Sponsors (13)
The bill maintains short-term labor supply and wage certainty by freezing the current H-2B wage rate for up to two years, at the cost of delaying market-responsive, transparent wage updates that could better protect U.S. workers and taxpayers.
Small seasonal employers (e.g., H-2B employers) can keep hiring needed temporary foreign workers at the existing AEWR for up to two years, avoiding immediate labor shortages and operational disruption.
Workers admitted on H-2B visas retain a known wage rate for up to two years, providing short-term pay stability while the Department of Labor develops a new rate.
Taxpayers and U.S. workers may face continued reliance on an outdated wage standard that could under- or overcompensate labor relative to current market conditions, leading to potential wage distortions and fiscal effects.
Keeping an older AEWR may reduce employers' incentives to recruit, train, or hire U.S. workers if the frozen rate is lower than prevailing local wages, potentially weakening opportunities for unemployed Americans.
Giving the Secretary discretion to suspend AEWR recalculation can reduce transparency and delay data-driven wage updates, weakening timely worker protections and oversight.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows the Secretary of Labor to retain the existing H-2B AEWR for up to two years if no valid new calculation method exists.
Official title: To authorize the Secretary of Labor to retain in effect the adverse effect wage rate for a period of 2 years if the Secretary determines that there is not a valid method to calculate such rate, and for other purposes.
Introduced September 26, 2025 by John Moolenaar · Last progress September 26, 2025
Authorizes the Secretary of Labor, for the period from enactment through two years after enactment, to keep the current adverse effect wage rate (AEWR) used for H-2B temporary nonimmigrant workers if the Secretary finds there is no valid method to calculate a new rate. The effect is to freeze the AEWR in place for up to two years in situations where a new, defensible wage calculation cannot be produced. The change applies only to nonimmigrants admitted under the H-2B classification and does not create a new program or new funding; it simply permits temporary reliance on the existing published wage rate rather than requiring issuance of a newly calculated AEWR when a valid method is unavailable.