S. 495: Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act

117th Congress · introduced 2021-03-01 · Immigration · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S956)

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2021-03-01 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S956) Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act

Plain summary

Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act This bill authorizes additional H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers in states with relatively low unemployment. Currently, such visas are capped nationally at 66,000 a year. For positions in states that had a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.5% or lower in at least three of the six most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly reports issued in the previous fiscal half year, a certain number of H-2B visas may be issued that do not count against the 66,000 per year cap. For such exempted H-2B visas, a state may receive each year no more than 125% of the number of visas for aliens working in the state in the last completed fiscal year or 2,500, whichever is less.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD] · 1 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Mike Rounds (R-SD)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Thune, John [R-SD] reported raising $4.7 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (3)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Exemption: A rule that removes certain people, property or activities from a tax or requirement.
Fiscal year: The 12-month period a government uses for its budget. The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30 and is named for the calendar year in which it ends. Most states use July 1 to June 30.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-117s495.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/117/s>

Record fed-us-cong117-s495 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong117 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong117