Bill Description: House Bill 494 would expand the Department of Health and Welfare’s authority to subject both public and private employees and volunteers to FBI background checks and assess associated fees.
NOTE: Historically, background checks were required for only a handful of sensitive positions, but the trend in recent years has been to expand both the scope of these checks and the number of prospective employees (and even volunteers) required to complete and pass them. This is a problem we have highlighted consistently over the years. See here, here, here, and here.
Rating: -2
Does it increase barriers to entry into the market? Examples include occupational licensure, the minimum wage, and restrictions on home businesses. Conversely, does it remove barriers to entry into the market?
House Bill 494 would create Chapter 25, Title 56, Idaho Code, titled “Background Checks.”
Under this chapter, a “background check” is “a fingerprint-based check that can include information from the Idaho state police; the federal bureau of investigation; the central registry created in chapter 83, title 18, Idaho Code; Idaho transportation department driving records; adult and child protection registries; the nurse aide registry; the United States department of health and human services office of the inspector general's list of excluded individual and entities; and the records of other states and jurisdictions.”
In addition to expanding the scope of these background checks, the proposed chapter lists more than two dozen classes of “individuals, license applicants, certificate holders, members of vocations or professions, position holders, and any employees, contractors, agents, or volunteers” who will be subject to background checks. These include nearly all medical providers, daycare facilities, adoptive parents, those with access to others’ federal tax information, and even “nonemergency medical transport providers.”
The bill also adds a catch-all provision for “any other specific categories of individuals or classes of individuals for whom the department requires a background check pursuant to Idaho law.”
Additionally, it is concerning that the law doesn’t say how the information discovered through these checks will be used in hiring decisions. Rather, “disqualifying crimes, relevant records, and the administrative procedure for challenging a denial” will all be set through administrative rules.
Subjecting prospective employees and volunteers to a biometric-based FBI background check creates a barrier to entry into the market.
(-1)
Does it directly or indirectly create or increase any taxes, fees, or other assessments? Conversely, does it eliminate or reduce any taxes, fees, or other assessments?
The chapter created by House Bill 494 would provide the Department of Health and Welfare with broad authority to impose fees on prospective employees related to background checks, saying, “Except as otherwise provided in law, an applicant is responsible to pay the nonrefundable fee for any background check conducted pursuant to this chapter.”
These fees are not set in code, but would be set by administrative rules. Fees should be established by code, which renders decisions about their level more subject to public feedback.
(-1)
