H-2B and Appropriations

By Laurie Flanagan & Craig Regelbrugge

On July 31, the House of Representative passed a multi-bill Fiscal 2021 funding package that includes funding for the Labor Department. Prior to the floor debate, the Democratic leadership removed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) bill from the package due to disagreements within the Democratic Caucus over some of the bill’s provisions related to President Trump’s immigration enforcement policies. The previous week, the House passed a funding package that included funding for the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency.

While the Homeland Security funding bill was not passed by the full House, it is still significant that the Committee-passed bill includes the authority for DHS to increase the H-2B cap if it determines that the needs of seasonal U.S. businesses cannot be met with U.S. workers. The fact that the language is included in bill improves the chances of H-2B cap language being included in a final spending package later this year.

The Senate has not yet taken any action on Fiscal 2021 spending bills. We anticipate that Congress will need to pass at least one temporary spending measure, or continuing resolution, to keep the government funded beyond the start of the new fiscal year on October 1. Federal funding for the next fiscal year is unlikely to be resolved until after the November elections.