Security and the Stimulus package

President Obama's stimulus plan, which passed the House of Representatives yesterday lacked bipartisan support, (It passed 244-188 along party lines. Not one Republican voted for the plan. Trying to make a point, they knew it would pass) but it did have vocal support of some business leaders. Prior to the vote, Obama held a meeting where he wooed a group of 11 execs of major corporations. Of interest to the security industry may be the presence of David Cote, Honeywell CEO (parent company of Honeywell Security and ADI). According to a report in Reuters:

Cote said the current dynamic is bad for American industry and that his company supports the bill the House of Representatives is voting on today. "Our message would be that it needs to get done fast," Cote said. "

Here's the full story On a separate note: The NBFAA helped get language included in the House version of the stimulus package that should stimulate some security and fire business. There are two provisions in the stimulus package that you all should care about: one provides $16 billion to public schools and another provides $4 billion to colleges and universities. For schools, the grants can be used to bring public schools into compliance with fire, health and safety codes. That means they can spend the money on the professional installation (which is the key wording NBFAA helped out with) of fire alarms, and "modernizations, renovations and repairs that ensure schools are prepared for emergencies, such as improving building infrastructure to accommodate security measures." It's not a done deal yet. The language has to be included in the Senate version. We'll know if that happens by the middle of next week, John Chwat, NBFAA's guy on The Hill, told me. If it happens, though, the cash is there. No more authorizing or appropriating needed.