Congress expands temporary worker program while tightening employer rules

What it does

This bill restructures the H-2B temporary worker program by tying the annual cap to actual certified labor demand (instead of a fixed 66,000 limit), exempts rural/seasonal employers from the cap, and adds enforcement mechanisms including higher penalties for employer violations, mandatory workplace safety plans, prohibitions on worker fees, and a complaint process with wage recovery and program disqualification powers. It also creates a country-eligibility list based on fraud/overstay rates and requires employers to notify DHS within 3 days if workers fail to report or employment ends early.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a dual move: it expands labor supply for rural/seasonal employers (by exempting them from the cap and tying the overall cap to demand) while simultaneously imposing new worker-protection and employer-compliance requirements. The title 'Closing the Workforce Gap' accurately describes the supply-side intent, but the bill is substantively a labor-market restructuring with embedded worker safeguards.

What the text implies

• The rural/seasonal exemption (§2(b)) is defined by population volatility (50% seasonal swing) and non-metropolitan location, which may capture agricultural, tourism, and construction sectors disproportionately—effectively creating a permanent, uncapped labor channel for those industries without explicit sectoral naming.
• The country-eligibility list (§7) grants DHS 'sole and unreviewable discretion' to admit workers from non-listed countries, creating an administrative override of the statutory eligibility criteria that may reduce transparency and predictability for employers and workers.
• Employer notification requirements (§8) within 3 business days of worker no-show or early job completion create a real-time tracking mechanism that may chill worker mobility or informal dispute resolution, as any deviation triggers DHS notification and potential penalties.
• The bill ties the H-2B cap to 'DOL certified positions for the previous fiscal year' (§2(a)(1)(B)), which means the cap is reactive and lagging—employers cannot know the cap until after the prior year closes, creating planning uncertainty.
• Mandatory workplace safety plans (§4) and fee prohibitions (§5) are worker-protective but lack explicit funding for DOL enforcement; compliance depends on appropriations, and underfunded enforcement may render these provisions nominal.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

H-2B workers and U.S. workers in competing sectors face conflicting pressures: the rural/seasonal exemption and demand-based cap increase foreign worker supply, potentially suppressing wages in those sectors, but the bill simultaneously strengthens worker protections (safety plans, fee prohibitions, retaliation safeguards, wage recovery) and enforcement. Rural employers and seasonal industries gain labor flexibility; U.S. workers in those sectors may face wage/employment pressure. The net civic

Who stands to gain

• Rural and seasonal employers (agriculture, tourism, construction, landscaping)
• Labor contractors and recruiters (subject to disclosure and fee restrictions but remain intermediari
• Employers in non-metropolitan areas with seasonal workforce volatility

Named in the bill

Department of Labor (DOL), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of State, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), H-2B nonimmigrants, Rural and seasonal location employers, Foreign labor contractors and recruiters, Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Where it stands

2 cosponsors: 1 Democrats, 1 Republicans.

• Feb 25, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Feb 25, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce and House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, for…”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $220,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 14 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.

Jack Bergman, the sponsor, reported $839,175 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Vanteo Fka Bdv Solutions LLC — $190,000 on 1 filing
• Mackinac Island Convention and Visitors Bureau — $30,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 19, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.