SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The county has dropped a proposal to replace federal Transportation Safety Administration screeners at Sacramento International Airport with private security officers.

Sacramento would have been the nation's third major airport to participate in a federal opt-out program that would turn checkpoint security over to the private sector.

But the Sacramento Bee reports the Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Tuesday to withdraw its request to use private screeners instead of TSA employees at Terminal A and B checkpoints.

Supervisors approved the privatization plan a year ago without public discussion.

Now-retired airports director Hardy Acree contended private screeners could offer more staffing flexibility and likely would provide better customer service.

The opt-out program has been pushed strongly by congressional Republicans who claim the TSA is a bloated bureaucracy.

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