Newhouse We Expect To Roll Our Ag Labor Reform Legislation This Week

When it comes to Washington D.C., most of the focus for the farm community has been on USMCA.  However, Representative Dan Newhouse says that’s not the only key Ag issue lawmakers are trying to address.  The Central Washington Republican says he and several other members of Congress have been working to reform Ag labor laws, specifically the H2-A program.

“We’ve engaged with farm groups, agricultural groups, and ag labor groups almost since the beginning of this session.  We’ve been negotiating in good faith across the table and we’ve made a lot of progress on making a lot of positive changes to our Ag labor laws.”

Newhouse said they are currently putting the finishing touches on that legislation and hope to have something released before November 1^st.  Newhouse added this legislation will bring “a lot of relief” to farmers across the Northwest.

“Almost every farmer that I talk to, one of their biggest issues is getting enough labor.  The labor situation is critical, having a legal source of labor, of Ag workers, is truly a very important thing for our ag industry, and we’re trying to address that in this legislation.”

Newhouse feels this legislation will be warmly received since so many different groups, organization and interests have been represented in the initial work.

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