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H.R. 7868 · 96th CongressIn committee

Farm Labor Contractor Act of 1980

Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Education and Labor. · July 30, 1980

Live record from Congress.gov, updated as the official record changes.
What this bill would do
Official summary · Congressional Research Service

Farm Labor Contractor Act of 1980 - Amends the Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act of 1963 to exclude any labor union from the definition of "farm labor contractor" (thus exempting labor unions from coverage under such Act). Excludes also from such definition of "farm labor contractor" (but only grants a limited exemption from registration to): any farm, processor, cannery, gin, packing shed, or nursery which, whether or not for a fee, recruits, solicits, hires, furnishes, or transports migrant workers for its own operation, and its employees. Requires such entity and such employees to comply with specified obligations of farm labor contractors to ascertain and disclose certain information to each worker at the time the worker is recruited. Excludes also from such definition of "farm labor contractor" (thus exempting from coverage): (1) any farmer, processor, canner, ginner, packing shed operator, or nurseryman, regardless of the legal form of business organization, if he or she engages in any such activity individually on behalf of an operation owned and operated only by one or more members of his or her immediate family; (2) any employee of such entity who does not recruit, solicit, hire, furnish, or supervise migrant workers, but who may, at any one time, transport not more than two other employees in a vehicle owned or controlled by the entity for which the entity has complied with specified requirements as they pertain to vehicles; and (3) any farmer, processor, ginner, packing shed operator, or nurseryman that engages in such activity for its own operation, regardless of the legal form of business organization, which is owned and operated by one or more members of the same immediate family, or its employees, provided that not more than ten non-family employees performed agricultural labor for it on any single day during the preceding 12-month period. Makes the requirement that every farm contractor ascertain and disclose specified information to each worker at the time the worker is recruited applicable at the time the worker is hired, if the worker is not recruited. Makes inapplicable the requirement that a farm labor contractor inform a worker of the sums paid to such contractor on account of the labor of such worker, whenever a specified exempt entity pays agricultural workers directly by check. Requires that the itemized statement of wages and withholdings, which contractors are required to give workers, include a statement of net earnings. Requires that every farm, processor, cannery, gin, packing shed, or nursery, and its employees (as described in the limited exemption above): (1) deal only with properly registered farm labor contractors and comply with specified obligations (except registration) and prohibitions for farm labor contractors and with other specified requirements of such Act; (2) maintain a policy of insurance or show satisfactory proof of financial responsibility under such Act; (3) maintain all vehicles and housing in accordance with specified standards; (4) refrain from knowingly giving false or misleading information to migrant workers concerning the terms, conditions, or existence of agricultural employment; and (5) not fail, without justification, to comply with the terms of any working arrangements made with migrant workers. Makes penalty provisions of such Act applicable to such entities and their employees that have been granted such limited exemption from coverage.

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on July 30, 1980. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

Status
Introduced
July 30, 1980
In committee
July 30, 1980
Passed a chamber
Cleared Congress
Enacted
Where this sits in the process
Common questions
Composed from the official record
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?

4 steps remain before this bill could become law.

The record's latest action, on July 30, 1980: Referred to House Committee on Education and Labor.

  1. Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
  2. Passage by the House
  3. Passage by the Senate
  4. The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?

Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.

In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.

This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.

Has anyone actually voted on it?

No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.

A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.

Who is behind it?

WILLIAM FORD (D-MI) introduced it on July 30, 1980, and 24 members have since signed on as cosponsors.

They are 24 Democrats.

Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.

How long has it been in play?

It was introduced on July 30, 1980, 16843 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 16843 days ago, on July 30, 1980.

Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.

Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.

Vote history

  1. House
    In committee, no floor vote yet
  2. Senate
    Awaits House passage
  3. President
    Awaits both chambers
No recorded votes yet
No roll call in this Congress cites this bill. Most bills die in committee without ever reaching a recorded floor vote.