced their bill to provide a five-year extension to a provision from her Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act that protects small and seasonal businesses from a devastating cut to their workforce. A last-minute, one-year extension was included as part of the 2007 Department of Defense authorization bill in the 109th Congress, but it expires on Sept. 30, 2007.
"I have been fighting for years to help good guy businesses and workers wade through the unfair procedures that were part of the H2B visa process," Mikulski said. "I told small businesses they could count on me to keep fighting."
The bill was introduced three days after the Department of Homeland Security announced that the cap has already been reached for the rest of this year.
"This legislation is absolutely essential to protecting our small businesses and maintaining their positive impact on our economy," Warner said. "I am hopeful that this legislation will help small and seasonal businesses find enough workers to keep their doors open."
The Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act, signed into law by President Bush in May 2005, made significant changes to the federal H2B (non-skilled seasonal worker) visa program. Among the changes, it exempted returning seasonal workers from counting against the national cap of 66,000 people, created new anti-fraud provisions, and ensured a fair allocation of H2B visas among spring and summer employees.
"Without these seasonal workers, many businesses would not survive - forced to limit services, lay off permanent U.S. workers or, worse yet, close their doors," Mikulski said. "This extension protects workers, and gives us another congressional session to keep up the fight until we make this cap exemption permanent."