Farm Workforce Support Act of 2025
The Farm Workforce Support Act of 2025 would require the Comptroller General (GAO) to produce a two-year-on-report about the H-2A temporary guest worker program. The report, due to several congressional committees, would analyze how the program affects hiring (including impact on U.S. workers and whether employers rely more on guest workers), housing challenges for guest workers, how wage rules influence employers’ ability to recruit domestic versus guest workers, the economic impact on the families of guest workers, and whether employers comply with the working-condition guarantees in H-2A contracts. The bill defines key terms (e.g., American employer, domestic worker, guest worker, H-2A program) to guide the analysis and the audience for the findings. The bill explicitly sets the short title as the Farm Workforce Support Act of 2025 and designates GAO as the agency responsible for the report, with delivery to four combined House and Senate committees. It does not create new H-2A rules; rather, it commissions a broad review intended to inform policy discussions about how the H-2A program interacts with domestic labor, housing access, wages, family impacts, and contract compliance.
Key Points
- 1Directs the Comptroller General to submit a study within two years after enactment to specific congressional committees (House Education and the Workforce; House Agriculture; Senate HELP; Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry) on the H-2A program, including defined terms used.
- 2The report will analyze the program’s impact on hiring, including effects on domestic workers vs. guest workers and whether American employers are increasingly relying on the H-2A program.
- 3The report will identify challenges in securing adequate and affordable housing for guest workers.
- 4The report will assess how wage rate requirements under H-2A affect an American employer’s ability to recruit domestic workers compared with guest workers.
- 5The report will examine the economic impact of lost wages from a guest worker’s spouse and unmarried children and will evaluate compliance with working-condition guarantees in guest workers’ contracts.