Congress has reached a tentative agreement on a bill to fund the federal government through September 30.

Importantly, the bill contains limited H-2B cap relief and other H-2B provisions beneficial to program users, including the horse industry.

Horse industry members use the H-2B program when they cannot find American workers to fill semi-skilled jobs at racetracks, horse shows, fairs, and in similar non-agricultural activities.

The cap for H-2B visas for the first half of the fiscal year was reached on January 10. For many employers that means no H-2B workers will be available if they are needed in 2017. This could cause many horse employers to struggle to find enough workers and force many to reduce their operations