> prioritizing based on salary would be a good short term fix

You have to remember that H1-Bs are used for many occupations and industries outside of tech. Prioritizing by salary only effectively means that 99% of all H1-Bs would go to 3-4 large companies.

Yes, nurses, doctors, etc may not get paid as much as a FAANG engineer a couple of years out of college, but they are still often needed.

I think that if you want to prioritize by salary within industries that could potentially work, but then you're bordering on a "new immigration framework".