Airport officials pan proposal to change employee screening policy

Local airport officials are hoping that the U.S. Senate will vote to stop new Transportation Security Administration rules that would require airports to perform additional screening on employees.

Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, recently attached an amendment to the Homeland Security funding bill that would delay the policy’s implementation, according to spokesperson Harry Child. The bill has passed the Senate Appropriations Committee and is awaiting a full Senate vote.

The TSA rule, which is set to go into effect Sept. 25, would require airport operators to set up and pay for an independent security checkpoint to screen airport employees.

Glacier Park International Airport Director Rob Ratkowski said that he and other airport administrators across Montana lobbied the state’s congressional delegation to block the rules. He said that conversations with lawmakers on the issue have been “front and center of our legislative effort recently.”

Ratkowski described the proposed rules as a “fundamental shift in how airport security is handled.”

Ratkowski said that current airport policies require background checks and ID badges for employees that enter sensitive areas of the airport. Other employees, such as those working at restaurants or gift shops, are subject to TSA screening when going to work.

He said that the TSA’s mandate to secure airports is clear, and that shifting the burden to airports isn’t practical due to logistical and financial constraints.

“A lot of the airports in Montana expressed distaste for this because it’s a fundamental shift in that responsibility from TSA to airport administrators,” Ratkowski. “This proposed procedure would pass the screening responsibility on to us. None of us object to the concept of employees being screened, but the question is who does it?”

Tester’s spokesperson said that in addition to writing the amendment, the senator is urging TSA officials not to implement the policy.

“After hearing loud and clear from local airports, I know that this policy from the Biden administration isn’t right for Montana,” Tester said in a statement. “Securing this provision in the funding bill is a step in the right direction, but I won’t stop working until the administration pulls back this rule.”

Reporter Adrian Knowler can be reached at 758-4407 or aknowler@dailyinterlake.com.