Newhouse Ag Legal Workforce Act Will Replace Outdated H2A

Last week a bipartisan group of Representatives introduced the Ag and Legal Workforce Act.  Representative Dan Newhouse said this new legislation would replace the “outdated” H2A system with a new H2C which would be available to both season and year round agriculture employers.  Newhouse added the Ag and Legal Workforce act allows farmers to provide legal status to the current workforce and if needed, allows farmers to bring in workers from outside of the United States.

“Then another important facet of this is also imposing the electronic verification system that would be a requirement for employers to use to verify that that employees in fact do have legal status in the country, which would be.”

Newhouse said this legislation would be a great fit for the farmers of Central Washington which have requested something new.

“[They are] telling me the critical nature of labor supply that we have in our state and the cost to individuals, and to the industry because of not having an adequate workforce.  I think that this legislation this bipartisan legislation takes huge steps to rectify the situation that we have.”

Newhouse said not only do farmers across the region support the legislation, but so to do 200 farm groups nationwide.

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