Tag: Marcus Dunn
Border security looms large for SIA
August 14, 2013Leif Kothe
WASHINGTON—Weeks into the legislative lull of August, the Security Industry Association is gearing up for Congress to return to session in September, when lawmakers in the House will tackle immigration reform.
The association's approach remains less ideological than informational, Marcus Dunn, director of government relations for SIA, told Security Systems News. The focus is fixed squarely on border security, which is likely to be a major component of any immigration legislation, whether...
Senate immigration bill includes major security measures
July 10, 2013Leif Kothe
WASHINGTON—A major security-focused amendment to the Senate immigration bill, proposed by a pair of Senators one day before the legislation passed 68-32, might have played a critical role in making the overhaul more palatable to several more Senate Republicans.
Proposed by Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and John Hoeven, R-N.D., the amendment package would devote more than $40 billion over the next ten years to bolstering security and ramping up enforcement on the nation's southern border....
SIA steps up fight for school security funding
May 24, 2013Rich Miller
WASHINGTON—The Security Industry Association has expanded its fight for school security funding, taking the issue to the House and asking the Senate to consider a stand-alone bill after grant money was denied during the debate over gun control.The School Safety Enhancements Act of 2013 would authorize $40 million a year for state, local and tribal governments to improve security at elementary and secondary schools. The legislation generated bipartisan support in wake of the December shootings...
School security funding dealt setback as part of gun-control bill
April 17, 2013Rich Miller
WASHINGTON—Legislation to provide $40 million a year to improve security in the nation's schools has bipartisan support, but it was dealt a blow after the Senate rejected an amendment to which it was linked: expanded background checks on gun purchases.
The School Safety Enhancements Act of 2013 would authorize federal funding for state, local and tribal governments to improve security at elementary and secondary schools. Grants could be used to install metal detectors and surveillance...
Video surveillance holds the key in Boston bomb probe
April 17, 2013Rich Miller
Marcus Dunn was late for the phone call Tuesday morning, but there was no need to apologize (although he did so anyway). As director of government relations for the Security Industry Association, he had been in a meeting to discuss the bombings in Boston and it ran longer than expected.
Our conversation—we speak every month about legislative issues affecting the industry—quickly turned to Monday's deadly attack. Less than 24 hours had passed and speculation was rampant about who had done...
'Doomsday' averted, but security industry still wary of sequestration
March 20, 2013Rich Miller
WASHINGTON—Sequestration hit on March 1 with more of a whimper than a bang, but the uncertainty it has caused continues to affect security companies that count on federal funding for initiatives in the field.
As the mandatory budget cuts are phased in this year, anxiety is likely to rise when it comes to planning for contracts and expenditures, said Marcus Dunn, director of government relations for the Security Industry Association. Through March, however, the impact hadn't been as painful...
More states looking at requiring CO detectors in schools
March 20, 2013Tess Nacelewicz
SILVER SPRING, Md.—A carbon monoxide leak at a school in Georgia in December sent more than 50 students and staff to the hospital—and the Security Industry Association says it also has drawn attention nationwide to the need for CO detectors in schools.“I really think the CO incident at the Atlanta school this last December really sparked a lot of attention among the states to begin taking this issue seriously,” said Elizabeth Hunger, manager of government relations for SIA,...
SIA tells Obama safer schools possible without policy shift
February 25, 2013Rich Miller
WASHINGTON—With the debate raging on in Congress about school security after the shootings in Newtown, Conn., the Security Industry Association recently sent a letter to President Obama to let him know that steps can be taken now to make schools safer without major changes in policy.In a letter authored by SIA Chairman Jay Hauhn, the group promotes a "holistic approach" to school safety that includes funding for school security assessments; investments in technology such as digital video cameras...
Newtown shootings raise profile of debate on school security
January 16, 2013Rich Miller
WASHINGTON—The fiscal cliff has been averted. But the vertigo it induced is still being felt on Capitol Hill, with school security thrown into the budget mix as the 113th Congress got down to business in January.While lawmakers acted at the end of 2012 to prevent Bush-era tax breaks from expiring for most Americans, defense and other program cuts weren't addressed. That task was pushed into 2013, along with new debate on raising the debt ceiling.The latest round of budget deliberations will...
Fiscal cliff keeps security industry guessing about funding for 2013
December 19, 2012Rich Miller
WASHINGTON—As 2012 draws to a close, security industry interests on Capitol Hill are focused squarely on a source of increasing financial anxiety: the fiscal cliff, and what a plunge off it on Jan. 1 might mean for companies and customers nationwide.Marcus Dunn, director of government relations for the Security Industry Association, said the political stalemate over expiring tax cuts and mandated spending decreases has created uncertainty that is affecting SIA members. Appropriations hang in...