S. 4249

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4249 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4249

To authorize, if applicable, the Secretary of Labor to annually 
establish a 2-tiered wage rate for H-2A workers that distinguishes 
between entry-level and experience-level workers and to annually 
establish a compensation adjustment factor to account for the value of 
housing provided to H-2A workers.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

March 26, 2026

Mr. Budd (for himself, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, 
Mr. Boozman, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Ricketts, Mr. Tillis, Ms. Lummis, and Mr. 
Wicker) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To authorize, if applicable, the Secretary of Labor to annually 
establish a 2-tiered wage rate for H-2A workers that distinguishes 
between entry-level and experience-level workers and to annually 
establish a compensation adjustment factor to account for the value of 
housing provided to H-2A workers.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.

This Act may be cited as the ``Farmworker Access and Retention 
Modernization Stability Act'' or the ``FARM Stability Act''.

SEC. 2. ANNUAL WAGE RATES AND ADJUSTMENTS FOR H-2A WORKERS.

Section 218(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1188(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(3) If the Secretary of Labor determines a minimum wage rate 
other than the Federal or State minimum wage rate applicable to 
agricultural employment is required to be paid to H-2A workers, the 
Secretary shall--
``(A) annually establish a 2-tiered wage rate based on the 
skill level required for H-2A occupations that--
``(i) classifies positions requiring entry-level 
workers as Skill Level I;
``(ii) classifies positions requiring experience-
level workers with formal education, training 
certificates, or significant experience in agricultural 
operations as Skill Level II; and
``(iii) sets the wage rate for Skill Level II H-2 A 
workers higher than the wage rate for Skill Level I H-
2A workers; and
``(B) account for the value of housing provided to H-2A 
workers by--
``(i) annually establishing a compensation 
adjustment factor to the wage rate established for each 
State pursuant to subparagraph (A);
``(ii) computing such compensation adjustment 
factor as an equivalent hourly rate based on the 
weighted statewide average of fair market rents for a 
4-bedroom housing unit available from the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development; and
``(iii) keeping such compensation adjustment factor 
at or below 30 percent of the relevant wage rate 
established pursuant to subparagraph (A).''.
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