Florida port workers and businesses are one step closer to relief from a costly and duplicative port credential due to an amendment by Congresswoman Kathy Castor that was added today to H.R. 2200, Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act. The amendment eliminates expensive redundant background checks for Florida port workers and businesses. The amendment will finally put to rest the long term turf battle between the Department of Homeland Security and Florida over port credentials.

        Two years ago Castor passed an amendment that required the Department of Homeland Security to work with the State of Florida and other States, if necessary, to resolve the differences between the Federal Transportation Worker Identification Credential, known as the TWIC, and Florida's existing access control card and its background check.  Two years have passed and redundant background checks are still in place. Florida is the only state in the U.S. that requires both a federal and state background check and credential—and charges double too.

      “Hardworking Floridians have waited long enough for the bureaucrats in Tallahassee and Washington to come up with a solution,” said Castor.

      Florida is now at a disadvantage as the two overlapping programs cause workers to pay twice for background checks and endure a longer hiring process. Almost all other states only adhere to the federal TWIC requirement.

      The duplicative programs do not make Florida any safer but, instead put the state at a competitive disadvantage. The higher burden of doing business at our ports has caused prospective employers to leave Florida for states like Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina that don’t have this bureaucratic red tape.

      Representative Castor’s amendment would ensure consistency across the country; all states, port workers and employers need only adhere to the Federal TWIC requirements. The Federal program is the only security system at other ports across the country, is safe and is backed by Homeland Security. This amendment allows hardworking people to get jobs while still maintaining our national security.

     “Now is not the time to make it harder for folks to find work, especially high wage port jobs,” concluded Castor. “We need to help build our economy, not give people a reason to leave.”