HR 5729 Introduced – TWIC Reader Rule Delay

Earlier this month Rep. Katko (R,NY) introduced HR 5729, the Transportation Worker Identification Credential Accountability Act of 2018. The bill would delay implementation of the TWIC Reader Rule, which is due to become effective on August 23^rd, 2018. The delay would extend until after report to Congress was made that is required by the Transportation Security Card Program Assessment Act (PL 114-278).

Reports to Congress

The earlier act required DHS to commission a study by a “research organization with

significant experience in port or maritime security” {§1(b)(2)} that would include an assessment of the efficacy of the TWIC program. That assessment was to have included a review of {§1(b)(3)}:

• The credentialing process;

• The process for renewing applications; and

• The security value of the program.

The original version of HR 710 included language {§2(f)} that would have delayed implementation of the TWIC Reader Rule until the reports required by the bill had been submitted to Congress. That language was removed in a last minute amendment to the bill when it was passed by the Senate in the closing hour of the 114^th Congress.

Moving Forward

Katko is the Chair of the Transportation and Protective Security Subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee, one of the two committees to which this bill was assigned for consideration. He is also a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the other committee to which the bill was assigned. This means that he should have sufficient influence to have the bill considered in at the very least the Homeland Security Committee. And the bill does have bipartisan leadership sponsorship; Rep. McCaul (R,TX), Rep. Jackson-Lee (D,TX) and Rep. Richmond (D,LA).

The main issue here is the short time frame for the passage of this bill for it to be effective. It has been four weeks since this bill was introduced and there has been no committee (or even subcommittee) action on the bill. We have one month left before the currently scheduled summer recess. If action is not taken during that time (and the schedule is already busy with spending bills and nominations) the TWIC Reader Rule is scheduled to go into effect during that recess.

It seems unlikely that this bill would get the abbreviated treatment that HR 710 got in the Senate (no debate and no vote). There was obviously some objection in the Senate to the language requiring the stay of the implementation of the rule that held up consideration of HR 710 until the last minute in that body. That objection is unlikely to have changed.

There is, however, some possibility that the effective deadline for the passage of this bill could slip. DHS has submitted a rulemaking to OMB to delay the implementation of the TWIC Reader Rule. The details of that rule, including the reasons for change and the revised implementation date, are not publicly available. It is unclear whether such a rulemaking could be completed in time to avoid the August implementation date, though it is unlikely that affected industries would object to the delay.