Sponsors (11)
The bill speeds and standardizes FBI background checks for compact applicants to improve licensing efficiency and public safety, but increases federal access to criminal records and limits CHRI sharing in ways that may raise privacy risks and hinder interstate license portability.
State licensing authorities and law enforcement can obtain FBI criminal history checks for compact applicants, making background screening faster and more standardized across states and improving licensing efficiency and public safety.
License applicants and their employers may face reduced portability of professional licenses because restrictions on sharing CHRI with licensing commissions and other states could complicate multistate licensing decisions and slow interstate recognition of credentials.
Applicants will experience increased federal access to their criminal records for compact processing, raising privacy and data-security risks if criminal history information is mishandled or improperly disclosed.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires the FBI to provide criminal-history records to state licensing authorities for interstate-compact background checks and limits further sharing to only a completion notice and pass/fail result.
Introduced March 25, 2025 by Peter Welch · Last progress March 25, 2025
Requires the FBI to provide criminal history record information (CHRI) to a State licensing authority when an interstate compact or its rules require a criminal-background check for a license or compact privilege. The FBI must furnish CHRI through an agreement with a State law enforcement agency or State identification bureau. Limits how that CHRI may be shared: member State licensing authorities may not share the CHRI they receive for compact licensing with the compact commission, other state entities or licensing authorities, or the public. They may, however, report only that a background check was completed and a binary satisfactory/unsatisfactory result to the compact commission.