Bill raises pay requirement for foreign tech workers to twice average wage.
H.R. 10799 — Protecting American Workers Through H–1B Modernization Act · Filed by Glenn Grothman (R-WI) · Introduced Oct 13, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill changes the lowest pay for H-1B visa workers. It would be twice the national average wage. That was about $168,000 in 2024. The pay floor would go up each year automatically. The goal is to make hiring foreign workers cost more. This might push companies to hire Americans instead.
Who it affects
Tech companies and other businesses that hire H-1B workers would pay much more. American workers in tech, finance, engineering, and healthcare might face less job competition. Companies might hire fewer foreign workers or move jobs overseas.
One thing to notice
The wage floor goes up automatically each year. No new law is needed to raise it.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Oct 13, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Oct 13, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- H-1B visa — A permit that lets a foreign worker live and work in the United States.
- wage floor — The lowest amount of money a company must pay a worker.
- national average wage — The average amount of money all workers in the country earn in a year.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (445 characters) on Oct 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,388 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-21.
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