Wafla Testimony on SB 5996 – Collecting H-2A Data

Senate Labor & Commerce Committee

Public Hearing, January 29, 2024

Thank you Madam Chair and member of the committee. 

I am Scott Dilley representing Wafla. We’re a nonprofit organization specializing in agricultural HR and the facilitation of H-2A. 

I’m here in opposition to this bill. 

Section 1 is not necessary. Employer worksite and housing locations are already publicly available. And ESD already visits almost every H-2A employer to do worker outreach, perform assessments, and gather feedback. ESD already has a program established to handle compliance issues, so there is no need for this section.

Regarding Section 2, ESD already conducts annual prevailing wage surveys of both employers and workers. The expansion of the worker survey in Section 2 raises questions of why and at what cost? 

The data gathered from the current or expanded worker survey won’t be used for any official reason. The US Dept of Labor does not accept the worker survey results for determining prevailing wages for H-2A. It looks at employer survey data. So the state would spend approximately $1 million dollars more each year to collect data that not necessarily statistically significant or relevant. The survey requirements in this bill don’t guarantee a statistically valid survey. It seems unwise to specify the survey methodology when ESD has trusted, professional data analysts who specialize in these matters. 

If there are suggestions about how to improve the worker survey, those can be discussed by agencies, workers, and growers at ESD’s Ag and Seasonal Workforce Services committee. I ask you for your no vote on this bill. Thank you.

Link to the public hearing on TVW 

Link to bill information