# 119-hr-8335: PROTECT Act of 2026

119-hr-8335, PROTECT Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Kennedy, Mike [R-UT-3] (R-UT); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-07).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8335
- As of: 2026-10-07
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-8335
- Congress: 119
- Title: PROTECT Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-04-16
- Sponsor: Rep. Kennedy, Mike [R-UT-3] (R-UT)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Immigration
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-07

## Summary

**This bill would tighten H-1B rules by setting a higher wage floor and restricting third-party placements while giving fee relief to certain health-care employers.** It aims to steer H-1B use toward higher-paid, clearly defined jobs and ease costs for frontline health-care hires.

## Provisions PRIA read

- Fee exemption for healthcare H‑1Bs: benefit, low. This bill would exempt petitioners and beneficiaries from any fee or surcharge tied to filing a new H‑1B petition when the beneficiary is an eligible health‑care worker. To qualify, the petitioner would need to show, in the form DHS requires, that it tried in good faith to recruit and hire a U.S. c…
- New limits on third‑party H‑1B work: cost, medium. This bill would bar issuing H‑1B status or a visa when any work is to be done at a third‑party worksite unless the petition shows the assignment is clearly defined, not speculative, and expected to continue for the full requested employment period. If any portion of the work will be at a third‑part…
- Higher H-1B pay, faster approvals: mixed, high. This bill would require employers filing H‑1B petitions to offer, for the full requested job period, an annual wage at least equal to the greater of: (A) what the employer paid a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident who did the same or a substantially similar job in the two years before the fi…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-6955: Main Street Capital Access Act
- 119-hr-471: Fix Our Forests Act
- 119-hr-7613: ALERT Act
- 119-hr-7578: TORCH Act
- 119-hr-5351: NSF AI Education Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4706: Protecting Our Farms and Homes from China Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-8335 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/8335)

## Related
- [119-hr-6955: Main Street Capital Access Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6955)
- [119-hr-471: Fix Our Forests Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-471)
- [119-hr-7613: ALERT Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7613)
- [119-hr-7578: TORCH Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7578)
- [119-hr-5351: NSF AI Education Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5351)
- [119-hr-4706: Protecting Our Farms and Homes from China Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4706)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8335 (as of 2026-10-07).