Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 10/24/17

Editor's Note:  H.R. 4092 is scheduled to continue markup on 10/25 according the House Judiciary Committee Website.

The House Judiciary Committee is set to vote this morning on whether to advance Chairman Bob Goodlatte's bill to revamp and expand the agricultural guest-worker program out of committee. Among other things, agricultural employers in need of year-round workers - such as meat processors, dairy farmers, loggers and aquaculture producers - would be allow to apply. The bill would also allow workers in specialized and hard-to-fill jobs an initial stay of 36 months.

Those in favor: Many agricultural industry groups - including those in poultry and fresh produce sectors - are expressing varying levels of support as the bill would remove requirements and restrictions that farmers have complained about for decades. "We also are committed to seeing improvements in this legislation as it moves through the legislative process that will ensure a legal and viable workforce is available to the agriculture community," said Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for United Fresh Produce Association.

Those opposed: Labor groups and House Democrats, continue to rally against the bill.

United Farm Workers and more than 100 immigrant rights and labor groups have urged Congress to oppose the bill, saying it would "create even more unfairness and dysfunction in our immigration system." Arturo Rodriguez, president of UFW, told POLITICO Pro that the bill was at odds with the Trump administration's America First agenda and goal to protect American jobs.
The bill has a long way to go: It won't get any Democratic votes on the committee, a Democratic congressional staffer said, and it remains unclear whether it will garner enough Republican votes to make it to a full House vote. In 2013, Goodlatte spearheaded a bill by the same name that cleared the committee in a 20-16 vote, but never made it to the House floor.