In This Issue

The month of August is extremely quiet in DC, as Members and staff head back to their States and Districts, and take vacation, for the five week break.  Lobbyit conducted several meetings in early August, however, before everyone left town, including House and Senate Appropriations Committees to discuss Labor-related language, and Senate Commerce Committee staff to discuss data privacy, GPS tracking legislation, and developments in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) regulation.



Stakeholder Activity
Despite Washington, DC shedding the bulk of its population in the month of August, NCISS/Lobbyit was able to convene a series of meetings at the beginning of the month to gauge the status of a number of bill we are tracking for NCISS members.

Department of Labor (DOL)-related Appropriations Language

In prior monthly dispatches (and in last month's Advocacy Hub materials), we have described the various policy riders contained in the Labor Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill (both House and Senate) which NCISS very  much supports.  In out last report, we noted that the appropriations process had broken down, and that Congress would likely bass a continuing resolution (CR) until the end of the calendar year, then hash-out a new budget compromise, which stood a good chance of containing the DOL-related language.

One never knows what will transpire in Congress, however, with issues regularly cropping up which derail even the best laid legislative plans.  Now that entities in the US Senate, otherwise known as "The World's Greatest Deliberative Body," have signaled plans to block funding the government until Planned Parenthood is defunded, the overall picture is back to extremely cloudy.

Candid discussions with Senate appropriators now reveal that an omnibus funding package (akin to the one cobbled together at the last minute to fund government last year) is increasingly unlikely, and Congress may just pass a series of CRs funding government for FY 2016.  This is apparently the Administration's quiet preference.

This is not particularly good news for the DOL language we like, as CRs are not as friendly a vehicle for otherwise extraneous policy riders.  This is not to say that the situation is impossible, however.  The oft-repeated mantra in the halls of Congress is that CRs should be "clean" - or unencumbered by fractious policy measures. 

In reality, however, CRs typically do contain such provisions, it's just more difficult to place them there, because the power to craft the CR is in much fewer hands, and typically only the biggest priorities get to hitch a ride.

NCISS/Lobbyit remain positive, however, based on the fact that the language we favor was in both House and Senate bills, something not typically seen in measures of this nature. 
The most likely scenario at this point is a "clean" CR funding government until the end of calendar year 2015 (with continued assertions that Congress is working on an omnibus approps bill), and another CR for the remainder of FY 2016 passed around Christmas  when it becomes apparent that no budget deal can be reached.  In such a scenario, this latter CR will be anything but clean.

We are continuing to work with appropriators, leadership, and industry partners to push for the inclusion of this language in whatever funding vehicle eventually emerges. 

Consequently, it is STILL essential that NCISS members use the Advocacy Hub tool to encourage their Members of Congress to support this language, whether Democrat or Republican. 
  

                     Go to ADVOCACY HUB to send your letter to your Congress member
(You may have to scroll down to see your Congress Member listed following your U.S. Senator)


With the outlook for the funding vehicle for 2016 becoming more cloudy, it is INCREASINGLY IMPERATIVE that Members of Congress hear from their constituents on this important matter.
 
Data Privacy, GPS, and Drone Update

With a final UAV rule a year or more away, and with the increasing number of disturbing incidents of private UAV use interfering with commercial air traffic, and even emergency response crews, Congress is turning more attention to UAV use and operation.  Despite the uptick in problematic instances of drone operation, however, and numerous bills pending in Congress to address the matter, no consensus exists in Congress on how to deal with the issue. 

Consequently, we have been counseled that Congress is largely willing to defer to the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) pending rulemaking. 

Unless something really egregious happens, Congress will likely sit this one out for the time being.  

This meshes with our earlier conversations with Senate Commerce, which expressed satisfaction with the FAA's progress.  If there is a UAV-associated calamity, however, expect Congress to act in some restrictive manner.

The situation is similar with respect to GPS and data privacy legislation.  We have been assured that the definition of "data broker" will not include private investigators, and that Congress has little interest in the geolocation bills.  In the Senate, legislation on both issues is being driven by Democrats, and the GOP leadership apparently has little interest in advancing items not on their primary agenda.

National Labor Relations Board Issues Browning-Ferris (joint employer) Decision

On August 27, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its decision in Browning Ferris, which redefined and expanded "joint employer" liability under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Under the joint employer doctrine, one company can be found liable for another company's unfair labor practices and breaches of collective bargaining agreements.

For the last 30 years, the NLRB has distinguished between two separate entities (i.e. franchisee and franchisor) by assessing whether they exert direct and significant control over the same employees such that they "share or codetermine those matters governing the essential terms and conditions of employment . . . ."  In the Aug. 27 ruling, the NLRB expanded the standard to include situations where one entity exercises direct or indirect control over the essential terms and conditions of employment of another entity's employees or has the right to do so (even if they do not exercise that right). 

Dissenting Members Miscimarra and Johnson said the ruling would "subject countless entities to unprecedented new joint-bargaining obligations that most do not even know they have, to potential liability for unfair labor practices and breaches of collective bargaining agreements, and to economic protest activity, including what have heretofore been unlawful secondary strikes, boycotts and picketing." Members Miscimarra and Johnson also noted that "the majority abandons a longstanding test that provided certainty and predictability, and replaces it with an ambiguous standard that will impose unprecedented bargaining obligations on multiple entities in a wide variety of business relationships, even if this is based solely on a never-exercised "right" to exercise "indirect" control over what the NLRB may later characterize as "essential" terms. This new test leaves employees, unions, and employers in a position where there can be no certainty or predictability regarding the identity of the "employer".

While the ruling will be subject to lengthy litigation, NCISS/Lobbyit has spoken with some parties in Congress who are interested in legislation to prevent the NLRB from enforcing this decision.  While such language was not included in the first passel of provisions in LHHS Appropriations, there are solid indications that similar efforts might be under way to attach language to other legislative vehicles, such as . . . wait for it . . . an omnibus appropriations bill!
 

Legislation

 

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 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

 

 

                                                             
                                                



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Until next month,


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