On the federal level, New Hampshire’s two Congressmen and two Senators introduced bipartisan companion legislation that would extend by three years the temporary H-2B relief that Congress approved in May of 2005. As you might recall, the 2005 law, among other things, provided an exemption from the 66,000 annual H-2B cap for workers that have participated in the H-2B program during the three preceding years. However, this relief was temporary and is set to expire October 1, 2006. The legislation introduced this week simply extends the relief by an additional three years. After much discussion with our allies on Capitol Hill, the consensus was that a multi-year extension was more politically viable than a permanent solution.
