Republicans have introduced legislation that would raise a key salary threshold in the H-1B visa program from $60,000 to almost $140,000, a change that could significantly affect some companies that rely heavily on foreign workers. Republican Representative Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin has introduced the Protecting American Workers Through H-1B Modernization Act, which would change rules governing so-called H-1B-dependent employers—companies with a significant share of their workforces employed through the visa program. Republican Senator Jon Husted of Ohio has also introduced a companion bill in the Senate.
The proposal comes amid a push by the Trump administration and some congressional Republicans to reshape the H-1B program, including through higher fees, tougher reviews and new restrictions on employers that hire foreign workers. Under current law, H-1B-dependent employers are subject to additional requirements intended to protect American workers. Certain H-1B employees, however, are exempt from those requirements if they earn at least $60,000 a year or hold a master's degree or higher.
The legislation would not require all H-1B workers to earn $140,000. Instead, it would raise the salary threshold at which a worker can qualify for the exemption. The $60,000 threshold has been in place since 1998.
Grothman's bill would replace the fixed amount with a threshold set at twice the Social Security Administration's National Average Wage Index. Grothman's office said that would put the figure at nearly $140,000. Because the threshold would be tied to the wage index, rather than remaining fixed, it could rise or fall as average wages change.
Grothman said the change was needed because the existing threshold had not kept pace with wages. "American workers should come first in their own country," the congressman said in a news release on Tuesday. "Employers should not be able to use a salary threshold established nearly three decades ago to bypass protections for qualified Americans.
There is no excuse for leaving this threshold unchanged when it should have been raised years ago." "Washington's failure to act shows how little the Establishment cares about unemployed Americans when employers want access to cheap foreign labor," Grothman continued. "This bill would update that threshold and help ensure American workers have a fair opportunity to compete for these jobs." The House bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, an early step in the legislative process. It would still need to pass the House and Senate and be signed into law before taking effect.
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