In This Issue

In the month of July, Lobbyit met with the offices of Senator Lamar Alexander to discuss Senate Joint Resolution 34, (sponsored in the House by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC)) which would block implementation of the Department of Labor's proposed "Overtime Rule". Lobbyit also met with Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran's office, and House Speaker Ryan's office to discuss the prospects for the inclusion of a series of important policy riders in an "omnibus" appropriations bill at the end of calendar year 2016.

State Legislation Advocacy Monitoring (SLA M)
Lobbyit has set up NCISS's "state-level" tracking and continues to identify hundreds of bills in 30 active states.  The most important, by state, are below.  

To view bills impacting private investigators, private patrol operators, or security guards in your state, go to w ww.NCISS.org to the Advocacy Hub (direct link:  http://goo.gl/QSCcgc) and follow the State Legislation link (direct link:  http://goo.gl/RPcv0W)

You can search alphabetically by State or click on your state on the United States map provided at the top of the page (current example above). If your state is not listed, it means that your state was either not in session or there were no bills introduced that met our search parameters. If you know of a bill in your
state that we need to become aware, please contact your Regional Director or your NCISS Legislative Chairs, Francie Koehler or Brad Duffy. 

Stakeholder  Activity
Congress jumped ship in Mid-July for the respective party nominating conventions, leaving the bulk of the work for after August recess. At this point, it is unclear to most everyone (including our most well-placed Hill sources) how the end of the year will shake out.

Despite an admiral attempt to return to "regular order" in both the House and Senate this year (in that the appropriations committees from both houses marked-up and passed almost all of the 12 separate appropriations bills under subcommittee jurisdiction), the entire process broke down under the weight of both serious disagreements between the GOP and Democrats on a series of policy riders, and given the extremely truncated timeline Congress is operating under due to the upcoming elections.

Most seasoned observer of Congress (to include yours truly) have assumed that Congress would cobble together an omnibus appropriations bill, using the committee-passed bills as a general structure, at the bitter end of calendar year 2016.  Recently, however, we have heard increasing talk in Congress of a six month continuing resolution (or "CR") funding government into early 2017.  Originally proposed by House conservatives, this idea has been gaining currency in the Senate, where recent statements by Senior Republican Senators have indicated that Congress might want to entirely avoid partisan fighting and punt into next year. 

While the results of the election could have a major impact on the final decision, Lobbyit thinks pushing these issues into next year is a terrible idea, and has related this opinion to the offices we sat down with in July, including Speaker Ryan, Senator Cochran, and Senator Alexander.  There are a host of extremely important policies which require Congressional action, and the omnibus is the ideal vehicle. 

Overtime Rule

Recently, the Obama Administration announced its new overtime pay rule, which is to go into effect on December 31, 2016.  In short, the new rule raises to $47,476 the salary threshold under which virtually all workers qualify for overtime pay (more than double the current salary threshold of $23,660).  Every three years, this amount will be indexed to inflation.

This new rule is the subject of several pieces of legislation introduced to block its implementation, including:

The Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity Act (S. 2707/H.R. 4773)

This legislation would:

1) Prevent the department from finalizing the overtime rule;

2) Require the DOL to fully and accurately consider the economic impact of any rule on small businesses, nonprofits, institutions of higher education, and others who will be affected;

3) Ensure future changes to the salary threshold accurately reflect the economic realities facing workers and employers by making clear automatic increases are not allowed under current law; and

4) Promote transparency and accountability by requiring any changes to the duties tests be made available for public review and comment.

Additionally, Senator Alexander (in conjunction with Congresswoman Fox) introduced Senate Joint Resolution 34, which would simply nullify the new overtime rule. 

Finally, the House Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill includes language blocking the Department of Labor from implementing the overtime rule.

We sat down with Sen. Alexander's office to communicate our support, and gauge the prospects for the legislation.  As is the conventional wisdom, the answer is: "it depends".

Stand-alone legislation blocking the rule has little chance of passing the Senate.  Though it could ultimately pass on an up-or-down majority vote, the Republican majority isn't strong enough to get the 60 votes necessary to bring it to a final Senate vote (i.e. to invoke "cloture," which limits debate and schedules a final vote). 

As such, the most likely route for such a measure becomes the appropriations omnibus (funding government for CY 2017).  Discussions of the long-term CR, however, have upended the safe bet on an omnibus, and are disquieting because many in Congress have stressed that such a CR needs to be "clean," or devoid of any such policy riders. 

While "a clean CR" is repeated in the halls of Congress like a mantra, ultimately Lobbyit believes that it is unlikely that a clean bill would pass, because Congress won't want to completely cede its authority at the end of the 114th Congress.  Mostly, the repetition of this idea is Congress's way of telling outside parties, "we aren't making any promises".

