S. 2705 · 118th Congress
State Executive Authority for Seasonal Occupations Needing Additional Labor Act
Key: what the circles and colors mean
Each circle is a bill. The ring fills as it moves through Congress:
Under the number: the Yea · Nay count of its final (or latest) recorded vote. On a member's page, the small badge is how that member voted: Y Yea / Aye, N Nay / No, P Present, – Not voting.
Gold and violet are only for Yea and Nay; they never mean a party. A member's party is the letter on their photo.
Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 118th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
R
ThuneSponsor5 cosponsors · 3 D, 2 R
3 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
State Executive Authority for Seasonal Occupations Needing Additional Labor Act or the SEASONAL Act
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · Jul 27, 2023
State Executive Authority for Seasonal Occupations Needing Additional Labor Act or the SEASONAL Act
This bill authorizes additional H-2B (temporary nonagricultural worker) visas to be issued to employers in a state with unmet labor needs. (H-2B visas are subject to an annual numerical cap.)
Under the bill, a state may request a particular number of H-2B visas if (1) employers have requested visas in excess of the numerical cap for that fiscal year, and (2) a state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has been 3.5% or less (in 9 of the most recent 12 quarters). The state must also certify that (1) there is a persistent, unmet need for labor within the state, an occupational category, or an Economic Development District; and (2) the additional H-2B visas will not displace existing members of the state’s workforce or negatively affect average wages.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must issue the additional H-2B visas upon receiving a request that complies with this bill's requirements, to the extent that the receiving employers meet all the applicable requirements for such visas.
Additionally, the bill requires DHS and the Department of Labor to annually report to Congress specified data about the bill's implementation, including the number of additional visas issued to each state.
The bill sunsets four years after its enactment.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: SEASONAL Act
Latest action (Jul 27, 2023): Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S3766-3767)
Policy area: Immigration · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Jul 27, 2023
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.