Utah bill would reduce care facility workers' background screening expenses

A new bill proposed in Utah is aimed at reducing duplicate background screenings at different places of employment for care facility workers, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The news source notes that of the 23,000 screenings conducted last year on state care workers, 7,000 were duplicative. And because screening results are only placed in a regional database, when employees switch jobs they may be subject to paying for another check. Should the bill go on to pass in the House, results would be shifted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's national database and available to qualified authorities nationwide. The records would also include any criminal action that was taken following the screening. Utah's current screening system has been in place since 1998. According to The Daily, the bill - HB497 - was originally drafted and signed as an immigration enforcement law, requiring  that officers verify the immigration status of anyone arrested, lawfully stopped or detained for a felony or class A misdemeanor.