A bipartisan bill gaining momentum in the Senate on Thursday seeks to streamline procedures for transportation workers by cutting redundant fees and background checks.
Dubbed the Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act, the legislation is championed by Senators Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), Jon Tester (D-Montana), Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska), and Angus King (I-Maine). It mirrors a previous initiative in the House, spearheaded by Representatives Garret Graves (R-Louisiana), Adam Smith (D-Washington), Mark Green (R-Tennessee), Michael Guest (R-Mississippi), Salud Carbajal (D-California), and Dina Titus (D-Nevada).
“Subjecting essential supply chain workers to the same exact background check multiple times in order to receive different credentials from the same agency does nothing to enhance security,” said Chris Spear, American Trucking Association (ATA) president and CEO. “This system only serves to pad government coffers by forcing truckers and other transportation workers to pay duplicative fees for a background check they’ve already cleared.”
The American Trucking Associations (ATA), alongside a coalition of over 150 organizations covering various sectors like trucking, rail, energy, labor, and agriculture, have thrown their weight behind the bill.
The essence of the Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act lies in allowing workers to utilize existing valid background checks across multiple TSA-managed credentialing programs, including the Transportation Worker Identification Credentials and Hazardous Materials Endorsements.
By aligning these programs and cutting out repetitive screenings, the bill addresses what Representative Graves termed as “Ridiculous regulations and red tape” that have burdened America’s supply chain workers. This move echoes formal recommendations from the Government Accountability Office dating back to 2007, which were reaffirmed in a comprehensive security assessment conducted by the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center in 2020.
According to Spear, a spokesperson for the initiative, this overdue reform promises to slash costs and streamline processes for a diverse array of workers, ranging from truck drivers to pipeline operators, longshoremen, and warehouse managers, among others, who are required to obtain these credentials for employment purposes. Crucially, the bill ensures that there are no compromises on the rigorous security assessment conducted on individual applicants, maintaining the same level of scrutiny as per current regulations.
Source: Commercial Carrier Journal
