Congress passes short-term funding legislation to Dec. 20
On Sept. 25, Congress passed another short-term bill that temporarily funds the federal government until Dec. 20. This bill also provides more than $200 million in additional funding for the U.S. Secret Service. The bill passed with bipartisan support in both chambers and was the last piece of major legislation to be considered before the November elections.
The House passes the bipartisan BRIDGE for Workers Act
On Sept. 17, the House passed bipartisan legislation to ensure job placement services are made available to all unemployment insurance claimants. The BRIDGE for Workers Act (H.R. 5861) will permanently expand the allowable purposes for certain Department of Labor grants to states for reemployment services and eligibility assessments. Specifically, the bill permanently allows these grants to be used to fund reemployment services and eligibility assessments for all claimants for unemployment compensation—not just those who have been found to exhaust their benefits.
Bipartisan House coalition hosts second roundtable to discuss immigration reform
Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) and Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas) continue new efforts to pass bipartisan border security and immigration reform. These lawmakers serve on the House Homeland Security Committee, which hosted a second roundtable meeting Sept. 23 to discuss potential components of a new proposal aimed at strengthening border security, reforming the asylum system and addressing immigration policy issues.
Other lawmakers participating included Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Don Davis (D-N.C.). NRCA is urging the lawmakers to address visa reforms to provide expanded workforce solutions, as well as permanent legal status for individuals within the roofing industry who have Temporary Protected Status and those eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The goal is to develop compromise legislation that can garner broad bipartisan support for possible consideration by Congress sometime after the November elections.
USCIS reaches H-2B cap for first half of fiscal year 2025
On Sept. 19, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap on visas for the H-2B temporary non-agricultural worker program for the first half of fiscal year 2025 (Oct. 1, 2024-March 31, 2025). The agency will no longer accept petitions for H-2B visas subject to the cap with a start date before April 1, 2025. However, USCIS continues accepting H-2B petitions that are exempt from the statutory cap, including current H-2B workers within the U.S. who either extend their stay, change employers or change the terms and conditions of employment. NRCA is aware of strong demand for H-2B visas given ongoing workforce shortages and continues to advocate for Congress to increase the number of visas to help roofing industry employers meet their seasonal workforce needs.
