CA Bill Takes Aim At Airport Security Line Cutters

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — In this political era of partisan gridlock, one thing still unites Americans: frustration with long airport security lines and the people who skip them.

Two California state senators of opposing parties have broken the partisan divide to support a first-in-the-nation bill to tackle line skipping at airports. The bill, formally known as SB 1372, would ban third-party airport security vendors from using standard security lines for their expedited services.

Sen. Josh Newman, an Orange County Democrat and sponsor of the bill, said third-party security vendors such as security screening company CLEAR allow wealthier people to skip in front of passengers waiting to be screened by Transportation Security Administration agents.

“The least you can expect when you have to go through the security line at the airport is that you don’t suffer the indignity of somebody pushing you out of the way to let the rich person pass you,” Newman told Politico.

Orange County Republican Sen. Janet Nguyen voiced initial support of the bill for similar reasons.

“I do understand the frustration stated in Senator Newman’s bill,” Nguyen, who sits on the transportation committee, said in an email to Politico. “It becomes a haves vs. have nots where those who can afford it jump in front of the rest of us. They even cut in front of TSA Pre-boarding pass travelers who have been screened by the TSA.”

The bill, if passed, would make it so third-party vendors such as CLEAR acquire their own security lane or lose the right to operate in California airports, according to the bill's text.

Brian Wheatley, Press Secretary for the Office of Sen. Newman, told Patch that if passed into law, SB 1372 would minimally affect the regular traveling public.

"Right now, a standard traveler waiting in the security line at the airport sees CLEAR customers escorted to the front of the line," Wheatley said. "Under SB 1372, those CLEAR customers would be completely separate without crossover."

Wheatley added that while company's like CLEAR offer convenience to paying customers, the company "doesn't inherently make the screening process faster."

"CLEAR customers still use the same X-ray machines as the rest of the traveling public. With SB 1372, those customers would have a dedicated line with the added bonus of fewer travelers using the standard or Precheck lanes, thereby speeding it up for everyone," Wheatley said.

According to the security company's website, CLEAR customers pay $189 a year to verify their identities at airport kiosks before being escorted past queued passengers to the front of TSA lines.

Critics say the bill would ban CLEAR from operating at state airports, CBS News reported. Six major airlines including: Delta, United, Southwest, Alaska, JetBlue and Hawaiian, have voiced opposition to the bill with claims that it would result in revenue loss and increased airfare tickets for passengers.

Representatives for the airlines wrote a letter protesting the bill to the Senate Transportation Committee, KTLA reported, saying that the bill would "severely restrict airports' ability to effectively manage lines at the security checkpoint, resulting in a negative travel experience for our California customers."

The bill is scheduled for its first hearing on Wednesday. If it passes to the state legislature, it will go to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk, where it can be vetoed or approved as law.