Newhouse, ag leaders urge Senate to pass Farm Workforce Modernization Act before year’s end

The U.S. Senate will have just a few weeks to pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act when it reconvenes on Nov. 14 after midterm elections. If it doesn’t pass before the end of the year, legislators would have to start over in Congress’ next session.

In a news conference in Yakima on Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Republican from Sunnyside, called on the Senate to pass the bill. Newhouse was joined by supporters from the local agricultural industry and emphasized the need for agricultural labor, legal status for foreign workers and reform.

“We’ve already passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act out of the House of Representatives. It’s sitting in the Senate right now,” Newhouse said. “Stop waiting and start acting.”

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act would reform the H-2A program, which allows employers to apply for seasonal foreign agricultural labor. Under the proposed legislation, workers would be able to stay in the U.S. for up to 5 1/2 years and work for multiple employers.

After working in agriculture, those workers would have a path to legal permanent residency and, after that, citizenship. The bill was passed with bipartisan support in the House of Representatives.

Newhouse said legal status is important, adding that it could protect workers from abuses and act as immigration reform.

“This will allow them a legal process to do that, to return home and to come back again next year, legally,” Newhouse said. “That, in itself, provides these valuable people that we need the honor and respect that they deserve.”

Kristen Kershaw of Superfresh Growers emphasized the need for those workers on Wednesday. She said labor shortages have decreased production while increasing labor costs. Jason Sheehan, a Sunnyside dairy farmer, said the need for workers has been ongoing and it could affect farmers’ ability to produce food.

“The labor shortage is huge and it’s real and it hasn’t been addressed in a long time,” Sheehan said.

Kershaw added that the H-2A program has helped maintain a dependable labor force, but that it is expensive to use the program. Kershaw worried that higher costs might lead to more consolidation and less local ownership in agriculture.

Tony Freytag of Crunchpack, a fruit packer in Cashmere, agreed. He said farmers and packers could be forced to sell their businesses to larger corporations. Freytag called on Washington senators and the American Farm Bureau to take action.

“We’ll start all over again, depending on what happens. We’ll start all over again when this Congress, this session, ends. That’s very scary,” Freytag said, commenting on the possibility of the legislation not passing.

Proponents of the bill include a wide variety of business, grower and worker groups, including United Farmworkers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Washington State Tree Fruit Association.

Newhouse’s opponent, Democrat Doug White of Yakima, has opposed the bill, saying the pathway to citizenship is “modern day indentured servitude,” and more needs to be done to reform immigration.

Farmworker group Familias Unidas por la Justicia recently held a statewide tour campaigning against the bill. FUJ leaders argued that the bill’s path to citizenship and legal residency take too long and the bill could lower wages.

Despite the small window of opportunity after midterm elections and the busy congressional session ahead, Newhouse remains optimistic.

“There is a growing number of senators that recognize the urgency to the agricultural industry. I’m very optimistic. We have until the end of the year,” Newhouse said. “If we continue to raise our voices, make sure people understand the urgency of the situation, we have a great chance of being able to pass this into law.”