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House Passes Farm Workforce Modernization Act
USAgNet - 12/12/2019

The U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, a bipartisan bill to reform the agricultural labor system in the United States.

The product of negotiations between a diverse array of agricultural stakeholders and farmworker advocates, the legislation balances the interests of both agricultural employers and workers. For the former, it would expand access to the H-2A guest worker program by simplifying the application process, stabilizing wages with an annual cap, and establishing an option for year-round agricultural employment. For the latter, the bill would create a pathway to legal status through continued agricultural employment.

National Farmers Union, which has called for a "flexible, efficient, and compassionate agricultural worker visa program," was among more than 300 agricultural organizations to offer formal support for the bill. In a statement, NFU President Roger Johnson applauded the bill's passage and urged the U.S. Senate to continue working on solutions for agricultural labor issues:

"Our current farm labor system is badly broken. It's a time-consuming, convoluted, and restrictive process for farmers and ranchers, who often don't have the time to spare, and it's a dead-end for farmworkers, who currently have no straightforward path for longer-term employment or legal status."


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