Programmers Guild president Kim Berry sent out an alert to his minions today asking them to contact their elected representatives not to vote for the Skil [Securing Knowledge, Innovation and Leadership], Senate Bill 2691 and its counterpart in the House H.R. 5744, sponsored by Republican John Cornyn in the Senate and Rep. John Shadegg [R-AZ] in the House.“The Cornyn-Shadegg SKIL Bill is a Trojan horse with a risk of being attached to an unopposable omnibus appropriations bill in the lame duck session” of Congress, Berry said in his alert. The bill would raise the cap on H-1B visas from 65,000 to 115,000 annually and would create a more flexible system that adjusts to so-called market demand. It also exempts foreign nationals who have earned a Master’s or higher degree in an accredited U.S. university from the H-1B visa cap. Opponents of the bill say that both Democrats and Republicans will more than likely pass the bill as they seek the support of companies who seek to increase the overall labor pool of skilled workers. While both the House and Senate bills are sponsored by Republicans, Berry said that most Democrats have supported H-1B in the past, and one can only assume they will again. “I’m not aware of any Democrat who ran for the House that opposes Bill 5744,” said Berry.Norman Matloff, a professor of computer science at the University of California at Davis called the bill an “unwarranted expansion of both the H-1B and employment-based green card programs.”Matloff refutes the claims of a high tech labor shortage. “The impact of this bill on U.S. citizens and permanent residents in the tech field will be quite harmful,” Matloff said, claiming salaries adjusted for inflation have been flat in high tech since 1999.Berry proposes increasing the H-1B visa fee to $5,000 per year to subsidize the education of U.S. engineering students. Technology Industry