A bill making its way through the Senate Thursday with bi-partisan support would eliminate redundant fees and background checks for transportation workers.
The Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act, introduced by Senators Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), Jon Tester (D-Montana), Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska), and Angus King (I-Maine), was previously introduced in the House 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 American Trucking Associations (ATA) President and CEO Chris Spear. "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.
ATA last year led a supply chain coalition of more than 150 organizations representing trucking, rail, energy, organized labor, agriculture, third-party logistics providers, and other key supply chain stakeholders in support of the bill.
The Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act allows workers to apply existing valid background checks to multiple TSA-managed credentialing programs, such as the Transportation Worker Identification Credentials and Hazardous Materials Endorsements. Harmonizing these programs and eliminating duplicative screenings – "Ridiculous regulations and red tape [that] have crushed America’s supply chain workers," Graves said – the bill codifies formal recommendations by the Government Accountability Office dating back to 2007 – recommendations that were reaffirmed in 2020 in a comprehensive security assessment conducted by the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center.
Spear noted that "this long-overdue reform" would reduce costs and hassles for workers like truck drivers, pipeline operators, longshoremen, and warehouse managers, among many others, who must obtain these credentials as a condition of employment. The bill does not make any modifications to the backend security assessment conducted on individual applicants, ensuring that they undergo the same level of review as they do under current law.
