By any measure, that’s a lot of clout! It’s also the reason why the U.S. tourism economy and the U.S. government are again readying to consider Stefanik’s pro-Canada, snowbird-boosting bill. “Letting Canadians stay longer means more business for restaurants, retail stores and attractions,” she says with enthusiasm. Stefanik acknowledges that the Canadian Snowbird Visa Act is sometimes misquoted andmisunderstood, on both sides of the border. Officially, it is on record as congressional document H.R.3241. To avoid misquoting and misunderstanding, it reads: “This bill authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to admit into the United States qualifying Canadian citizens as long-term non-immigrant visitors. A qualifying Canadian citizen is an individual who (1) is at least 50 years old, (2) maintains a Canadian residence and owns a U.S. residence or has rented a U.S. accommodation for the duration of the individual’s stay, (3) is not inadmissible or deportable, (4) will not engage in employment or labor for hire in the United States other than for a non-U.S.-based person or entity by whom the Canadian citizen was employed in Canada or for whom the Canadian citizen performed services in Canada, and (5) will not seek certain forms of assistance or benefits. A qualified individual may be admitted for up to 240 days during any single 365-day period. The spouse of such person may be admitted under the same terms, except that he or she is not required to separately satisfy the requirement for owning or renting a residence in the United States. The bill grants a person so admitted non-resident alien tax status.” When passed, the Canadian Snowbird Visa Act will allow 50+ snowbirds who own or rent a home in the U.S. to spend as long as eight months there, but prohibit Canadians from either working for an American employer or receiving any form of public assistance – such as food stamps or housing vouchers – paid for by American taxpayers. Stefanik points out that the U.S. House and the Senate have each proposed similar, but separate, bills to allow particularly Canadian snowbirds to stay longer and she explains that two slightly differing versions of essentially the same legislation have been introduced in each U.S. chamber: her House version and the Senate version, introduced by Florida Senator Marco Rubio. The House version has attracted 19 bipartisan co-sponsors − 10 Democrats and 9 Republicans. It’s waiting for a potential vote by either the House Judiciary orWays andMeans Committee. The Senate version has attracted one Republican co-sponsor and is waiting for a potential vote by the Senate Finance Committee. In theory, the bill’s bipartisan co-sponsorship would make it likely for passage. Elise Stefanik grudgingly agrees and reality versus wishful thinking cautions that U.S. politicians are hesitant to pass anything that could be perceived as weakening their country’s immigration laws, but there’s something special about Canada and Canadians. Snowbirds are mostly about the beach, sunscreen, golf (lots and lots of golf), property taxes, groceries and mall-walking – not stealing jobs or risks to homeland security. Snowbird consensus resoundingly shows that most would love the option of staying for 240 days versus the current 182, if it weren’t for some other pesky consequences such as U.S. immigration laws, IRS taxation and possible loss of Canadian health-care insurance. Besides, although most provinces already extend basic provincial health coverage for seven out-of-province months, there is also a subtle snowbird nudge brewing for provincial governments to stretch the allowable health coverage period to a coinciding eight months – if Congresswoman Elise Stefanik’s bill is passed. SnowbirdProfile CSANews | SUMMER 2021 | 15
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