BARN Act
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Rep. Allen, Rick W. [R-GA-12]
ID: A000372
Bill's Journey to Becoming a Law
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2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.
3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.
4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.
5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.
6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.
7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
Bill Summary
Another brilliant piece of legislative theater, courtesy of our esteemed Congress. Let's dissect this monstrosity and see what kind of disease it's trying to treat.
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The BARN Act (because who doesn't love a good acronym?) claims to reform the H-2A program for nonimmigrant agricultural workers. In reality, its primary purpose is to massage the egos of farm lobby groups and their congressional lapdogs while pretending to address labor shortages.
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill makes several changes to the existing law, including:
* Transferring authority from the Secretary of Labor to the Secretary of Agriculture (because who needs expertise in labor issues when you can have someone with a green thumb?) * Redefining "agricultural labor" to include more activities (read: expanding the pool of cheap labor) * Introducing a deemed approval process for applications (i.e., if the Secretary doesn't respond within 15 days, it's automatically approved – because who needs oversight?) * Eliminating the 50-Percent Rule (which required employers to demonstrate that at least half of their workforce was comprised of U.S. workers) * Capping wage rates at 115% of the federal minimum wage (because who needs a living wage when you can have cheap labor?)
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The usual suspects are involved:
* Farm lobby groups, who will get to exploit more cheap labor * Agricultural employers, who will benefit from reduced labor costs and increased flexibility * Nonimmigrant agricultural workers, who will be treated like disposable cogs in the machine * Taxpayers, who will foot the bill for this charade
**Potential Impact & Implications:** This bill is a classic case of " lipstick on a pig." It pretends to address labor shortages while actually perpetuating the exploitation of nonimmigrant workers. The real impact will be:
* Increased profits for agricultural employers at the expense of worker welfare * Further erosion of labor standards and protections * A continued reliance on cheap, exploitable labor rather than investing in automation or domestic workforce development
In short, this bill is a cynical attempt to placate farm lobby groups while maintaining the status quo of exploitation. It's a disease masquerading as a cure – and we're all just pawns in their game of legislative theater.
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đź’° Campaign Finance Network
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Project 2025 Policy Matches
This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document. Higher similarity scores indicate stronger thematic connections.
Introduction
— 612 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise Alternative View. Some conservatives believe that temporary worker programs help to fill jobs that Americans will not fill, prevent illegal immigration by giving farmers and others who hire low-skilled labor access to workers, and keep down the prices of food and other products and services produced by the temporary workers. Some credibly argue that, absent the H-2A program, many farmers would have to drastically increase wages, raising the price of food for all Americans, and that even such wage increases may not be sufficient to attract enough temporary American workers to complete the necessary farm tasks to get food products to market since those jobs are, by their nature, seasonal. Those who share this view argue that any plan to phase out the program should weigh the program’s current costs (relatively low) and the program’s current benefits (makes American farming more profitable and sustainable while keeping down food costs). l Phase out the H-2B visa program. The H-2B visa, for nonagricultural seasonal workers, suffers from many of the same harms and abuses as H-2A, albeit of lesser scope because of its cap and distribution across many sectors. Congress should immediately cap this program at its current levels and establish a schedule for its gradual and predictable phasedown over no more than 10 years. Alternative View. As with the H-2A program, some conservatives see the H-2B program as a valuable program that provides low-cost temporary workers in jobs that American companies, by and large, cannot find enough American workers to fill (e.g., tourist season childcare providers at ski resorts, swimming instructors at summer camps, housekeepers and groundskeepers at amusement parks, and extra summer cooks at restaurants that serve national park patrons).These seasonal jobs are less desirable to Americans who predominantly prefer year-round work. Labor shortages after the pandemic support this belief. Absent the H-2B program, many of these seasonal businesses would be forced to cut their hours or even close altogether. Any plan to phase out the program should weigh the program's current costs (relatively low) and the program’s current benefits (makes seasonal business more feasible). Hire American Requirements. When government purchases goods or ser- vices, if at all possible, not only should the company be an American company and the products be manufactured in America, but the companies should also be encouraged to hire American workers. Likewise, private employers should be free to prefer our own countrymen. l Congress should mandate that all new federal contracts require at least 70 percent of the contractor’s employees to be U.S. citizens, with the percentage increasing to at least 95 percent over a 10-year period.
