http://www.crainsdetroit.com/news.html
Crane's Detroit, October 9-15, 2000
Visas drive cash
Labor crunch helps shape Senate race
by KATIE MERX <mailto:kmerx@crain.com>
CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
H-1B visas don't compare to prescription drug coverage or the economy when
it comes to the average voter, but they determined the course of the U.S.
Senate race between Sen. Spencer Abraham and Rep. Debbie Stabenow from the
start, a Lansing pollster said.
The visas issue helped Abraham collect hefty contributions from businesses
in metro Detroit and nationwide.
H-1B visas allow American companies to hire skilled foreign workers for
specialized American jobs, largely in high-technology industries. Many
Abraham campaign contributors, including several high-tech firms in metro
Detroit, say they need more of the visas, which are commonly called
high-tech visas, to fill jobs. Abraham helped raise the cap in 1998 and is a
proponent of increasing the limit again.
Last week, Congress passed a bill to increase the annual cap to 195,000 from
115,000. President Clinton is expected to approve the bill but hadn't done
so as Crain's Detroit Business went to press.
While H-1B is what made Abraham popular with businesses, it also is what
kept him from wrapping up the race during the summer, said political analyst
Ed Sarpolus, vice president of Lansing polling firm EPIC/MRA Corp.
"H-1B allowed Spence to raise a lot of money and outspend Debbie, but it has
also allowed Debbie some time to raise money and get her campaign together
while he was on the defensive," Sarpolus said.
As of Sept. 21, Abraham's fund-raising total was $8.2 million to Stabenow's
$4.8 million, according to FEC data as reported by the center. And though
it's typical for Republicans to collect most contributions from business and
Democrats to collect more from labor unions and social groups, this is one
case where an issue such as H-1B visas tipped the scale even further for
Abraham, Makinson said.