PBSA

PBSA Journal PAGE 8 JULY/AUG 2021 Except where otherwise indicated, articles are copyright © by PBSA 2021. All rights reserved. U.S. State Government Relations Update A s we approach September's Annual Conference, it's odd to think it will be nearly two years since we saw one another in person. Yet while the coronavirus kept us locked away socially, the business of government (and of screening) marched on. Many states got exceptionally creative prior to widespread vaccination and the "people's business" kept on which means PBSA was also hard at work dealing with legislation that would affect the screening industry. The 2020 elections brought many new faces to state government, as well as a swath of new legislation. At one point, we were monitoring over 800 bills at various levels of scrutiny. As of this writing in July, with most legislatures having adjourned for the year, we are back down to 471 bills that are still under consideration in year-round bodies like Pennsylvania and Ohio or that will carry over into the 2022 session. In terms of the screening industry, many of these proposals will have little impact, but we maintain continued vigilance to avoid unintended consequences that could result from a stray amendment that ends up hamstringing our industry. Additionally, we are working to educate legislators as to how our industry assists in the economic development that states are craving post-coronavirus as the economy fully reopens and recovery necessities waves of job hires. PBSA is continually at work ensuring that court record access is not diminished and to ensure COVID-19 related regulations do not hamper our ability to access full and accurate information. Of course, despite a global pandemic, privacy remains on the forefront for legislators and for PBSA. Most recently we saw over 20 "CCPA-style" privacy bills introduced in the 2021 session (special thanks to the state of New York for making up approximately half of those) with a number of positive developments resulting from them. Were we to hand out awards to states, Virginia would likely win "Best Privacy Act" as their measure (which goes into effect January 1, 2023) contains one of the most robust definitions of "publicly available information" and a wide ranging FCRA exemption – factoring in use by screeners, furnishers, AND end-users – that we have had a chance to be involved with. Similar language has now been added to legislation in states like Florida, Alaska, Connecticut and Colorado, among others – including a privacy bill in the state of New York that appears will have serious traction in 2022. PBSA will continue to point to Virginia as the standard to emulate as we continue our efforts to shape privacy legislation to have minimal impact on our industry. By Brent Smoyer, State Government Relations and Grassroots Director Continued on page 9

• Cover