Wednesday, May 17, 2000 - Update on H-1B Legislation
From AILA - American Immigration Lawyers AssociationThe Senate once again has postponed a final vote on S. 2045, the Hatch/Abraham H-1B bill.
The delay is due to ongoing negotiations about the number and type of amendments that may be offered when the bill comes to the floor.
However, all parties appear confident that an agreement will be reached. However, other pressing legislation – must- pass appropriations bills – most likely will take precedence over H-1B or most other legislation.
Thus, a H-1B vote may be delayed until the beginning of June.
You can help speed things up by contact your Senators, urging them to support S. 2045 and ask their Senate leaders to bring S. 2045 to a vote as soon as possible.
On May 9 and 10, the House Judiciary Committee met to mark up H.R. 4227, the Smith H-1B bill opposed by AILA and its business allies.
Many amendments were offered, including the Dreier/Lofgren bill.
However, in the end only two amendments passed: 1) an H.R. 4227 substitute offered by Representatives Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) that ameliorated a very small number of the provisions of the original draft, and 2) an amendment by Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-IL) that exempted local schools from the $40,000 salary requirement for H-1B teachers.
Chairman Hyde had to postpone a final vote because Representatives Smith and Jackson-Lee could not muster enough votes (twice) to forward the bill out of committee and on to the full House.
Following this disappointment, Republicans regrouped, and a third markup currently is scheduled for next Wednesday, May 10.
It is expected that the bill will pass committee by a narrow vote, after which attention will turn to the Rules Committee, under Chairman David Dreier (R-CA), who is expected to move his own bill, H.R. 3983.
AILA Advocates are asked to continue to have their clients send messages to their Representatives supporting H.R. 3983 as the only balanced, bi-partisan bill that can pass the House this year.
Meanwhile, the White House has weighed in with their own proposal, which is similar to H.R. 3983, the Dreier/Lofgren bill, but with higher fees (Up to $3,000 for dependent companies), an increasing set aside for people with Master’s Degrees (from 40% in 2001 to 50% in 2003), NACARA Equity of Relief, and a change in the registry date to 1986.