A CR does, however, dramatically limit the number of policy riders that can be included as a practical matter, so the overwhelming preference is for an omnibus.
Our discussions with Alexander's, Ryan's and Cochran's offices focused on the topic of the omnibus, not just for the Overtime Rule, but also on the host of other DOL and EEOC rules we have been addressing throughout the 114th Congress (i.e. Ambush, Persuader, Micro-Unions, pay reporting, etc.).

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the final answer will hinge significantly on the outcome of the election.  Should Donald Trump achieve the White House, the bet is that a seriously business-friendly administration would provide ample opportunity to address many of our concerns.  As such, if trump wins, the GOP might decide to punt to an Administration that won't veto the majority of these policy riders.

Complicating this scenario, however, is what happens to the balance of power in the Senate.  Enough vulnerable GOP seats are up in this election that the Senate could switch hands to a Democrat majority, so even if Trump were elected President, the policies we favor could be blocked in the Senate and never make it to the White House for signature.

If, on the other hand, Hillary Clinton wins the Presidency, then Congress will likely want to force these issues before a new Democratic administration takes office, and would likely push a stand-off with the Obama Administration for funding government for 2017.

Consequently, Congress awaits the results of this extraordinary election, and is unwilling to commit to any single course of action until the results are known, and the lame duck session takes place in November/December 2016.

In the ensuing months, NCISS and Lobbyit will continue to work with important offices, allies and interested parties to move our agenda forward.


Legislation
 
S.2534 - "A bill to amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993 to establish a permanent background check system for private security officers."
Introduced by Senator Toomey
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S 177 -- Data Security and Breach Notification Act
Official Title: A bill to protect consumers by requiring reasonable security policies and procedures to protect data containing personal information, and to provide for nationwide notice in the event of a breach of security. 

S 237 -- Geolocational Privacy and Surveillance Act
Official Title: A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to specify the circumstances in which a person may acquire geolocation information and for other purposes. 

S 288 -- National Labor Relations Board Reform Act
Official Title: A bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to reform the National Labor Relations Board, the Office of the General Counsel, and the process for appellate review, and for other purposes. 

S 356 -- Electronic Communications Privacy Act Amendments Act
Official Title:  A bill to improve the provisions relating to the privacy of electronic communications. 

S 407 -- Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act
Official Title:  A bill to regulate large capacity ammunition feeding devices. 

S 498 -- Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act
Official Title:  A bill to allow reciprocity for the carrying of certain concealed firearms. 

S 512 -- The Law Enforcement Access to Data Stored Abroad Act
Official Title:  A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to safeguard data stored abroad from improper government access, and for other purposes. 

S 668 -- Data Broker Accountability and Transparency Act
Official Title:  A bill to require data brokers to establish procedures to ensure the accuracy of collected personal information, and for other purposes. 

S 740  
Official Title: A bill to improve the coordination and use of geospatial data. 

S 754 -- Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act
Official Title:  An original bill to improve cybersecurity in the United States through enhanced sharing of information about cybersecurity threats, and for other purposes. 

S 801  
Official Title: A bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to provide for appropriate designation of collective bargaining units. 

S 1023  
Official Title: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code to provide a refundable credit for costs associated with Information Sharing and Analysis Organizations. 

S 1027 -- Data Breach Notification and Punishing Cyber Criminals Act
Official Title:  A bill to require notification of information security breaches and to enhance penalties for cyber criminals, and for other purposes. 

S 1123  
Official Title:  A bill to reform the authorities of the Federal Government to require the production of certain business records, conduct electronic surveillance, use pen registers and trap and trace devices, and use other forms of information gathering for foreign intelligence, counterterrorism, and criminal purposes, and for other purposes. 

S 1158  
Official Title:  A bill to ensure the privacy and security of sensitive personal information, to prevent and mitigate identity theft, to provide notice of security breaches involving sensitive personal information, and to enhance law enforcement assistance and other protections against security breaches, fraudulent access, and misuse of personal information. 

S 1520  
Official Title:  A bill to protect victims of stalking from violence. 

S 1559 -- Pet and Women Safety Act
Official Title:  A bill to protect victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and dating violence from emotional and psychological trauma caused by acts of violence or threats of violence against their pets. 

S 1759 -- Phone Scam Prevention Act
Official Title:  A bill to prevent caller ID spoofing, and for other purposes. 

HR 47  
Official Title:  A bill to ensure secure gun storage and gun safety devices. 

HR 491 -- Geolocational Privacy and Surveillance Act
Official Title:  A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to specify the circumstances in which a person may acquire geolocation information and for other purposes. 

HR 580 -- Data Accountability and Trust Act
Official Title:  A bill to protect consumers by requiring reasonable security policies and procedures to protect data containing personal information, and to provide for nationwide notice in the event of a security breach. 

HR 612 -- National Right-to-Work Act
Official Title:  A bill to preserve and protect the free choice of individual employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations, or to refrain from such activities. 

