Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act of 2018
Public Law 115-218 · H.R. 5956 · 115th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Donald Trump (R) on Jul 24, 2018 · Government Operations and Politics
Sponsor: Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT-1)
Cosponsors (1): Rep. Gregorio Sablan
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateVoice vote
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act of 2018
(Sec. 3) This bill extends by 10 years, through 2029, and revises the immigration transition program for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
The Governor of the CNMI must submit to the Department of Labor, and Labor must approve, a plan for using fees collected for vocational education.
Labor must report on the number of asylum seekers it anticipates at the end of the transition program and its efforts to prepare for the asylum seekers.
The bill revises the Commonwealth Only Transitional Worker permit system, including to limit the validity of a permit to a one-year period, at most.
Employers petitioning for one or more such permits must pay a specified fraud prevention and detection fee.
Before an employer's petition for a permit may be approved by Labor, the employer must apply to Labor for a temporary labor certification that confirms (1) there are not sufficient U.S. workers in the CNMI who are able, willing, qualified, and available to perform the work involved in the petition; and (2) employment of the nonimmigrant worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. Workers under permits must be paid the highest of CNMI minimum wage, federal minimum wage, or the prevailing wage for the occupation. The bill provides for renewal of permits and three-year permits for workers permitted since FY2015.
The bill caps the number of permits that may be issued each fiscal year. The cap is lowered each year.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Related bills
2 bills the Library of Congress relates to this one.
H.R. 4869Related bill
Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act
S. 2325Related bill
Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act
Data notes
Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 13 actions.
- Jul 24, 2018Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 115-218.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Jul 12, 2018FloorFloor · Presented to President.
- Jun 29, 2018FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- Jun 28, 2018FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- Jun 6, 2018CommitteeCommittee · Received in the Senate, read twice.
- Jun 5, 2018FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 5956.
- FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Bishop (UT) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
- May 24, 2018CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in House
Data notes
Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.
Amendments
No amendments to this bill are on record.
Data notes
Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.
Official record
The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.