HIT THE HILL 2013

Mid-Term Meeting, Hit the Hill, and SAAB University     

April 15-17, 2013

New Congress Brings Old Concerns

Voters may have elected a new Congress in November, but that did not change the level of concern with the legislative and regulatory challenges confronting NCISS members in 2013 and beyond. President Obama won reelection and his Democratic party picked up a couple of seats in the Senate and a few in the House of Representatives. The United States will continue to have divided government with neither party able to enact its platform absent some support from members of the opposition.

But divided government alone does not offer protection against the enactment of bills traditionally opposed by NCISS.   Privacy legislation often garners bipartisan support. Before Congress adjourned I attended a briefing by the Congressional Privacy Caucus, an informal group dedicated to the expansion of privacy protection for consumers. This bipartisan group is co-chaired by Representative Ed Markey (D-MA) and Representative Joe Barton (R-TX.) They form a powerful coalition-a liberal Democrat from Massachusetts and a conservative Republican from Texas. They support legislation to restrict the collection of personal data about consumers without their consent. At press time, no such bill has been introduced, but several such bills were introduced in the last congress and are expected to be reintroduced soon. Senator Jay Rockefeller, (D-WV) has also said that he supports similar restrictions on the collection of consumer data.

In addition, there are some technical, political developments which could increase the possibility of more bills making legislative progress. The Senate may consider the adoption of new rules that would make it more difficult for the minority party to stop legislation through the use of the filibuster. Current Senate rules effectively make it possible to thwart the majority from passing a bill unless it can muster 60 votes. Several privacy measures over the past several years were prevented from coming to a vote because of advocates' inability to get commitments for the necessary 60 votes. So any modification of that rule could lead to more controversial privacy bills coming to a vote.

More problematic bills could also be considered in the House of Representatives. For several years the practice of Republican Speakers has been to only bring bills to a vote when they were certain that they could pass with a majority of Republicans. But on recent votes dealing with taxes and disaster aid Speaker John Boehner has scheduled bills that did not have majority Republican support. This new development makes it more likely that additional controversial, measures may get consideration.

Budget, Weapons Bills First

Congress is likely to spend the first few months of the year concentrating on budget and tax bills because of impending deadlines for raising the debt ceiling and dealing with budget issues. Although final votes are not expected for some time, a great deal of effort is likely on the issue of weapons legislation. President Obama has proposed the most comprehensive and controversial gun legislation in years. The most significant proposals would ban assault weapons, limit the size of magazines to those holding 10 or fewer rounds and substantially increase the number of weapons sales subject to background checks. President Obama also announced several executive orders affecting gun sales. President Obama's plan is available at www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/wh_now_is_the_time_full.pdf.

The National Rifle Association and other gun owner groups have offered major criticisms of the President's proposal. It is likely that this substantial opposition will lead to the bill being broken into several parts. Several Senators, including Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) have been skeptical about the chances of enactment of the assault weapons ban. Provisions expanding background checks appear to be the more likely ones to make legislative progress.

Regulations Remain a Concern

President Obama's reelection means that his appointees remain in power in the federal agencies. So we can anticipate that the Federal Trade Commission, National Labor Relations Board, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Labor will continue to churn out new rules and regulations. The FTC is expected to focus on data collection issues.

The National Labor Relations Board's proposals which would effectively speed up representational elections remain on hold because of a court challenge that should be resolved this year. But the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's new guidelines for employer use of criminal background checks are going forward. In December, the Civil Rights Commission held a briefing on the issue, and NCISS provided a statement supporting employer use of such background checks.

NCISS will continue to keep on top of issues affecting investigators and security companies and represents members before Congress and the agencies.

Larry Sabbath

Legislative Advocate

On The Alert

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