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  Daybreak Feb. 6: USDA: Census response ‘strong,’ deadline’s today Today is officially the last day for farmers to submit their responses for the 2022 Census of Agriculture. USDA spokeswoman Teresa White says the response to the census so far has been “strong.” “As far as what will happen to responses received after Monday, we want producers to know that their efforts will count, and to please complete the Census of Agriculture as soon as possible,” she says in an email to Agri-Pulse. “We don’t want any producer to be unrepresented in these influential and widely used data.” For more on this week’s D.C. agenda, read our Washington Week Ahead. Budget chair: Lax work rules discouraging workforce

  The H-1B visa category was introduced in 1990 as a way for employers  to advocate for foreign-born professionals to occupy "specialty" positions in emerging industries like engineering and medical sciences. At the time, the cap was set to 65,000 visas for employment that required at least a bachelor's degree, or the equivalent . The H-1B visa cap has remained relatively the same aside from an additional 20,000 visas allocated for master's or doctorate holders in 2006, despite massive changes in labor market and industry demands in the decades since. With an increasing population of prospects and a stagnant number of available visas, the battle for international labor became especially fierce and Big Tech worked to maintain their top spot in ensuring global talent. A reliance on global talent Google, Meta, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft spent nearly $70 million in federal lobbying in 2022. That number isn't so surprising as the past year set a precedent in Big Tech...