New SHARE Act Mandates FBI Share Background Checks for Multi-State Professional Licenses, While Locking Down Privacy

The SHARE Act of 2025 (States Handling Access to Reciprocity for Employment Act) is designed to grease the wheels for professionals who want to work across state lines using those neat interstate compacts—think nurses, physical therapists, or even engineers who need to be licensed in multiple states. This specific section cuts right to the chase on background checks: it mandates the FBI to share criminal history data directly with state licensing boards that are part of these compacts. Essentially, if you’re applying for a license in State A that’s part of a compact, and you need to practice in State B, the FBI has to hand over your background check information to State A’s licensing board to speed up the process.

The Need for Speed vs. The Need for Secrecy

This is where the bill gets interesting—it sets up a high wall around your sensitive data. While the FBI is required to share your criminal history record information (CHRI), the state licensing authority that receives it is under strict orders: they can only use that data for the specific background check required for your license application. They are explicitly forbidden from sharing the detailed records—the arrest reports, charges, and outcomes—with anyone else. This includes the compact’s governing body (the Commission), other state agencies, or, importantly, the general public. For the average professional, this means your sensitive history, if you have one, is tightly controlled and not floating around between every state that’s part of the compact. It’s a win for privacy within the licensing bureaucracy.

The “Yes or No” Rule for Interstate Compacts

So, if the state board can’t share the details, how does the compact’s Commission know if you passed the background check? The bill creates a single exception to the sharing ban: the state licensing authority is allowed to give the Commission a simple, binary determination—a “yes” or “no” answer—on whether the background check was satisfactory. Imagine you’re a traveling nurse applying for a multi-state license; the Commission only gets the final verdict, not the police reports. This procedural clarity is key for making multi-state licensing work efficiently while maintaining privacy, but it also means the Commission, which oversees the compact, is blind to the details that led to the decision. If there are trends or issues with applicants, the Commission won't have the full picture, only the pass/fail rate.

What Does This Mean for You?

If you are a professional relying on an interstate compact for licensing—whether you’re a software architect moving across states or a plumber doing specialized work—this bill aims to make the background check process faster and more uniform by forcing the FBI to participate directly. The biggest takeaway for the individual is the assurance that your detailed criminal history records won't be widely distributed; they stop at the desk of the specific state licensing board doing the initial check. However, the bill is a little vague on what constitutes “certain” criminal history record information that the FBI must share, which leaves a small window for potential bureaucratic friction or delays if the FBI and the state disagree on what data is required. Overall, this is a procedural cleanup that mostly benefits busy professionals by streamlining the paperwork, provided the new system is implemented without a hitch.