(Falls Church, Va.) — USApple President & CEO Jim Bair today joined Sen. Mike Bennet (D-Colo), Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and agriculture stakeholders in support of the Affordable and Secure Food Act (ASFA) introduced today by Senator Bennet.
Speaking at a press conference on Capitol Hill, Bair said, “Apple growers face an untenable future as input costs, particularly labor, continue to outpace even the high inflation of recent months. The Affordable and Secure Food Act would stabilize the domestic agriculture workforce and provide critical reforms to the H-2A program. The clock is ticking, and the Senate must act now to provide the certainty and predictability needed by the apple industry and others in labor intensive agriculture.”
The bill would:
- Provide earned legal status to experience workers who pay a fine, go through a background check and commit to working in agriculture in the future.
- Freeze the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) for one year with a cap on future increases of 3 percent for most states.
- Help secure the border with E-Verify for agricultural employers after the workforce reforms have been enacted.
“Apple growers from coast-to-coast are hanging on by a thread as labor as input costs spiral out of control,” continued Bair. “The reforms included in the Affordable and Secure Food Act would provide much needed stability and certainty for the agriculture workforce and predictability to the H-2A program. In short, it is good for both growers and workers. We thank Senator Bennet for bringing this proposal forward and urge the Senate to act swiftly.”