HR 656 -- Online Communications and Geolocation Protection Act
Official Title:  A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to disclosures to governments by communications-related service providers of certain information consisting of or relating to communications, and for other purposes. 

HR 689 -- Surveillance Order Reporting Act
Official Title:  A bill to permit periodic public reporting by electronic communications providers and remote computer service providers of certain estimates pertaining to requests or demands by Federal agencies under the provisions of certain surveillance laws where disclosure of such estimates is, or may be, otherwise prohibited by law. 

HR 699 -- Email Privacy Act
Official Title:  A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to update the privacy protections for electronic communications information that is stored by third-party service providers in order to protect consumer privacy interests while meeting law enforcement needs, and for other purposes. 

HR 719 -- TSA Office of Inspection Accountability Act
Official Title:  A bill to require the Transportation Security Administration to conform to existing Federal law and regulations regarding criminal investigator positions, and for other purposes. 

HR 752 -- Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act
Official Title:  A bill to prohibit the transfer or possession of large capacity ammunition feeding devices, and for other purposes. 

HR 791 -- Cell Phone Freedom Act
Official Title:  A bill to prohibit the unauthorized remote shut down of a cellular phone. 

HR 798 -- Responsible Skies Act
Official Title:  A bill to amend the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 to prohibit the flying of unmanned recreational aircraft near commercial airports. 

HR 827 -- Robo Calls Off Phones (Robo COP) Act
Official Title:  A bill to direct the Federal Trade Commission to revise the regulations regarding the Do-not-call registry to prohibit politically-oriented recorded message telephone calls to telephone numbers listed on that registry. 

HR 950 -- Prohibiting Automated Traffic Enforcement Act
Official Title:  A bill to amend title 23, United States Code, to prohibit automated traffic enforcement, and for other purposes. 

HR 1385  
Official Title:  A bill to provide for a legal framework for the operation of public unmanned aircraft systems, and for other purposes. 

HR 1431  
Official Title:  A bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act to prohibit the preemption of State stalking laws. 

HR 1432  
Official Title:  A bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act to prohibit the preemption of State identity theft laws. 

HR 1560 -- Protecting Cyber Networks Act
Official Title:  A bill to improve cybersecurity in the United States through enhanced sharing of information about cybersecurity threats, and for other purposes. 

HR 1646 -- Homeland Security Drone Assessment and Analysis Act
Official Title:  A bill to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to research how small and medium sized unmanned aerial systems could be used in an attack, how to prevent or mitigate the effects of such an attack, and for other purposes. 

HR 1704 -- Personal Data Notification and Protection Act
Official Title:  A bill to establish a nation data breach notification standard, and for other purposes. 

HR 1731 -- National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act
Official Title:  A bill to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to enhance multi-directional sharing of information related to cybersecurity risks and strengthen privacy and civil liberties protections, and for other purposes. 

HR 1746 -- Truth in Employment Act
Official Title:  A bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to protect employer rights. 

HR 1766  
Official Title:  A bill to amend the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to repeal a small business loan data collection requirement. 

HR 1767  
Official Title:  A bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to require that lists of employees eligible to vote in organizing elections be provided to the National Labor Relations Board. 

HR 1768  
Official Title:  A bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act with respect to the timing of elections and pre-election hearings and the identification of pre-election issues. 

HR 1770  
Official Title:  A bill to require certain entities who collect and maintain personal information of individuals to secure such information and to provide notice to such individuals in the case of a breach of security involving such information, and for other purposes. 

HR 1893  
Official Title:  A bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to modify the authority of the National Labor Relations Board with respect to rulemaking, issuance of complaints, and authority over unfair labor practices. 

HR 1939 -- No Armed Drones (NADA) Act
Official Title:  A bill to amend the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 to establish prohibitions to prevent the use of an unmanned aircraft system as a weapon while operating in the national airspace system, and for other purposes. 

HR 2246  
Official Title:  A bill to amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to update certain procedures applicable to commerce in firearms and remove certain Federal restrictions on interstate firearms transactions. 

HR 2283  
Official Title:  A bill to require face to face purchases of ammunition, to require licensing of ammunition dealers, and to require reporting regarding bulk purchases of ammunition. 

HR 2909 -- Protecting Firefighters and Promoting Innovation Act
Official Title:  A bill to establish an interagency working group to study the use of unmanned aircraft systems for wildland firefighting, and for other purposes. 

HR 3025 -- Wildfire Airspace Protection Act
Official Title:  A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to provide a criminal penalty for launching drones that interfere with fighting wildfires affecting Federal property, and for other purposes. 
 

This monthy report is p rovided for NCISS by ... 
 
  
     ...until next month!

Please contact Francie Koehler for questions or issues regarding private 
investigators and Brad Duffy re the same for security professionals. 
 
                       Francie Koehler - Investigations -- or -- Brad Duffy - Security

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