{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/65000-additional-h-2b-visas-to-be-issued-to-support-small-businesses-and-address-worker-shortage", "65,000 Additional H-2B Visas to be Issued to Support Small Businesses & Address Worker Shortage", "2022-10-17", "2022", "2022-10", "Independent", "Senate", "ME", "Angus S. King, Jr.", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", "angusking", "https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/table", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014Following a push led by U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) announced today that they will increase the number of H-2B visas for Fiscal Year 2023 to the maximum number, approximately 65,000 additional visas, to help small businesses hire workers. These visas are on top of the 66,000 H-2B visas that are normally available each fiscal year. Notably, the announcement made clear that a portion of these additional visas will be \u201creserved to meet the demand for workers during the peak summer season.\u201d DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called Senator Collins and Senator King to inform them of the additional visas.\n\n\u201cAs small businesses in Maine and America continue to face severe workforce shortages, these 65,000 additional H-2B visas will help our employers find the help they urgently need, \u201d said Senators Collins and King. \u201cAlthough this relief is welcome news to many Maine small businesses, there is still an overwhelming need given the current tight labor market and record low unemployment. We must improve the H-2B program to ensure Maine small businesses do not continue to suffer from a lack of workers.\u201d\n\nSenators Collins and King have long led efforts to address workforce shortages. Following a push in May, DHS and DOL announced that a temporary rule had been finalized that provided an additional 35,000 H-2B visas to help small businesses fill seasonal job openings during the busy summer season. These visas supplemented the previous supply of 33,000 H-2B visas for the second half of Fiscal Year 2022.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:20:33Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/65000-additional-h-2b-visas-to-be-issued-to-support-small-businesses-and-address-worker-shortage"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8546561002731323, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}