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The month of August was largely quiet in DC, with Congress in recess and much of "official" Washington on their extended summer breaks. Lobbyit was busy, however, keeping NCISS members aware of legislative and regulatory developments important to them, eliciting NCISS's help in notifying Congress and the FTC, and providing opportunities for NCISS member engagement with lawmakers and regulators through the NCISS Advocacy Hub.
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S 1737/HR 1010
- Minimum Wage Fairness Act, Harkin (D-La). S 1737 was introduced on 11/19/13 and placed on the Senate Legislative calendar (bypassing committee).
The bill would provide for an increase in the federal minimum wage progressively from $8.20/hr for the first 6 months, $9.15/hr six months later, then $10.10/hr the following year.
Many NCISS member security companies would be harmed by an increased minimum wage requirement, and would be forced to curtail the number of jobs offered.
HR.1755/S. 815
- Employment Non Discrimination Act of 2013 (ENDA), Sen. Merkley (D-WV) S. 815 passed the Senate and is under consideration in the House, where it was referred to five separate committees.
This legislation would ban employers from firing, refusing to hire or discriminating against workers or job applicants based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
ENDA would make it increasingly difficult and expensive to terminate problem employees, offering them another path for vexatious litigation.
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) -- The "Ambush" Rule
On March 11, 2014, the NLRB proposed new regulations that would radically change the process for union representation elections, effectively shortening election time frames and limiting employees' opportunity to hear from employers before making a crucial workplace decision. The shorter the election, the less time employers and employees have to communicate about the impact of unionization or about a specific union attempting to organize the workplace.
The proposed rule is based on a false premise, violates employer speech rights, and denies employees the ability to make an informed decision about representation.
S. 2025
"The Data Broker Accountability and Transparency Act," by Sen. Rockefeller (D-WV).
S. 2025 contains a prohibition of "pretexting" by data brokers, prohibiting "obtaining or solicitation to obtain personal information by false pretenses." While it is unclear if the definition of data broker would extend to PIs, prohibiting the use of pretexting by PIs would deprive them of a valuable and necessary tool.
Using false pretenses to acquire information for illegal purposes is already itself illegal. PIs use a variety of "benign" pretexts to gather information or identify individuals for numerous legitimate reasons, including identifying "deadbeat" parents, locating debtors, finding defense witnesses, investigating fraud, locating hidden assets and ill-gotten gains, etc.
Congress must insure that private investigators are not swept into the definition of data brokers, and should include a specific statutory exemption.
HR 1312/S 639
"The Geological Privacy and Surveillance Act," by Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). The legislation would require consent of the subject when using of GPS technology for tracking individuals.
NCISS opposes the legislation. The use of the devices for surveillance significantly reduces accident risk during lawful surveillance.
HR 645
"Equal Employment for All Act," by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN.) Would prohibit current or prospective employers from using a consumer credit report for either employment purposes or for taking adverse employment actions.
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Lobbyit began the month with an NCISS member alert concerning Federal Trade Commission (FTC) state licensing investigations. The House Small Business Committee (HSBC) has held a series of hearings on the proliferation of state licensing requirements for various industries which are employed primarily as an impediment to competition. The FTC has likewise demonstrated increasing interest in going after such licensing regimes where they appear to serve no legitimate public purpose.
NCISS members were informed of HSBC's and FTC's activities and asked for examples of such licensing requirements. Lobbyit spoke with the individual responsible for such investigations at FTC, who welcomes NCISS member input. Lobbyit then populated the advocacy hub with the necessary advocacy materials and contact information to allow NCISS members to tell their stories directly to the FTC.
Along these same lines, Lobbyit also composed and distributed a legal notice to NCISS members, detailing a US Supreme Court case challenging the very kind of state licensing requirements discussed in the previous alert. In the 2014 fall terms, the US Supreme Court will hear North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission 717 F.3d 359 (4th Cir. 2013), a decision from the 4th Circuit finding that the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners (the Board) engaged in an unfair restraint of trade by attempting to restrict the practice of teeth whitening to only licensed dentists.
Finally, Lobbyit spoke at length with professional staff on HSBC concerning "cumulative regulatory burden." HSBC is interested in exploring how the various regulations combine to place an outsized burden on small and mid-sized businesses. HSBC has asked Lobbyit and NCISS to compile examples of how health, safety, labor environmental, etc. regulations combine and devour precious time and resources. Lobbyit would like to present such examples to the Committee before the beginning of November, 2014.
On a separate matter, Lobbyit composed a letter from NCISS to Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa), formally endorsing his legislation, S. 2647, the Security Officer Screening Improvement Act of 2014 (SOSIA). SOSIA would create a single Federal entity through which employers could get complete and up-to-date criminal background information on current or prospective employees. For NCISs member security companies, this is especially important, as access to information varies by state, and the need for honest employees is elevated for security companies, as they are often seen as positions of public trust.
During August, Lobbyit also kicked-off NCISS's Advocacy Hub activity by populating the portal with two advocacy campaigns: 1) the endorsement of S. 2647; and 2) transmitting to the FTC examples of improper state licensing requirements.
Provided for NCISS by ...
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
 
Permission granted to repost
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Until next month,
Lobbyit.com
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