Tillis bill to keep food prices down, provide relief to farmers

Legislation proposed this week from Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) would temporarily limit wage rate increases for agricultural workers through the H-2A visa program to keep farmers’ labor costs down and combat rising food prices for Americans.

Food prices rose 4.6 percent over the 12-month period ending in September, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Due to widespread inflation, the H-2A Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR), which is the rate of pay received by temporary agricultural workers through the H-2A program, is expected to rise significantly in 2022 and result in increased U.S. food production costs, according to Sen. Tillis’ office. 

“Farmers in North Carolina and across the country are facing unprecedented challenges, led by the crippling labor shortage and inflation crisis,” Sen. Tillis said. “If farmers’ labor costs continue to skyrocket, Americans will suffer from even higher food prices and empty shelves at the grocery store, hurting low-income families the most.” 

The Keep Food Local and Affordable Act of 2021, S. 3134, introduced by Sen. Tillis on Tuesday, would keep the required H-2A adverse effect wage rate at its 2021 rate for the upcoming calendar year to stabilize U.S. food prices, according to the text of the bill.

The legislation, if enacted, would keep the AEWR at its 2021 rate in states that have an unemployment rate of no more than 5 percent and that are experiencing low availability of domestic workers. It would also allow governors of states with food price increases of more than 3 percent in the past 12 months to request their state’s wage rate stay at its 2021 rate, according to a bill summary provided by the senator’s office.

“The H-2A visa program has long been a last-resort option for our farmers to fill gaps and provide assistance; however, an unsustainable increase in the wage rate would only exacerbate the current national labor crisis. While broader program reforms are needed, this necessary legislation will give temporary relief to farmers’ rapidly rising input costs while maintaining worker pay and protections and allow U.S. farmers to continue feeding American families,” Sen. Tillis said. 

For 2021, the average national AEWR farmers must pay H-2A workers is $14.62, the lawmaker’s office said, adding that over the last five years, the national average AEWR has increased by 20 percent.

Sen. Tillis’ bill is supported by the North Carolina Growers Association, USA Farmers, and the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, among others.

“North Carolina Farm Bureau thanks Sen. Tillis for his tireless work to address the labor needs of North Carolina’s farmers,” Shawn Harding, president of the North Carolina Farm Bureau, said. “The Keep Food Local and Affordable Act is a reasoned approach to reducing one of agriculture’s most pressing concerns. Providing short-term Adverse Effect Wage Rate relief, based on Unemployment Rate and Food Price Index data, is a positive stop-gap until long-term agricultural labor reform is a reality.”

The legislation will be considered by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.