January 15, 2006

ISSUE 1149

 

AGJOBS BILL INTRODUCED IN SENATE

A group of senators including Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Wednesday (Jan. 10) re-introduced the Agriculture Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security Act, known as AgJOBS. The bill was approved in the Senate last May, but the Republican majority in the House of Representatives prevented the bill from getting a full vote.

Original co-sponsors of the bill include Florida’s Republican Sen. Mel Martinez and Representatives Adam Putnam, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Alan Boyd.

AgJOBS includes provisions to allow workers who have made a substantial commitment to agriculture work in the United States to earn an adjustment to their legal status by meeting strict requirements.

In addition, AgJOBS restructures the current H-2A temporary worker program by:
• Substantially streamlining it, including eliminating the labor certification process
• Reforming the requirements for H-2A employers, including an immediate reduction and gradual elimination of the Adverse Effect Wage Rate
• Streamlining the process for admission of H-2A workers
• Allowing workers not currently in the program to acquire H-2A status