As many of our readers know I am very involved with our industry international association, NAPBS. Every year for the past four years we have had a “Washington Fly In” to promote our initiatives and make our congressmen aware of our industry and laws that may be affecting it. This year I had the privilege of doing it again. Last week I spent three days in Washington meeting with various Congressional and Senate Offices in addition to a very productive meeting with the Department of Homeland Security.
Not much is happening during this session of congress due to the upcoming elections but it gave us an opportunity to focus on a few issues that are still pending; Immigration Reform, Privacy Bills, FCRA and the Fair use of Criminal Records.
The current E-Verify program run by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration is due to sunset (expire) this calendar year. All signs point to it being renewed. Currently there is a bill supported by SHRM introduced by Congressman Sam Johnson (3rd Dist. – TX) called H.R. 5515 the New Employee Verification Act. The current program, E-Verify is not perfect but it is a good system and is getting better every day. Based on the feedback I received the Johnson Bill is unlikely to go anywhere and will likely die in committee. NAPBS fully supports the re-issue of the E-Verify program and is working with the Department of Homeland Security on ways to improve the program through designated agents.
Other noteworthy bills include:
H.R. 3316 – Identity Theft Protection Act of 2007 (Representative Carolyn Malony)
I had the pleasure of meeting with a few actual members of congress and several senior staffers and chiefs of staff. It was a very productive trip, many of the individuals we met with remembered us from past years. Its important to keep up our lobbying efforts. Many times bills are introduced with unintended consequences for our industry. NAPBS has done an exceptional job at keeping our initiatives on the forefront of their legislation.
[...] ago I spent time in Washington DC lobbying on behalf of our industry. Included in this NAPBS “Day on the Hill” was a very productive meeting with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS along with many [...]
[...] my opinion they are both right. Having spent four years in Washington every March lobbying on behalf of our industry I see both points. employeescreenIQ has written several articles and [...]