S. 1101: States Handling Access to Reciprocity for Employment Act of 2025 (119th Congress) Bill Summary

This bill, titled the States Handling Access to Reciprocity for Employment Act of 2025 (or SHARE Act of 2025), proposes changes regarding how criminal history records are shared and used for the purpose of obtaining professional licenses across different states. Below are key points outlining the main provisions of the bill:

Definitions

The bill establishes several important definitions, including:

Commission: A governmental entity formed by an interstate compact that oversees licensing issues.
Criminal History Record Information: Details collected about individuals by criminal justice agencies, which includes records of arrests and formal criminal charges, but excludes fingerprint records unless they indicate an individual's involvement with the criminal justice system.
License: An authorization granted by state authorities allowing individuals to practice certain professions or occupations within a state.
State Licensing Authority: The body within each state empowered to issue licenses for professions.

Sharing of Criminal History Record Information

The bill allows the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to provide criminal history record information to state licensing authorities. This is significant for the following reasons:

State licensing authorities can receive criminal backgrounds of individuals seeking licenses under specific interstate compacts.
Such sharing can only occur through agreements made with state law enforcement or identification bureaus.

Restrictions on Use of Information

There are strict rules regarding how the obtained criminal history information can be used:

State licensing authorities that receive this information must use it only for evaluating the licensure eligibility of an individual and cannot share this data with other entities, including other state authorities or the public.
However, they are allowed to inform the appropriate commission that a criminal history background check has been completed and whether the result was satisfactory, without disclosing the specific information from the background check.

Purpose and Impact

The overall aim of the SHARE Act is to streamline the process for professionals seeking to work in multiple states, by ensuring there is a standardized approach to criminal background checks across state lines. This could facilitate greater mobility for workers with professional licenses, making it easier for them to gain employment in other states that participate in the interstate compact established by this bill.