YourVoice.Now Summary
Workers & JobsCivil LibertiesCorporate BenefitsTransparency & AccountabilityTargeted & Unrelated ProvisionsOverhauls the H-2A farm visa — housing could come out of workers' pay, and meatpacking and logging would count as farm work.
Workers & Jobs
The plan must cover water, shade, breaks, training and emergency response. It must be posted at the worksite in a language the workers understand.
A worker could start at a new farm the day that farm files a petition. Both farms need a valid labor certification.
Today the visa covers only seasonal or short-term farm work. The bill drops the word "seasonal" and counts any contract under 350 days.
The Labor Department would decide each year whether guest workers lowered local pay. Only after such a finding would it publish the higher farm wage rate.
The bill limits how far this rate can move each year. It could not rise more than 3.25 percent or fall more than 1.5 percent.
The wage set on the day the job is posted would hold for the whole contract. A later rate increase would not reach workers already hired.
Employers would still have to provide housing. They could deduct a daily charge, capped at the state's average four-bedroom rent divided by 240.
Housing would have to meet local health and safety codes for rentals or lodging. Inspections could be certified for three years and handed to state agencies.
Floods, freezes, fires, drought, pests or animal disease could end the contract early. The employer would have to try to move the worker to similar work.
When employers hire a worker together, no weekly floor or ceiling applies to any one of them. Each would owe the worker one hour every 30 days.
Civil Liberties
Someone unlawfully present on May 31, 2026 could apply. They would need at least 5.75 hours of farm work on 180 days in the prior two years.
A worker who starts at a new farm before approval loses work permission if the petition is denied or withdrawn. They would have 30 days to leave.
Corporate Benefits
Labor certifications now cover one job period. The Labor Department could issue them for up to three years in a row.
Employment records a farm gives a worker for this visa path could not be used against the farm. The shield falls away if the records are fake.
Homeland Security would have to answer a petition within 15 days. It could approve it, deny it, or ask for more.
Farms would file everything for the visa in one place. Four other agencies would help build and run the site.
If federal funding lapsed, certifying and admitting H-2A workers would count as essential work. It would continue without a break.
Transparency & Accountability
The Labor Department would run a national, searchable site listing every H-2A job offer. U.S. workers could see the jobs before they go to visa workers.
The job offer must state the daily amount taken out for housing. The Labor Department would set the top amount.
Congress's watchdog would check if farm housing stays available and affordable. It would also look at how well the rules are enforced.
The changes start one year after the bill becomes law. Agencies could issue the rules as interim final rules, which take effect without comment first.
Targeted & Unrelated Provisions
The bill counts more than farm work. It adds slaughterhouses, seafood plants, logging, pine straw, tree planting and horse training.
More about this bill
Farm workers on H-2A visas could see housing charged against their pay. Employers would still have to provide the housing. But the Labor Department would set a top daily charge they could deduct from wages. The cap is a state's average four-bedroom rent divided by 240. The job offer would have to state the charge. Housing would be judged against local rental and lodging codes. Where no local code exists, state and then federal standards would apply. A special farm wage floor would change too. It sits above the minimum wage and is meant to protect local farm pay. Under the bill it would apply only in years the Labor Department finds guest workers lowered local wages. A yearly increase could not top 3.25 percent. A drop could not go past 1.5 percent. Once a job is posted, its wage would hold for the whole contract. The visa would also cover far more work. The seasonal limit would go away, and "temporary" would mean any contract under 350 days. Meatpacking, seafood processing, logging and horse training would count as farm work. Farm workers already here without legal status could apply for the visa. They would need farm work on 180 days over two years. Some new protections come with the package. Every employer would need a heat illness plan covering water, shade and breaks. Workers could switch farms the day a new employer files. The changes would start one year after the bill becomes law.
Congressional Summary
Securing Agriculture's Workforce Act of 2026 This bill expands the H-2A agricultural visa program; creates online platforms for H-2A employers, workers, and agencies; and codifies certain wage calculations. Under current law, workers on H-2A visas are only allowed to perform agricultural work of a seasonal or temporary nature. Under the bill, the seasonal work requirement is removed, thus allowing H-2A workers to qualify for agricultural work that occurs year-round. The bill also expands the type of agricultural work that qualifies, including reforestation, aquaculture, and livestock work. The Department of Agriculture must issue rules to define agricultural labor or services for purposes of the H-2A program. The bill also establishes an H-2A visa pathway for current unauthorized agricultural workers who otherwise meet requirements. The Department of Labor must maintain a national, publicly accessible online job registry and database of all job offers submitted by employers seeking a labor certification required to employ H-2A workers. The Department of Homeland Security must establish an online platform for employers to submit information and documentation for review by federal agencies in the course of admitting H-2A workers. The H-2A program requires employers to provide workers with wage rates at or above those set in regulations and such wages must not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of workers similarly employed in the United States. The bill codifies the current calculation method for the adverse effect wage rate as set in regulation.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2026-06-30
- Date Added
- 2026-07-29
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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