Sens. Grassley (R-IA) and Durbin(D-IL) have reintroduced their H-1B bill. They have introduced a version of this bill for the last severalCongressional sessions.  The last versionof the bill only attracted 5 co-sponsors, and never had any significant tractionin Congress.  This term, competing andrelated House bills have been offered by Rep.Issa and Rep.Lofgren. 
It remains unclear how this onediffers, if at all, from the last versions, since the textof the bill has not yet been released. The lastversion of the bill included several significant changes to the H-1Bprocess.  That bill creates a preference systemfor the H-1B lottery, which prioritized H-1B workers in this order:
  • Masters (or greater) degree in STEMfrom a US university
  • Companies who offer a Level 4 wagefor that H-1B worker
  • Masters (or greater) degree in anyother major from a US university
  • Companies who offer a Level 3 wagefor that H-1B worker
  •  Bachelor’s degree in STEM from a US university
  • Bachelor’s degree in any othermajor from a US university
  •  Schedule A occupation
  • Good corporate citizens
Other components of the bill included:
  • H-1Bs must pay at least a level 2wage for all H-1Bs
  • Require a posting on USA jobs.gov for30 days prior to filing an H-1B
  • Employer must certify that no USworker has been displaced and that the employer has attempted to recruit USworkers
  • 50/50 employers are barred from theH-1B process
  • H-1B limited to 3 years, unless theH-1B worker has an approved I-140
  • Additional burden for employers whoplace workers at third-party worksites.
  • Increased investigative power forDOL
  • Changes to the L-1 program