The Farm Workforce Modernization Act is being voted on today in Congress.  5th District Congresswoman Jahana Hayes says she will be voting in favor of the measure.  Hayes says farmers in the district have told her about their struggles with labor shortages and this bill aims to address that problem. 

It allows illegal workers to apply for an indefinite legal status and reforms the H-2A guest worker program.  Hayes called it a commonsense way to ensure the hardworking agricultural community will have the support it needs. 

The H-2A guest worker program allows foreign farmworkers to apply for a five-year legal status renewable for as long as the workers remain in agriculture. If they pay a $1,000 fine, workers with at least 10 years farm work experience could receive legal permanent residence, allowing them to work anywhere, after four years. Other legalized workers would have to wait eight years to earn that path.

Congress voted last night on the National Defense Authorization Act.  Hayes touted part of the measure which repealed the so-called ‘widow’s tax’, whereby Gold Star families were losing hundreds of dollars a month in benefits.  Hayes has advocated for it's elimination since coming to Congress.  She introduced legislation to address the offset earlier this year. 

The measure also includes 12 weeks of paid family leave for all federal employees and a pay increase for service members. 

But Hayes says she was disappointed that several bipartisan provisions she supported in the House bill passed in July were not contained in the final package.  Those included repealing the 2002 Authorization of Military Force, preventing unauthorized war with Iran, and ending American support for the war in Yemen.