Introduction
— 612 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise Alternative View. Some conservatives believe that temporary worker programs help to fill jobs that Americans will not fill, prevent illegal immigration by giving farmers and others who hire low-skilled labor access to workers, and keep down the prices of food and other products and services produced by the temporary workers. Some credibly argue that, absent the H-2A program, many farmers would have to drastically increase wages, raising the price of food for all Americans, and that even such wage increases may not be sufficient to attract enough temporary American workers to complete the necessary farm tasks to get food products to market since those jobs are, by their nature, seasonal. Those who share this view argue that any plan to phase out the program should weigh the program’s current costs (relatively low) and the program’s current benefits (makes American farming more profitable and sustainable while keeping down food costs). l Phase out the H-2B visa program. The H-2B visa, for nonagricultural seasonal workers, suffers from many of the same harms and abuses as H-2A, albeit of lesser scope because of its cap and distribution across many sectors. Congress should immediately cap this program at its current levels and establish a schedule for its gradual and predictable phasedown over no more than 10 years. Alternative View. As with the H-2A program, some conservatives see the H-2B program as a valuable program that provides low-cost temporary workers in jobs that American companies, by and large, cannot find enough American workers to fill (e.g., tourist season childcare providers at ski resorts, swimming instructors at summer camps, housekeepers and groundskeepers at amusement parks, and extra summer cooks at restaurants that serve national park patrons).These seasonal jobs are less desirable to Americans who predominantly prefer year-round work. Labor shortages after the pandemic support this belief. Absent the H-2B program, many of these seasonal businesses would be forced to cut their hours or even close altogether. Any plan to phase out the program should weigh the program's current costs (relatively low) and the program’s current benefits (makes seasonal business more feasible). Hire American Requirements. When government purchases goods or ser- vices, if at all possible, not only should the company be an American company and the products be manufactured in America, but the companies should also be encouraged to hire American workers. Likewise, private employers should be free to prefer our own countrymen. l Congress should mandate that all new federal contracts require at least 70 percent of the contractor’s employees to be U.S. citizens, with the percentage increasing to at least 95 percent over a 10-year period. — 613 — Department of Labor and Related Agencies l Congress must amend the law so that employers can again have the freedom to make hiring Americans a priority. Despite the significant advantages that preferring citizens over (work-authorized) aliens in hiring would provide to American workers, businesses, and the country at large, such a practice has been illegal since 1986.25 This makes no sense. Alternative View Some conservatives believe that the government has a duty to limit its spending in order to limit how much it takes from American families. This means that when the government spends money, it must find the most econom- ical and effective way to do so. Excessive government spending will be borne by American workers and families through reduced incomes and purchasing power. There may be good reasons to require a certain percentage of American workers on federal contracts, but those decisions should be based on economy and efficiency as opposed to arbitrary quotas. Visa Fraud. American businesses that commit visa fraud and hire illegal immi- grants should not be the beneficiaries of federal spending. But a 2020 report by the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) examined the depart- ment’s process for excluding employers who commit visa fraud and abuse from federal contracts and found much to be desired. l To protect the American workforce from unscrupulous immigration lawyers, employers, and labor brokers, the department must follow the recommendations of the OIG and institute more robust investigations for suspected visa fraud and speedier debarments for those found guilty. INTERNATIONAL LABOR POLICY Leveling the International Playing Field for Workers. As recent decades of intense import competition and offshoring have made clear, American workers suffer when the U.S. opens its markets to foreign nations’ minimal labor standards and exploitative conditions. While federal law already prohibits the importation of goods produced with forced labor, the prohibitions are toothless without effective means of enforcement and cover only the most basic of workers’ rights. The Trump Administration and its United States Trade Representative (USTR) took unprece- dented steps to redress the issue for workers. The U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) contained the strongest and most far-reaching labor provisions of any free trade agreement (FTA), with protections and commitments to reduce labor abuses and raise wages. It also established new modes of enforcement. For future FTAs, the USTR should replicate the labor provisions of USMCA, especially the provisions to:
About These Correlations
Policy matches are calculated using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text. A score of 60% or higher indicates meaningful thematic overlap. This does not imply direct causation or intent, but highlights areas where legislation aligns with Project 2025 policy objectives.