On Thursday November 17th, the Senate approved the conference report that combines a minibus spending bill and a continuing resolution extension that keeps the government funded for almost another month. The measure passed 70-30, hours after it passed the House, 298-121, and President Obama signed the bill Friday afternoon.
The bill keeps the government funded through December 16 and contains the following legislative language:
None of the funds made available by this or any other Act for fiscal year 2012 may be used to implement, administer, or enforce, prior to January 1, 2012, the rule entitled “Wage Methodology for the Temporary Non-agricultural Employment H-2B Program” published by the Department of Labor in the Federal Register on January 19, 2011 (76 Fed. Reg. 3452 et seq.).
In its Joint Explanatory Statement, the conference committee also included the following report language:
Section 546 prohibits any funds from being used to implement, administer, or enforce the “Wage Methodology for the Temporary Non-agricultural Employment H-2B Program” prior to January 1, 2012, to allow time for Congress to address this rulemaking. In making prevailing wage determinations for the H-2B nonimmigrant visa program for employment prior to January 1, 2012, the conferees direct the Secretary of Labor to continue to apply the rule entitled “Labor Certification Process and Enforcement for Temporary Employment in Occupations Other Than Agriculture or Registered Nursing in the United States (H-2B Workers); and Other Technical Changes” published by the Department of Labor on December 19, 2008 (73 Fed. Reg. 78020 et seq).