WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Angus King and Susan Collins announced today that the government funding compromise reached last night includes a provision that would allow the Secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Labor and Homeland Security to increase the number of H-2B visas distributed to small businesses across the county.

The move comes just days after Senator King led a group of his colleagues, including Senator Susan Collins, in sending a letter to Senate leadership urging them to provide visa cap relief to Maine businesses that are the seasonal workers they need to keep their businesses open and operating during the summer months.

“This is a positive step forward for Maine small businesses, but there is more work left to be done,” Senator King said. “Many small businesses across Maine rely on seasonal workers. Without them, their businesses – as well as the local jobs they support and the contributions they make to their economies – are at risk. I am committed to working alongside my colleagues in a bipartisan manner to see that the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Labor provide additional visas in a timely manner so that businesses across the state are able to keep their doors open this summer.”

“Many Maine small businesses, particularly in the tourism and hospitality industries, depend on seasonal workers to supplement local employees during peak months,” said Senator Collins.  “I am pleased that the bipartisan budget agreement provides much needed relief to the cap on H-2B visas that we pushed for, which will help small businesses thrive, protect American workers, and expand economic opportunities for local residents.”

Specifically, the provision included in the bill would allow for the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, to increase the number of H-2B visas distributed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Currently, USCIS is permitted to distribute 66,000 annual H-2B visas to seasonal businesses – 33,000 for each half of the Fiscal Year. However, that cap was reached on March 13^th of this year, with many small businesses in Maine still in need of seasonal employees to support their operations as the summer months approach.

Earlier this month, Senator King and Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) introduced the Save our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act of 2017, bipartisan legislation, also cosponsored by Senator Collins, that would allow returning workers to come back without against the statutory cap, streamline the H-2B visa program to eliminate ambiguities and establish clear parameters for employers hiring H-2B workers, require increased coordination between federal agencies, and bring transparency to the program operations for greater efficiency while ensuring American workers are not displaced.

Senators King and Collins have also previously written to the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Labor, urging the departments to conduct an audit to determine the number of unused visas during the first half of the Fiscal Year and to also request that any unused visas be provided to eligible businesses that have been unable to secure an adequate number of workers due to the cap.

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