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Senate Approves Credential Reform Bill

[ November 22, 2024   //   Gary G Burrows ]

The American Trucking Associations welcomed the U.S. Senate’s unanimously passage of the Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act Nov. 21. It now awaits passage by the U.S. House.

            ATA, which has lobbied heavily for the bipartisan bill, said the legislation would eliminate redundant fees and background checks for essential supply chain workers.

            “After years of paying the price for an inefficient credentialing system, relief is finally within sight for truck drivers and other essential transportation workers who keep our supply chain running,” said ATA President & CEO Chris Spear.

“By streamlining the administration of these important programs, this bipartisan legislation will make it easier and less costly for hardworking Americans to obtain the credentials they need to do their jobs.”

            The bill would allow workers to apply existing valid background checks to multiple Transportation Security Administration-managed credentialing programs, such as the Transportation Worker Identification Credential, or TWIC, and Hazardous Materials Endorsement, HME, programs.

            ATA said eliminating duplicative screenings and harmonizing these programs would codify formal recommendations by the Government Accountability Office dating back to 2007. These recommendations were reaffirmed in 2020 in a comprehensive security assessment by the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center.

            The bill does not make any modifications to the backend security threat assessment conducted on individual applicants, ensuring that they undergo the same level of review as they do under current law, ATA said.

            Since last year, ATA has assembled 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 Senate bill, which was authored by Reps. 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.

            The bill has been a mainstay in ATA’s Call on Washington program this year, which has facilitated 700 meetings between ATA’s member companies and lawmakers on Capitol Hill since the beginning of this Congress. ATA said it also leveraged its 50-state federation to put pressure on key Members of Congress, including one-on-one meetings between Spear and the bill’s original sponsors and committee leaders to shore up support.

Tags: American Trucking Associations