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Farmworker bill passes U.S. House

Wednesday the U.S. House passed the Farmworker Modernization Act which will to provide a path to legal status for farmworkers and extend temporary H-2A visas.

The legislation also freezes wage rates and caps future increases. 

Support for the bill among House Ag Committee leaders was split with only five of the 21 Republicans on the committee voting in favor of it, including Jim Baird of Indiana, Mike Bost and Rodney Davis of Illinois, Doug LaMalfa of California and Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania.

Michael Marsh with the National Council of Ag Employers tells Brownfield the bill isn’t perfect, but any legislation to update ag labor regulations is critically important.

“The fact that we’ve got a bill that’s moving gives us an opportunity to make some needed changes to the program which is doubtless why you have over 300 ag groups, including a number of state farm bureaus, that have said we need this program, we need some changes.”

American Farm Bureau says they are disappointed with what passed the House and while several amendments addressed their principal concerns, they were blocked from consideration.

Dairy groups on the other hand strongly support the bill as they are likely to benefit the most from the extended H-2A program and are urging the Senate to take up the measure.

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