Page 13 - NCISS Your Advocate August 2019
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2019 Annual Meeting and Hit the Hill Update
The National Council of Investigative and Security Services ("NCISS") held its annual Hit the Hill event at the end of April.
It was a good showing in our nation's capital. This year's meeting was attended by members from the following states:
Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey,
New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia and Washington D.C. New and old friends alike
made connections while representing our profession in front of our nation's lawmakers.
Keith Nelson, our lobbyist through Lobbyit and several committee members worked diligently in preparing us for the
onslaught of the hill. Many thanks are in order to U.S. Representative Garrett Graves and Senator John Kennedy and
their staffs for arranging our meeting rooms for lunch at the capitol.
It is anticipated that we will see a data privacy bill towards the end of this year. However, similar privacy bills have
popped up in several states. These include California who has passed the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA''). That
act has obviously caused quite a bit of concern for several other larger businesses. Although investigators are not
necessarily directly impacted by that act, we are concerned with the potential of that act to be expanded to small and
medium size businesses, as well as the potential to be "roped in" to the act by representing a covered entity. We are
closely monitoring similar bills in other states.
Recently, NCISS has also had the opportunity to provide a letter to the state association in Utah regarding a prosed
statute regulating the use of GPS. Thanks to the help of Tina Thomas, Michelle Palmer and PIAU, Utah passed and
permitted an exemption for private investigators. Unlike many other states who have either predominantly banned
private investigator use without effective consent, Utah found success by centering on the interest of those who were
protected by protective orders and prohibiting tracking of those individuals. Congrats to all those involved!
At least two states - Colorado and Texas - face sunset bills essentially reaffirming or reorganizing their state regulatory
scheme. Both are still currently dealing with that process. For now, both look to keep their frameworks in place with
some expected deregulation to occur. I would like to thank all the local members in that state.
The new board of directors looks forward to the challenge of serving over the next year. This year's award recipients
include past president James Huckabee, who received the Wayne J. Wunder award, Tim Gilbert who received the Vinson
Award, and past president John Talaganis, who received the John J. Duffy Memorial Achievement Award. Further, NCISS
warmly recognized Carol Ward for her years of dedication and service to the organization as NCISS's previous executive
director. We thank her for all that she has done over the years. She will remain a part of our family!
- Wes Bearden, 2nd Vice President and Legislative Chair – Investigations