In This Issue

Stakeholder Activity

Legislation

In the month of November, NCISS continued work on several Labor-related provisions for a FY2016 funding package, meeting with top appropriators in the House and Senate to push for their inclusion in and end-of-the-year funding deal. NCISS and Lobbyit also continued tracking FAA drone registration requirements, as well as numerous other pieces of legislation as 2016 approaches.

Stakeholder Activity

The Return of the Omnibus

In late October, Congress surprised many observers by announcing that House and Senate negotiators had reached a two year budget deal with the White house, adding $80 billion back to the budget caps, and easing the impact of the previous sequester.
Without a budget deal, Congress would revert to a continuing resolution (CR), which is essentially an extension of existing funding authorities without much change, and including less in terms of Congressional prerogative.

Previously, NCISS encouraged our members to access our Advocacy Hub to send letters to important legislators urging them to include many of these provisions in their appropriations bills. Now that an actual omnibus bill is back in the cards, NCISS urges you once again to contact your legislators on these important NLRB-related issues!

As it became clear that a larger funding package was possible, NCISS and Lobbyit held meetings with senior members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to gauge whether they would include such provisions in the funding package.

Both House and Senate leaders indicated that the NLRB-related language (on Joint-employer, Ambush elections, etc.) were among their top priorities, and should likely be placed in the package even where they drew a veto threat from the President.

While this is extremely encouraging, it remains to be seen how many policy riders will be included, and whether any of those (related to the NLRB or not) would be sufficient to draw a veto (i.e. if Planned Parenthood language is attached, it would cause President Obama to veto the bill).

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 the NCISS 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 clearer, it is INCREASINGLY IMPERATIVE that Members of Congress hear from their constituents on this important matter.

Other Legislation

In addition to appropriations language, NCISS and Lobbyit also met with other important members of the Commerce and Judiciary Committees in both the House and Senate to see whether other suspect legislation had a chance of moving as 2015 draws to a close (i.e. data broker, GPS tracking, firearm restrictions, etc.). We were assured that none of the legislation we've been tracking is currently on the agenda, but we know that much happens late at night while Congress wraps up a calendar year, so we will be watching closely.

FAA Drone Registry

In October, the FAA announced the convening of a task force to provide recommendations on the development of a drone registry system. The FAA's task force, co-chaired by FAA drone chief Earl Lawrence and the head of Google's drone project, Dave Vos, also included 24 other drone, aeronautics and aviation experts from Amazon, Best Buy, GoPro, Walmart and numerous industry groups and associations, including:

Nancy Egan - 3D Robotics

Richard Hanson - Academy of Model Aeronautics
George Novak - Aerospace Industries Association
Chuck Hogeman and Randy Kenagy - Air Line Pilots Association
Jim Coon - Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
Sean Cassidy - Amazon Prime Air
Ben Gielow-Amazon Retail
Justin Towles - American Association of Airport Executives
Brian Wynne - Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International
Parker Brugge - Best Buy
Douglas Johnson - Consumer Electronics Association
Brendan Schulman - DJI
Paul Feldman - General Aviation Manufacturers Association
Dave Vos - GoogleX (Co-Chair)
Tony Bates - GoPro
Matt Zuccaro - Helicopter Association International
Mike Fergus - International Association of Chiefs of Police
John Perry - Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors
Brandon Declet - Measure
Randall Burdett - National Association of State Aviation Officials
Sarah Wolf - National Business Aviation Association
Baptiste Tripard - Parrot
Tyler Collins - PrecisionHawk
Gregory McNeal - Small UAV Coalition
Thomas Head - Walmart

On November 23, the task force announced its findings, which the FAA will now consider, along with allowing for public comment.

The task force is now recommending that the government set up a simple registration system for anyone who owns an unmanned aircraft heavier than 250 grams, which is about half a pound.

Registrants won't have to pay a fee.

After submitting their name and mailing address, a drone owner would then get a unique registration number to mark on the device.

The registrant is the individual owner, not the drone itself. An owner can register once, obtain an identification number, then attach it to as many drones as they own.

The task force opined that any registration more burdensome than these three simple steps may jeopardize the likelihood of widespread adoption and would undermine the overall registration philosophy that enabled the Task Force to come to consensus.

>>>>>For all other drone fliers, the FAA's guidance for now remains the same: Keep your drones under 55 pounds; fly them within your line of sight and below 400 feet; stay at least 5 miles away from an airport; avoid flying near stadiums or crowded places; take some drone classes or join a club for extra safety.<<<<<

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

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 -- or -- Brad Duffy - Security

Permission granted to repost

Until next month,