NAPBS has grown by leaps and bounds this year, currently over 400 companies have made the decision to join forces to have one voice for our industry. With recent news about security breaches and identity theft, Washington has been flooded with new legislative efforts to help consumers out with various issues. Before the formation of NAPBS the industry had no unified voice; that meant bills were passed that severely hampered a company’s ability to perform quality and accurate background checks. Currently we are working with legislatures and elected officials showing them various ways to combat these issues without affecting our industry and our clients’ ability to hire qualified, safe employees.

This week NAPBS held its second annual conference in San Antonio, TX. It was a huge success. Members worked with privacy organizations to help consumers understand the differences between what has been happening with large data brokers and how similar security breaches and the resulting identity theft is unlikely to happen at companies that focus solely on employment screening. In addition we were further educated on various state laws and federal updates to the FCRA. Jason B Morris, President of Background Information Services, Inc. took over as co-chairman of the 2005-06 board of directors of NAPBS.

NAPBS will hold a mid-year government relations conference in New Orleans and a "March on Washington" in July in order to meet with various elected officials to further our cause. As the association grows we will be lobbying congress to and other state legislatures to further the cause of NAPBS and the employers we represent. For more information on NAPBS please visit their website at www.napbs.com.