Redundant Criminal Background Checks May Cease for Florida Port Workers
Port workers with Florida jobs may soon be able to avoid undergoing costly and redundant criminal background checks.
Rep. Kathy Castor recently added a provision to a bill that would remove redundant background check requirements for workers and businesses in Florida's ports. The amendment prohibits states from requiring a separate security background check unless one is required for homeland security reasons.
Earlier this year, the House of Representatives approved Castor's amendment to the Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act. But because that bill is currently stalled in the Senate, Castor added the amendment to the Coast Guard Authorization Act, which was passed in the House of Representatives last week and will soon reach the Senate.
In Florida, the current system requires workers with a Transportation Worker ID Card - the national five-year port security credential - to undergo additional background checks through a state-run system in order to access ports.
The Transportation Worker ID Card itself costs about $132, and Florida port workers are required to pay between $100 and $130 to obtain credentials in Florida.
Many people have complained that the current system has caused prospective employers to leave Florida, placing the state's seaports, tenants, trucking companies and workers at a significant competitive disadvantage.
Two years ago, Castor passed an amendment requiring the Department of Homeland Security to resolve the differences between the Transportation Worker ID Card and the existing credential and background checks in Florida. However, the redundant system remained in place.
Florida isn't the only state that has had problems because of redundant background checks required for port workers.
The National Employment Law Project recently released a study that found a 2002 law meant to improve security throughout the country's ports has actually resulted in thousands of longshoremen, truck drivers and other employees without jobs for longer than usual.
That law, which was instituted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is making those workers wait an average of seven months for security credentials that they need to return to their jobs or start new ones.