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S. 175 · 116th CongressIn committee

Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2019

Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: continuing resolutionA stopgap law funding the government at existing levels when the annual appropriations bills are not done by October 1.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) S294) · January 17, 2019

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

Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2019

This bill establishes a program for alien agricultural workers to obtain temporary resident status ("blue card status") and procedures to obtain permanent resident status.

An alien shall qualify for the status if he or she performed the required amount of qualified agricultural work. The Department of Homeland Security may grant blue card status to qualified individuals who pass security checks and are not disqualified for various reasons, such as an aggravated felony conviction. DHS may waive certain disqualifications for humanitarian or public interest reasons.

Blue card holders shall be authorized for employment in the United States and travel outside the United States. Such individuals shall be ineligible for various federal benefits, including the healthcare premium assistance tax credit.

Individuals going through deportation or removal proceedings shall be given a chance to apply for blue card status if they qualify.

Blue card holders may apply for permanent resident status, subject to various requirements, including work requirements over a specified time period and payment of federal taxes. Blue card status shall not last longer than eight years.

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on January 17, 2019. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

Status
Introduced
January 17, 2019
In committee
January 17, 2019
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 January 17, 2019: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S294)

  1. Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
  2. Passage by the Senate
  3. Passage by the House
  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 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 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?

Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced it on January 17, 2019, and 14 members have since signed on as cosponsors.

They are 13 Democrats, 1 independent.

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 January 17, 2019, 2793 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2793 days ago, on January 17, 2019.

Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 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. Senate
    In committee, no floor vote yet
  2. House
    Awaits Senate 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.