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S 495 117th Congress Senate Immigration Foreign labor Temporary and part-time employment Unemployment Visas and passports

Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act

Introduced: March 1, 2021 Introduced by: Thune, John Republican · South Dakota See on congress.gov
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This bill died when the 117th Congress ended
It never became law before the 117th Congress (2021–2022) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Mar 1, 2021
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S956)
Mar 1, 2021
Introduced in Senate
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 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act

This bill authorizes additional H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers in states with relatively low unemployment. Currently, such visas are capped nationally at 66,000 a year.

For positions in states that had a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.5% or lower in at least three of the six most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly reports issued in the previous fiscal half year, a certain number of H-2B visas may be issued that do not count against the 66,000 per year cap. For such exempted H-2B visas, a state may receive each year no more than 125% of the number of visas for aliens working in the state in the last completed fiscal year or 2,500, whichever is less.

What's happening now March 1, 2021

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S956)

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Cosponsors 1
All 1 Republican 1
R
Rounds, Mike
South Dakota · Mar 3, 2021
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 495: Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act. 117th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/117-S-495/
MLA
"S. 495: Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act." 117th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/117-S-495/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 495, 117th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/117-S-495/.
Markdown link
[S. 495: Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/117-S-495/)
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