The Security Industry Association (SIA), an American trade association representing business interests of providers (both manufacturers and integrators), has been in the news for some time now ever since it backed a new act known as the School Safety Enhancements Acts of 2013. Authorizing no less than $40 million yearlyfor state, tribal and local governments to increase and improve overall school security, the new bill became popular following the December shootings in Newton, Connecticut.
Interestingly, the new bill didn’t pass the first time around—the real reason the SIA is bringing it now to the Senate. The first time, the new Act was attached to a bigger bill bringing in expansion of background checks before buyers purchased a gun, rejected by a 54-46 amount of voters in the Senate, a close shave.
The director for the SIA, Marcus Dunn, said that the original rejection was just a temporary setback, but his heart, mind and efforts will be solely involved in pushing this forward. After some important meetings, including one with the House Judiciary Meeting, he feels hopeful. He told listeners of the press:
The bill’s original sponsor, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., had decided to definitely take another crack at it. We don’t know when or under what conditions. Our request to the Senate now is to please bring this up as a stand-alone measure. We are getting a letter together with other interested parties, mostly associations that are active in the school safety arena, to Senate Majority Leader [Harry] Reid to see if he can put it back up on the calendar.
The new legislation backed by Dunn for school safety enhancement, if approved, will provide grants and funds necessary to install in the various schools chosen. Training for personnel and school students may also be involved in the upcoming schedule of implementations, if the new act passes. As a standalone bill, Director Dunn thinks, will have much more of a hardy chance to survive on its own rather than being tacked on to another bill.
Not too long ago, the Industry Association also held a meeting with the House Judiciary Committee. The meeting and discussion was about pushing to fund school security endeavors in the chamber. The House Judiciary Committee listened to the director’s reasoning without complaint. In fact, the House outright acknowledged the failure of the Senate to focus efforts on the safety in local schools. From the looks of it, the House Judiciary Committee finds no negative reason to not support the new act.
The Director is considering September as a solid date for the Judiciary Committee to act on following up with the bill. Their immediate concern is the investigation of the Boston marathon bombing.
Tim Eveler
Author & Public Relations – Tim has been working in sales for the home security system industry over twelve years. He’s held positions at large home security companies and in charge of working with the team to create our security system reviews.