Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-04), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, sent a letter alongside a bipartisan coalition of colleagues to the Chairwomen and Ranking Members of both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees requesting a freeze on the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR).
“The national average AEWR has already more than doubled over the past two decades, making agricultural guest labor unaffordable for farm employers and resulting in higher consumer costs,” the letter reads.
“While the AEWR varies by region, nearly half of all states are projected to have an AEWR between $17 and $19 per hour in 2024. Meanwhile, producers in Canada pay closer to $11 per hour for fieldworkers, or even approximately $1.50 per hour in Mexico. This uneven playing field greatly disadvantages our domestic producers.
“For farmers and ranchers who use H-2A, the skyrocketing AEWR will only compound inflated input costs like energy and fertilizer, other guest worker expenses like transportation and housing, and burdens from several impending federal regulations and fees.”
The United States Department of Labor annually adjusts the AEWR, and as prices and cost of living continue to rise, increasing labor costs for farmers and producers threatens both the domestic and global supply chains that rely on American goods made in states with high H-2A labor rates.
Rep. Newhouse is the author and sponsor of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act that was passed in the House of Representatives in the 116th and 117th Congresses, and has been introduced in the 118th Congress. This legislation contains an AEWR freeze and makes meaningful reforms to the H-2A agricultural guestworker program with a first of its kind, merit-based visa program.
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