Congresswoman Kathy Castor has successfully added a provision to a bill that will help workers and businesses at the Port of Tampa and other ports throughout the state of Florida. Castor’s amendment gets rid of duplicative and costly background checks for port workers and businesses. These duplicative background checks have been hurting port business and have been an additional expense for port workers.

The Transportation Worker ID Card, or TWIC, is a national, standard port security credential. The TWIC credential 5-year card costs about $132. In Florida, port workers are required to pay $100-$130 for the Florida credential.

“In Florida, a worker who holds that national TWIC card is still not allowed to access ports without additional background checks under a parallel and duplicative state-run system,” Castor said. “That’s not fair.”

Castor’s amendment was added to the Coast Guard Authorization Act, which passed today in the House of Representatives. Two years ago, Castor passed an amendment that required the Department of Homeland Security to work with Florida to resolve the differences between TWIC and Florida’s existing credential and background check, but the redundant background checks remain.

Castor’s new amendment was approved by the House earlier this year in the Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act, but the bill is stalled in the Senate. Castor was then able to add the amendment to the Coast Guard Authorization Act, which is expected to be taken up soon in the Senate. The amendment prohibits states from requiring a separate security background check unless a compelling homeland security reason dictates a separate background check is necessary.

The higher cost and greater bureaucracy of doing business at Florida’s ports has caused some prospective employers to leave the state for other southeastern states.

“They put Florida’s seaports, tenants, trucking companies and workers at a competitive disadvantage, and this is hurting Florida’s economy,” Castor said. “It’s a terrible burden on business.”