Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) introduced the Protecting American Workers Through H-1B Modernization Act on October 13, 2026, giving the Senate bill of the same name a House companion. Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) introduced the Senate version. The bill would raise the salary threshold that lets “H-1B dependent” employers avoid the extra recruitment and non-displacement duties that apply when they rely heavily on the visa. (Grothman’s release and Husted’s release .)
Under current law, an employer whose H-1B workers make up more than a set share of its workforce is an H-1B-dependent employer. It must attest that it has tried to recruit U.S. workers for the job and will not displace them. Employers are exempted from those attestations if they pay the H-1B worker at least $60,000 a year, or if the worker holds a master’s degree or higher. The $60,000 figure was set in 1998 and was intended to equal twice the Social Security Administration’s National Average Wage Index. It has never been adjusted for inflation. That wage index is now nearly $70,000, so the inflation-adjusted equivalent is nearly $140,000, according to Husted’s office.
The bill would replace the fixed $60,000 line with a moving standard equal to two times the National Average Wage Index, so it keeps pace with wages instead of staying frozen. It would not set a minimum salary for H-1B workers. What it changes is which hires at companies that are H-1B-dependent have to go through the recruitment and non-displacement attestations — a group the sponsors describe as mostly IT outsourcing and staffing firms.
The proposal is not law. It must pass both chambers and be signed, and a similar idea cleared the House Judiciary Committee in 2017 before dying. Filing the House companion on October 13 puts a vehicle in each chamber, a procedural step rather than a change to any rule.
For readers, there is no immediate effect on H-1B petitions or extensions, on EB-2 NIW or EB-1A petitions, or on green-card applications. It is one of several H-1B-related items moving at the same time, alongside the H.R. 1 fee measures, DHS’s proposed rule to end deference to prior approvals and the proposed OPT fee. Those are separate actions with their own timelines, and none of them changes eligibility today.
Need help with your immigration petition? Visit QuickFiling.us for AI-guided NIW and EB-1A petition preparation.
Source: U.S. Sen. Jon Husted and U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman (official press releases)